As mentioned in the previous post about our trip on The Golden Pass, we stopped in two towns on the journey back.

The first of the towns was Zweisimmen.   I’ll be honest that I had no idea what to expect (not listed in my tour books) but I suggested to E-dawg that we hop off the train and spend an hour there until the next train would pass.

We found an adorable German speaking village, full of cows.   We wandered around its quiet streets enjoying the fresh air.

This is Zweisimmen!

We caught the train an hour later and hopped off again at Château D’Oex.  Readers might find this town familiar as we stopped there twice for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.  After the Friday night “Night Glow” show  failed to produce any balloon pictures, I begged Gabe to go back the following Sunday for more.  And that is when I fell in love with this little village known to be the Swiss capital of ballooning.

Welcome to Château D'Oex (pronounced Shat-oh Day)

It was really neat for me to see the difference in winter vs. spring.  The town is totally different.      Originally, I was going to sit at a café and rest my feet while E-dawg explored.   But I couldn’t help myself wanting to climb up to the top of the chapel with her for the views!

Streets of Château D'Oex

Climbing up the steps of the chapel, greeted by amazing spring flowers

After reaching the top, E-dawg relaxed near the chapel walls.

On the way back down, we decided it was an opportune time to open the mini bottle of Swiss wine we had brought to picnic on the train.   We popped our shoes off, sat in the grass, and enjoyed the magnificent panorama in front of us.

After experiencing it in multiple seasons, this little village quickly lept up to one of my top Swiss places to visit.

Back on the train. Goodbye Chateau D'Oex...until next time!