Saas Fee Recap (better late than never)

I think it was late spring that we started talking with Mom and Philip about coming out here September-ish for some time in the mountains. One of the women I’d met through the baby talk group owned a flat (isn’t is such a cuter word that “apartment?”) in Saas Fee that seemed reasonably priced and “kid-friendly” so we figured we’d rent it for a week together. JC then planned a European tour around the same time, so after spending a few days in Madrid he met up with us in Geneva and planned to spend the week with us in Saas Fee before moving on to Paris. It was partially due to this trip planned so long ago that we set our move-back date to late September, as we didn’t want to cancel the trip, and in the end this worked out really nicely as we could ship our things earlier and still spend this week in a nice, furnished home, together with family.

We had the flat Monday-Monday. Zach, JC, D, and I arrived Monday afternoon, and Mom and Philip finally followed the next day. We had just finished a nice lunch of rosti at an outdoor patio and were headed back to the flat when we saw a couple waving at us, and there were Mom and Philip just sitting down to lunch themselves, fresh off the planes/train/bus to Saas Fee. These first couple days were absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm, and the view of the mountains and glaciers from the flat was just stunning. We explored Saas Fee a bit (very cute town), walked past some cows and tourist-friendly marmots, and of course Grandma and Papaw spent much time playing with the baby. =)

I think it was on Wednesday or Thursday that Zach and Philip went to Zermatt, they enjoyed nice enough weather though unfortunately Zermatt’s peak was hidden by clouds the entire time so they didn’t get a clear view of it. Oh well. Another day they tried going on a hike closer to where we were staying, and came home early as it started snowing on them.

Friday we rented a backpack-style child carrier and went on a hike all together with Donovan. We were a bit worried about it starting to rain, but as we hiked the sun came out and it even got nice and warm. We reached the top of the trail to a great little restaurant where we sat for a lunch of rosti (SO YUM). It was a very kid-friendly place, with a small swing set and kid-sized trucks and cars, and Donovan had a fun time sitting on a red tractor as grandma and grampa pushed him around the small track. =)

Saturday was my birthday, so mom made a small cake and we of course sang all the traditional birthday songs (we sing 3 of them). That night after D went to bed Zach and I went out for a nice dinner together, had a fabulous meal which unfortunately proceeded to keep me up all night with an upset stomach and then left me sick most of the next day. Oh well. At least it was good timing to get sick when there’s so many other people to help play with the little one.

I forget what we did Sunday, if we did much of anything or just hung out at the flat and maybe took a walk around the village. That whole weekend the village was engulfed in this pretty impressive fog that would come down and lift some at times, and then thicken again to the point of not being able to see more than about 10 feet in front of you. Then Monday morning we woke up to beautiful, completely clear skies. Zach, Donovan and I walked around the village a bit more while Mom, Philip, and JC took a cable car up to the peak of one of the mountains and got to frolic around in the snow. Then Zach, JC, D, and I got in the car to drive back to Geneva and Mom and Philip met up with us a bit later after taking the train back themselves.

I’m really glad we planned this trip, and stuck to those plans as our moving date got changed. Saas Fee was truly lovely, the flat where we stayed was adorable, and it was just so nice being there with family (and being in a furnished place after all our stuffed had been packed away and was off on a boat).

Click here for more pictures from our week in Saas Fee.