My co-workers and I had a perfect outing yesterday in Valais. (Valais is the French name for the Wallis, where my parents and I vacationed in August. The valley is split approximately in half between French-speaking and German-speaking, so it has two names. Since that is not at all confusing.)
We have had a visiting PhD student, Flo, in our lab who is originally from Sion, a city in Valais. Her family name is Bonvin, which means "good wine" in French. As you might expect, her family make wine. Somehow we came up with the idea to organize a little outing to go for a walk along the valley to enjoy the vineyards in the glorious fall weather and then to do a wine-tasting at her uncle's vineyard.
Of course, somehow this small trip turned into an excursion for 20 people! Flo's uncle also offered to prepare a traditional Valais-style raclette in addition to the wine-tasting, so the trip snowballed a little bit into a larger production. Of course, it was incredibly fun and a really perfect day, thanks to Flo and her family!
Our group met at the train station at 07.45 on Saturday morning to catch our train to Sion. (I got to sleep in, compared to last weekend!) Since we were such a large group, we made a group travel reservation, meaning that there was a space reserved for us on the trains and that we were all able to sit together. Traveling by trains here is just so easy!
We arrived in Sion around mid-morning and met Flo at the station to start our hike. The day was a perfect fall day. The sky was clear, the sun was warm and friendly, the air was nippy, the foliage was changing colors and the mountains were out. (Really, I do promised that not all days are perfect in Switzerland. It just so happens that we've had a nice fall. Either way, I'll take it!)
Our hike went through Sion, up a hill and then along a ridge beside a canal used to irrigate the vineyards. There were vineyards above and below us, and we could see the mountains up and down the valley. Lovely!
We stopped for a picnic along the way. We had all brought our own little snacks, but Flo apparently had baked like a fiend the night before and supplied us with 3 or 4 kinds of bread with accoutrements and (naturally) some wine. After the picnic, we continued on and reached the end of the walk in early afternoon and were met by her uncle and his wife along the road. They drove us back to the vineyard, with about 12 of us sitting in the back of an open pickup truck.
Once we were at the vineyard, we sat down at a big, long table and commenced the wine-tasting. (We really did end up drinking wine from about 2 in the afternoon to 7 in the evening!) We started out with red wines; Flo's uncle would describe it in French, and then some other people would translate for us. Once the raclette started, we switched to white wine, since it goes better with cheese. Our meal and wine-tasting really was a family affair. Flo's aunt and uncle and their children were helping, Flo's parents and boyfriend showed up and various other people came and went during our party. It was really lovely to sit and chat with people, drinking good wine and overlooking the autumnal mountains. Flo's family were so incredibly hospitable and really made us feel welcomed and at home.
We also got a tour of the winery and some history of the vineyard, which was really fun. Quite a few of us ended up buying wine to take home, as the winery is small enough that the wines are not sold in stores. Our evening ended with a quick ride down to the train station and then a long train ride back. It was quite a long day, but really relaxing and super enjoyable!
We have had a visiting PhD student, Flo, in our lab who is originally from Sion, a city in Valais. Her family name is Bonvin, which means "good wine" in French. As you might expect, her family make wine. Somehow we came up with the idea to organize a little outing to go for a walk along the valley to enjoy the vineyards in the glorious fall weather and then to do a wine-tasting at her uncle's vineyard.
Of course, somehow this small trip turned into an excursion for 20 people! Flo's uncle also offered to prepare a traditional Valais-style raclette in addition to the wine-tasting, so the trip snowballed a little bit into a larger production. Of course, it was incredibly fun and a really perfect day, thanks to Flo and her family!
Our group met at the train station at 07.45 on Saturday morning to catch our train to Sion. (I got to sleep in, compared to last weekend!) Since we were such a large group, we made a group travel reservation, meaning that there was a space reserved for us on the trains and that we were all able to sit together. Traveling by trains here is just so easy!
We arrived in Sion around mid-morning and met Flo at the station to start our hike. The day was a perfect fall day. The sky was clear, the sun was warm and friendly, the air was nippy, the foliage was changing colors and the mountains were out. (Really, I do promised that not all days are perfect in Switzerland. It just so happens that we've had a nice fall. Either way, I'll take it!)
Our hike went through Sion, up a hill and then along a ridge beside a canal used to irrigate the vineyards. There were vineyards above and below us, and we could see the mountains up and down the valley. Lovely!
We stopped for a picnic along the way. We had all brought our own little snacks, but Flo apparently had baked like a fiend the night before and supplied us with 3 or 4 kinds of bread with accoutrements and (naturally) some wine. After the picnic, we continued on and reached the end of the walk in early afternoon and were met by her uncle and his wife along the road. They drove us back to the vineyard, with about 12 of us sitting in the back of an open pickup truck.
Once we were at the vineyard, we sat down at a big, long table and commenced the wine-tasting. (We really did end up drinking wine from about 2 in the afternoon to 7 in the evening!) We started out with red wines; Flo's uncle would describe it in French, and then some other people would translate for us. Once the raclette started, we switched to white wine, since it goes better with cheese. Our meal and wine-tasting really was a family affair. Flo's aunt and uncle and their children were helping, Flo's parents and boyfriend showed up and various other people came and went during our party. It was really lovely to sit and chat with people, drinking good wine and overlooking the autumnal mountains. Flo's family were so incredibly hospitable and really made us feel welcomed and at home.
We also got a tour of the winery and some history of the vineyard, which was really fun. Quite a few of us ended up buying wine to take home, as the winery is small enough that the wines are not sold in stores. Our evening ended with a quick ride down to the train station and then a long train ride back. It was quite a long day, but really relaxing and super enjoyable!
