Sion and Luzern

Now that the winter has come and the days get shorter - forcing you to spend too much time inside - nothing better than some escapades to nearby cities. Me and Lisa romanced to the sound of Mayra Andrade in Luzern on Nov. 11 (who we wanted to see live for almost one year now!), and yesterday went to Sion in Valais to try the famous Brasserie du Grand-Pont.
Luzern Nov.11. We arrived around 16h45 and it was almost night (actually it's becoming a tradition to make our trips "by night", we basically visited half of Belgium by night last year... :-). Before the concert we ended up in a tourist-trap restaurant (I don't remember the name of the restaurant but when I do I'll write it here so you don't make the same mistake!). We ate the most bizarre and expensive fondue chinois - the meat was frozen and it was not enough for one person...We regretted not eating at the World Cafe right by the Art Museum, which had the most tremendous sallads and desserts... To compensate we listened to the marvellous Mayra, a 22-year-old artist who dominates the stage with her voice and presence, the unbelievable musicians (elevating the music from the CD to a texture of fine acoustic guitars mingled with beautiful percussion work) and too bad the Luzern Hall was not completely full to really make this moment of art even more unforgettable (another concert was taking place in another hall at the same time, a canadian brass band). Me and Lisa wait anxiously for the next album, Mayra!
Sion Nov.27. We jumped on the train and went to Sion, 1h away south east from Lausanne. Sion is the capital of the canton de Valais - known for excellent gold-medal wines such as Les Chevaliers that I've been talking about in this blog (no, I don't have any contract with this producer to do advertising, I really like their wine...). By the way, I tried their wine at the swiss comptoir last october with my japanese friend (Dôle, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Humana Rouge and Reserve - mix of all grapes) and we had trouble choosing which one was the best (I say Dôle for starters, Pinot Noir for the meal versus Humana Rouge for hunt meat). Besides the wine from Valais, the impressive landscape of mountains encircling the little town of Sion is breathtaking. You leave lac Léman and cross the valley surrounded by respectable alpine tops covered with snow and you start having the feeling you are under the shadow of the mountains, that the vast and open lake is the promissed land for these secluded inhabitants. The escape can also be made in height, at the slopes of Crans-Montana and other around. We did not go that high and we were statisfied with the view from the old castle. We had a very nice dinner at the Brasserie du Grand-Pont, a touch of sofistication with a varied choice of international cuisine and wines (including a Douro from Portugal) and good jazzy music. We returned home happy and satisfied and looking forward to next escapade in switzerland...