Sion Town

As per weather forecast predicted, this would be a rainy day...the whole day.

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So, we didn't feel particular upset when we pull up the curtain and saw the raining scene out there. Furthermore, husband had planed the day according to the weather condition, thus, no complaints about it.

We woken up at around 8.30 am that morning, then went to the restaurant downstair to take a buffet breakfast. As usual, the foods has nothing special, but it contains hot and cold varieties, and fresh enough. Since it was raining outside, we took a super long breakfast this time.

We went back to the hotel room at around 10 am. While we were packing the stuffs for check-out, we made the boys to work on their homeworks (this has become the one-and-the-only-one-day they did their homework throughout the whole vacation).

Yeah, I know it's painful to get your butt to work after relaxing for so long, but no excuses, alright.

After a long dilly-dally, finally we checked out at around 11.30 am, and headed to our next destination. Since raining, husband didn't arrange many activities for the day. Basically, we just need to drive to Switzerland, and maybe went to a hot spring resort which is near to our hotel.

The country side road, very zig-zag type.

small villages along the country side road...

Due to boredom, I had lost tracked of the time, but I think at around 1.30 pm, we reached the border of France-Switzerland. No one blocked the cars, so we just drove through.

Ok, in Switzerland territory now.

Don't know how long we have driven, but this road seems never ending, so did the rain....

Finally saw something interesting along the way, which is small stalls that sell apricot. When the rain was not that heavy, we stopped over at this stall, and I bought half a kilogram with a price of € 3.50 Quite cheap.

There are 4-5 types of apricot there, this one was recommended by the lady. She said this one is very sweet, and she cut a piece to let me try too. She was right, it's very sweet and juicy. The best fresh-apricot I have ever eat.

Though feeling bored sitting in the car, the scenery along the road is beautiful, that had motived me to keep snapping for photos, but not ZZzzzz....As for the boys, they had fallen asleep long ago.

Grapes plantation on hill slope.

The area of the plantation is very huge, quite a remarkable view !!

Although still raining outside there, we stopped by to take a closer look....

I have tried one fruit, but it's too sour for my liking. I think they are probably meant for wine production.

Frankly speaking, I have no idea where we were heading for, only the driver knew.

There are many plantation at this I-don't-know-where place, some plant apricot, some plant pear, some plant apples...

this one is apple plantation, very tempting.

After traveled for nearly 2 hours on a zig-zag road, Vincent complained he felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. We pull over, but he couldn't throw up anything. Looking at his pale face, we think we better stopped by the nearest town so that he could take a rest before we continued the journey. Furthermore, the rain wasn't too big at that time.

Not too long later, we saw this town with 2 peaks, and each has a castle atop it.

From the tourist information center, we get to know this town is called Sion, the capital of Valais. The main attraction is castles Valere and Tourbillon built on top of 2 hills, which we saw just now.

Sion's postcard.

Nearby the tourist information center, there is this park. When the boys saw the park, they won't take NO as the answer. So, we got to go.

When there are things to play on, Vincent had fully recovered and back to his usual self immediately.

At first, I was worried if they would get their shirt wet. Then, I realized we had our luggage at the car, so I just saved my breathe and let them enjoyed to its fullest.

As for myself, I sat here like this lazy dragon, waiting for my prince charming...at the same time, kept an eyes on these playful monsters.

When husband came to join us, he asked me to take a walk around this area, and he would safe guide the kids instead. Of course, I said : you-go-lah...But he insisted : you-go-lah. So, I just go lah.

So, I bent a corner from the park, and followed this seemingly, the main street. Wonder if I could find the way to the castle up there?

Items sold at 50% discount? I turned around to look for the shop, luckily I didn't see it.

I'm not sure what festival it was at that time, but the whole street was hanging with those kind of beautiful flags.

I ended my walk here and turned back to the park by using the same road.

Also, I'm very proud of myself, for I didn't get lost.

They still played there with no sign of boredom. Didn't know who started it first, they now buried the water hose with the silicon sand. They just love to watch the water burst out its way... After 30 min or so playing there, we pulled them away.

Since the rain had completely stopped, we decided to take a quick tour around the town.

Nothing seem too special about this place.

Bumped into this apple tree in somebody's backyard.

Still an baby apple, I warned him not to take it, though he wanted to.

For sure there is at least one church in every town.

Inside the church was super quiet, nothing much to see also.

As usual, the stain glass in every church is absolutely beautiful.

Unknown fruit tree-1

Unknown fruit tree-2.

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At around 3 pm, we left Sion Town and continue our journey. Just at that time, the rain started again, and it had never stopped since then. In fact, the rain became bigger and bigger.

We reached our hotel (Mercure Bistro Leukerbad) at around 4 pm. It was really messy to drag all the luggages into the hotel under the heavy rain.

We sighed for a relief when we finally settled down in our room.

The room is big enough for the 4 of us to live in comfortably.

Their usual self...

We would love to sit at the balcony for a longer time, but too bad it's cold and humid outside there.

Standing at the balcony, we could see the cliff hiding in the midst.

We didn't know the room is equipped with a kitchen, so it's such a pleasant surprise to us. Since it's not very convenient to go outside in this rainy day, I decided to cook dinner for the night. Luckily, there is a grocery store nearby our hotel, so we didn't need to drive far to find foods.

When everything was set, we went downstair for thermal bath. The hotel provides the guest with an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. Both also a good one.

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Foot Note : Leukerbard is famous for its termal water (up to 51C), flow from the springs and feed 22 thermal pools. Several baths are at the disposal of the guests in private hotels (such as Mercure Bistro Hotel that we were staying), in the rehabilitation centre and in the public baths.

We especially like the outdoor pool with great mountain view. Despite of the shower rain dropped on our face, we had had some terrific hours soaking and resting in this outdoor thermal baths.

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Only when we felt we had had enough of it, then we left the pool and returned to our room. While the 3 of them were taking their bath, I cooked spaghetti and vegie in the kitchen. When they have done, the dinner was almost done too. We enjoyed the dinner peacefully, like at home.

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Husband said we should sleep early that night, so that we could get ready for the next day, in full-gear.

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