Verbier !

We spend the long week-end with Justin and Natalie at their fabulous chalet in Verbier. The village on a south orientated terrace at 1,500 meters facing the Grand Combin massif. We are on the slope, and one feels the altitude esp. when moving. To get here we drive straight up a winding road on the east side of the Val de Bagnes, a valley south of Martigny. Justin guides us in. Sonnet cannot look, Dear Reader. And, since it is dark, I drive slow-lee, mon dieu.

Surrounding Verbier, further up the mountain and above the village, are 400 km of hiking trails, covering the chamois and ibex through the mountains, some of them covered with snow all year round. I see a number of healthy middle-age and elderly people powering along with sticks or ski poles eating fromage or salami and skipping to their joie de vivre. They will live forever. Another 200 km of mountain bike piste , carved into the mountainside, offers sweeping views of everything below. Our luck with us, too, as the weather mostly pristine accept a few puffy clouds on Saturday that break the endless blue.

Photo, from Nat and Justin's deck, of wester Pennine's Grand Combin - at 4,314 meters, one of the largest mountains in the Alps - eternally covered by snow and glaciers (hidden by the cloud bank).

This evening, Madeleine: "I did something bad today."

Me: "Oh?"

Madeleine: "I tried to dig up Monty. To see what his bones look like."

Me: "And?"

Madeleine: "And there wasn't anything left. Only one bone."

Me: "Thank goodness."

Madeleine: "Are you going to put that on your blog?"

Me: "Yeah, so?"

Madeleine: "Don't!"

Me: "It's my blog. Why not?"

Madeleine: "Dad, I don't want everybody to know that I dig up dead hamsters."