Getting to Zermatt & Swiss Train Tips

I have to say one of the best things existent in Switzerland are the trains. They are on time, clean, and abundant. Plus I love that you can buy all your tickets online and can receive in the form of e-tickets (for example the French SNCF system, they only offer e-tickets for selected lines; otherwise you must buy that at the counter or recieve them by post mail). The only thing is that they are quite expensive.

If you're staying in Switzerland for over 3 months or you're traveling extensively for about a month, I highly recommend you buy the  half card or demi-tarriff. You pay 180 CHF for one year or 120 CHF for one month all train lines are half off. For regional transportation (for example, in Geneva all TPG lines are 2 CHF instead of 3 CHF). Of course, it sounds a bit expensive but if you think about it, a round trip ticket from Geneva to Zurich costs 174 CHF on 2nd class. The half card will cost you 87 CHF, hence you save 87 CHF. Therefore, if you plan to make 3 round trips to Zurich, you already made up for the card itself.

Of course, there are other tips to obtain cheaper tickets. One is to use the supersaver option when you buy you tickets online. When you choose your time for your trains, scroll down and you will see the supersaver options below. The train lines become a bit more limited, but still train tickets are about 20-40% cheaper. And yes, your half card also applies here giving you a bigger discount! For example, my ticket from Geneva to Bern was 16.40CHF. With half card, it will normally cost me 25 CHF, and normal price would be 50CHF! So in the end, I got a 70% discount!

Another option is to buy a 1 day travel card which would be 146 CHF, 73 CHF if you have a half  card. This will allow you to travel anywhere for the whole day for 73 CHF so for example if you want to make a quick trip to Zurich to do some shopping and come back the same day, it's much more economical. And, if you plan to leave after 9am, it's even cheaper! 106 CHF and 58 CHF, so plan your trip accordingly ;)

Going back to my trip to Zermatt, as I've mentioned before supersaver tickets are indeed cheap but the train lines are a bit limited. Hence, our train to Zermatt awas at 6:07am! Waking up like zombies at 4am, we started our journey to the mountains.

We changed trains at Visp and onboard the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn which gave us a first glimpse of the beautiful mountain landscapes of Switzerland!

And we're here! Let the magic begin! 

Bern

Unlike many countries, Switzerland's capitol is rather small scale and less well-known than its other bigger cities Geneva and Zurich. To be honest, I'm sure most people can't even name the city as a capitol. Then again, there's many things that are unknown about Switzerland to the rest of the world.

In one word, the city is simply majestic. Geneva has its own ambiance but it lacks the "typical" Swiss feeling and more of a "global UN" atmosphere. On the contrary, the city of Bern itself is a UNESCO heritage so you can feel the richness, history, and culture of city as you just walk around.

The origin of the name of Bern is unknown, but of course the most well-known is "bear". The flag of the canton of Bern is the bear and there is also a bear park in the middle of the city. Too bad it was under construction!

We stayed in an Airbnb which was fantastic. Our host, Jonas  was fantastic and stayed at his 3 story traditional Swiss house. Highly recommended!

The most confusing to me about Bern is that it's a bilingual canton: French and German, well Swiss-German to be exact. Sure, everyone in Geneva speaks English but when you speak French you speak only French and when you speak English, you only speak English. But in Bern, things seems to be a bit mixed. For example, Swiss-German for "Hi" is "Grützi". But in Bern, they say "Salut". Thank you is also in French, "Merci". Hence, the standard conversation at store is "Salut, ___Swiss German___, Merci". I sound a bit redneck-ish, but I guess I'm still not used to the fact that the country I am in speaks multiple languages. It's always nerve racking for me to even travel across the country as people don't speak my language (although I repeat, Swiss people do speak English so it's not too bad). However, as I would discover later in Zermatt, people even in Swiss-German speaking cantons so speak French and people were much more responsive and friendly once they knew I wasn't a tourist but one of them and that I come from a French canton. And that was my two cents on the languages in Switzerland.

  

Planning For Zermatt マッターホルンのふもと町を目指して

Living in Switzerland, it's almost a requirement that you at least have a glance of Matterhorn, the symbolic mountain of Helvetica. Ever since I started living here I wanted to go there but it's actually not that easy. For one thing, it's not cheap. A full-price one way ticket to Zermatt, the infamous city which is the gateway to the Mattehorn, costs about 75-95 CHF. Plus, the round trip to go up to the mountains to see the Matterhorn costs 88 CHF one way. To top it off, Zermatt is one of the most expensive ski resorts, making the accommodation among the most expensive in the most expensive hotel rate country in the world.

スイスの象徴とも言われる山、マッターホルン。そしてそのふもとの街、ツェルマット。ずっと前から行きたかったものの、思ったほど簡単に行ける旅ではない　汗　まず遠い。ジュネーブはルマン湖を半周していかないといけないので2時間半はかかる。マッターホルンが一番良く見える時間帯が朝であることから一泊しないと無理がある。その上高い。通常券だと片道1万円近くかかる。そんなわけでスイスに来てから一年経ったもまだいけないでいたの・・・・・だが！運よくモンペリエで知り合った同じ学校に通う語学学校の日本人の方二人がスイスに遊びに来てくれるというのでツェルマットがいよいよ現実になってきました。

できれば朝早くツェルマットに行きたいので初日はベルンで合流して次の日早朝マッターホルンのふもとに向かいます (*^^*) いざ出発！まずはベルン！


It was by sheer luck that everything came into place that made this trip possible. Two of my friends whom I met when I was going to school in Montpellier wanted to come to Switzerland and of course see the Matterhorn. Hence I was able to share the accommodation costs with them. Even better, we stayed in Bern in an AirBnb which made things even more affordable.

Transportation: I got a half price card (demi-tarriff) which makes MOST Swiss trains half price (very good to have if you live in Switzerland). This includes few of the "mountain trains" that takes you up very high with very good views of the Matterhorn.

Now the planning part which was the trickiest. Japanese people in general, do not travel on their own. Most of them sign up with tours that do everything for you including picking you up from your local train station to chaperoning you around the entire time. Think of it as a field trip for adults. So essentially I was basically the tour guide/chaperon having to have to book all accommodation to planning out the day. It also made it difficult that neither of them speak very good English; which can be a problem if you're in the Swiss-German part of the country. This has troubled me a bit but in the end it worked out because I was able to plan mostly according to my own preferences. ;^^

In any case I will put down the itinerary because before I was quite worried that we weren't able to do it all but in fact we were able to pack a lot. I'm sure many are interested in coming to Switzerland (wink wink) so this is just to help with the planning process

Saturday
13:00 meet in Bern station
13:00-15:00 lunch (Rosti)
15:00-16:30 checkin to our accommodation (Airbnb)
16:30-17:30 Rose garden
17:30-19:00 Old City Bern (clock tower, Bern bears, Cathedral)
19:00-21:00 dinner

Sunday
4:00 wake up
6:07-8:13 train to Zermatt
8:13-9:30 explore around city/store luggage
9:30-10:00 Gongernaut train
10:10-10:40 Gongernaut observatory
10:40-12:00 short hike to lake
12:30-13:30 hike and train down to Zermatt
13:30-15:00 lunch (fondue)
15:00-16:30 Souvenir shopping
16:30-20:30 train back to Geneva

Vacay Trip # 4: Paris (8) Things I bought お土産偏

Here comes the traditional posting of what I bought in Paris.
Undoubtedly, the most expensive things I bought were books in French and Japanese. I must've spent close to $100. But to be fair, these are something impossible to buy in Switzerland and I have no regrets!

恒例の旅のお土産偏。フランスで一番お金を浪費したのは食べ物でもなく、ブランド品でもなく本！スイスは本が高い上日本語書籍は絶対に手に入らないのでブックオフとジュンク堂があるパリでは真っ先に行ってきました。後フランス語の参考書は数冊。多分100ユーロ近くは使ったんじゃないかな？；＾＾

Ah yes, Japanese food. I still have a lot of leftovers from what my mother left me when she came to visit in May but these were wonderful and about half the price of what you could find in Geneva.　

オペラ座近くにある日本食品店でもちょこちょこ買いました。この時はラーメンがものすごく食べたかったので棒ラーメンも　笑。これがおいしいのよね～　他には海苔、インスタント味噌汁、玄米茶。なんとも地味な品揃え　笑

And of course, French food as well. I knew I can buy most things at the border crossing in Geneva so I didn't stock up on too much
ジュネーブに戻っても国境を越えてスーパーにいけるのでそんなに買わなかったのだけどとりあえず数品

Never forget the drugstores at Rue du Four where all cosmetics are in bulk and comes at a price about 30% cheaper than normal places, which means about half the price in Geneva. I stocked up on the winter essentials like moisturizers, and chapstick (the best moisturizers on my lips from Nuxe!). Also the standards  like makeup removers, and sunblock....even dental floss! hehe

そして今回ももちろん行ってきましたよ～Ｒｕｅ　Ｄｕ　Ｆｏｕｒにある激安ドラッグストア。今回も激戦の末ゲットした戦利品！これらスイスでも全て手に入るのだけど半額　；＾＾

Let's not forget Muji, the best stationary store in the world. I even convinced R and he likes them too now. I had to buy some notebooks because in Europe many of the notebooks are not in lines or college ruled but have so many lines (I don't know how to explain, you'll see it when you come here) and it makes it really hard to write. Plus Muji uses recycled material and in very minimalist styles which I love. Really happy to see that their brand is taking off in Europe.

無印はやはりはずせません。しかも地元の人にもかなり人気なよう。シンプルなデザインはどこ行っても人気なようです。

What a pot? you ask. Yes, I haven't had a pot since I moved to my dorm in May and the ones in the kitchen are disgusting. Very good buy! Also some adhesive hooks for my bathroom :) I know this all sounds silly but seriously they're very costly in Switzerland!

And lastly some warm clothes I needed to survive the cold winter in Switzerland. Wish I had more time to shop!服飾類は時間がなかったのであまり買えなかったのですが、スイスの寒ーい冬に備えてペタンコブーツと厚めのマフラーをゲット

あ、一つだけブランド品買いました！ロンシャンのトーとバッグ。以前使っていたものがボロボロになっていよいよ壊れそうになってきたのでシャンゼリゼ本店にて購入♪　店員さんも見て笑ってました。4年間ヘビーローテーションでたくさん使わせていただきました。お疲れ様～

Vacay Trip # 4: Paris (7) Japan carvings satisfied パリで「日本」満喫

As you may well know, I haven't been back to Japan since May 2013. Although Japan is not technically my home, it is a place dear close to me.  As Paris has one of the biggest Japanese concentration in continental Europe (both as immigrants and tourists), I just knew this was a close to Japan as I could get. First of all, I dashed to book-off, a well known mega-chain second hand bookstore where I infused myself with Japanese books. I forgot to take a picture but there's also a proper Japanese bookstore, Junkudo clsoe by as well.

今回のパリに来た目的は友達に会う事であるのは間違いないんだけどそれ以外はブランド品を買う訳でもなく、高級フランス料理を食べるわけでもなく、「日本」を堪能するため。2014年5月以降日本に行っていないため、もう餓鬼状態。夢にまで日本食や東京にいる夢を見る　汗。パリはヨーロッパ大陸にて一番日本人の比率も多いので日本のものが溢れている上、値段もお手ごろ！まずはオペラ座でブックオフとジュンク堂へ。

お次は和食！
ジュネーブで和食のランチは普通の定食で3500円、ラーメンは2500円します。ありえない・・・
今回は地元と日本人在住者に人気のお店へ。お昼時間少しずらしていったのにほぼ満員！5品コースでなんと20ユーロ。シェフはもちろん、店員さんも全て日本人です。あーおいしかった～

Next day: Japanese food. Yes there is of course Japanese food in Geneva but it horrendously expensive (seriously, 30 CHF~ for lunch?). I went to a Japanese restaurant tucked away right near the military school in the 7th district. It's run by Japanese people (quite rare globally) and their dishes are so authentically Japanese it wants to make you cry. I had the 5 course tasting menu for a whooping 20 Euros and it was worth every cent possible. If you are craving Japanese food, you cannot go wrong with this place, and this comes from someone who lived in Tokyo for 7 years eating the most gourmet food. On another note, there are also a wide variety of menus available for dinner (you can only choose from a few for lunch) which I've heard excellent reviews but should be more expensive. :

Amuse-bouche: A combination of California rolls, soy-sauce infused chicken, cucumber salad, and vinegar seaweed　
まずは前菜。海草サラダ、カリフォルニアロール、鶏の醤油佃煮、きゅうりのサラダ

Hors-d'oeuvre: simmered daikon with thick sauce　2品目：ふろふき大根のあんかけ

Vegetable course: charcoaled eggplant with miso-sauce　3品目：茄子の味噌田楽

I forgot to take a picture but there was also a seaweed salad after this!4品目は撮り忘れましたが、わかめの酢の物でした

And finally the main tempura course. Not too oily, very crunch and perfect dipping sauce. YUM　そしてメインの天ぷら定食。カリッと揚がっていて美味しかった～

Wakaba 
Address: 20 Rue de l'Exposition 75007 Paris France
Phone: +33 1 45 51 90 81

そして何を血迷ったのか、ラーメンも食べたい！ということで最近できた千葉ラーメン「なりたけ」のパリ支店へ。開店5分前に行ったのですが、既に列が！どうやら観光客と地元人にも人気なよう。入店した瞬間これが「ラーメン屋だー！！！」と涙出でそうに（；＿；）。こちらではスープベースを日本と同様「さっぱり」「普通」「ギトギト」と選べます。回りは「さっぱり」が多かったけど、ここは「普通」でしょ。チャーシュー麺をセレクトして待つこと数分・・・ｷﾀ━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━!!　ホント泣きそうでした。多分日本国外で食べたラーメンの中でダントツ１位！次回来るときはお腹空かして餃子も食べるどー！

パリ滞在中は「日本」を多いに満喫できたものの、やっぱり日本行きたい～

As if that wasn't enough, I also HAD to satisfy my ramen craving, but time after time I have been disappointed with ramen overseas. Seriously people, why can't you get it right? I wasn't expecting too much from this place but I had some hope since it was a direct branch of a well-renowned ramen chain shop in Japan. I came to the store 5 minutes before opening and there was already a line: quite a rare sight in Paris for me (the French couple behind me was on their first date hehe). Nevertheless when I enetered the store, I knew this was going to be good. The setting, the ambiance was all what you'd expect in a ramen shop. You can choose various levels of oiliness: very oily, normal, and light. It just means that there's more pork fat which makes the ramen more richer in taste. I noticed many of the French were ordering light but I decided to go in for the normal. I mean come on, it makes the dish itself much more rich and thicker in taste. Plus if its too thick, you can ask for extra broth which is also really good. I also added chashu (roasted pork) toppings which I have been dreaming about for weeks! What came out was pure heaven. I enjoyed every noodle, every spoonful of it. There's no doubt I will come back here very hungry and will order the pot-stickers there. But beware as the lines can get long...come before it opens or at odd hours! 

Kotteri Ramen Naritake
Address: 31 Rue des Petits Champs 75001 Paris
Phone: +33 01 42 86 03 83
Hours: 11:30am-3:00pm, 6:30-10:00pm

And folks, I must say my Japanese cravings are satisfied....for now!

Vacay Trip # 4: Paris (6) Memories

Last day in Paris was of course, spent shopping :) Nothing too crazy though, just needed some short flat boots and a thick scarf for the upcoming harsh winter back home.. which was quickly accomplished at Galeries Lafayette. Fantastic interior and so many shops to choose from and surprisingly wide range of sticker tags. It's swarmed by tourists but good place to compare shops.

And that wraps it up for Paris. I WILL BE BACK!! Miss you Paris!

Thank you for your hospitality Yukari-san!

Reminiscing the past few days on the platform

Au revoir Paris. Ciao!