Today got off to a flying start. Usually on the morning of the flight Julie's in denial staying in bed until the very last moment before reluctantly dragging herself up and out. However, this morning she was up, bright and chirpy, having a cup of tea before the alarm.

Then, at 4:30am, we drove from the Premier Inn, half a mile away and almost immediately found a space in the long-stay car park, which is unheard of.

We breezed through check-in and the security gates and were in duty free buying our champagne and Toblerone by 5:00am!

 "Have you seen the Mattehorn?" I asked Julie. She looked confused until I pointed to the image of the distinctive mountain peak on the iconic triangular chocolate, created by Theodor Tobler from Bern, Switzerland in 1908 and of course inspired by the Alps.

We sat down and came to the conclusion that all airports must have their own time zones, because despite the early hour, we were ready for a cooked breakfast and we shared a bottle of prosecco to celebrate the launch of our trip.

Julie didn't seem anxious at all. She seemed transformed, ready to conquer the world.

However, forty minutes before we were due to take off, the gate number was revealed and slight cracks appeared. She asked for a few diazepam tablets to steady the nerves.

At the departure gate we hardly spent any time queuing. Before we knew it we were walking rapidly across the tarmac towards the back door of our Easyjet Airbus. It was raining quite heavily.

Sat in our preferred seats of 18E and 18F we buckled up and were ready to go. Then the captain announced over the speakers "Hello, this is your captain speaking." Julie sat up like a meerkat. "Unfortunately we are experiencing a 'backlog' and will be delayed by an hour."

We almost got away with a perfect "flying start" but now we were sat waiting for the all clear. This really unnerved Julie. All those things that could go wrong suddenly filled her thoughts.

An hour and fifteen minutes late we were told to "prepare for take-off." and we taxied towards the runway. The cabin crew had to rush through the safety procedures before we hurtled down the runway.

We soon settled down enough to share a half bottle of champagne to continue our celebration. I'm not too sure why we were in such a party mood but we were both certainly excited about this trip.

We played a game of Scrabble,  which we never finished because it descended into a series of silly words. Also, it wasn't a long flight, under two hours. Before we knew it we began our descent.

Looking out the window I thought we were flying over Lake Geneva but it was an optical illusion and was in reality cloud with several mountain peaks breaking through.

As we flew into the cloud I expected us to soon be below it but it never happened. Visibility remained zero. Julie looked out the window hoping to see land but it was thick fog all the way. She could see nothing until the tarmac of the runway and we landed seconds later.

The fact the pilot landed "blind" amazed her. It was auto-pilot in action.

Once we collected our suitcase we looked for the train station. We only had minutes before our train to Brig was scheduled to leave. There was another one in forty minutes but we decided to try our luck and rush to the platform.

The access to Zermatt had been closed twice in the last month due to avalanches. Only last week (Sunday) tourists were left stranded when the railway tracks were covered by a large landslide of snow. The avalanche warnings have been at the maximum, level 5.

The route was currently open but with heavy snow again forecasted we thought the sooner we get there the sooner we could relax.

We boarded the train which was at the platform and 30 seconds later we began rolling out of the station. The timing could not have been better.

Our second leg of our journey began with Lake Geneva to our right. Locally it's also known as Lac Léman, a name that has stood since the times of the Romans. We were travelling East, towards Lausanne, and then on to Montreaux at the far end of the lake.

On hearing the name Montreaux I immediately thought of the Deep Purple song, "Smoke on the Water" It goes a little like this... 

"We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline, to make records with a mobile. We didn't have much time. Frank Zappa and the Mothers were at the best place around but some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground."

On queue, the mist rolled over the water.

We then travelled up the "alternative" Rhônevalley, witnessing the humble beginings of one of Europes greatest rivers as it flowed from its Alpine meltwater source, down this wide glacial valley, into Lake Geneva before then continuing out the Western end at Geneva, onwards to Lyon and then South through the wonderful Cotes de Rhône wine region of the South of France before reaching the Mediterranean.

Wine also gets produced here in what's known as the Valais region. It was much greener than I expected of Switzerland for this time of year, a micro climate caused by warmer dry winds pushing down from the mountains known as the Föhn effect.

It was also a much flatter area, being essentially the flood plain of the Rhône glacier. Of course, the majestic mountains rising up to over 3000ft weren't far away.  

We passed through the small city of Sion. It was in a fabulous location in the middle of the valley.

It was a name I recognised because of their football team, FC Sion. They played in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers in 1992.

After over two hours of travelling we got off just before reaching Brig, at Visp. From here we waited for our connection to Zermatt.

Several trains shuttle backwards and forwards to the famous Swiss town throughout the day. We weren't fixed to any one of them. There were no fresh reports of any avalanches so we crossed our fingers that all was well.

Shortly after 2pm we were so happy to see the RE41 train arrive at platform 3, and at 14:08, precisely on time, we set off on our final leg of our journey. 

We climbed steadily up the Mattertal Valley at a gentle pace, stopping at the small town of Stalden, then passing through small villages, before stopping at a station called Kalpertran, which appeared to be in the middle of nowehere.

The snow fall didn't seem too heavy at first but by the time we had reached the middle of nowhere it was a different story. As the conductor checked our tickets the train slowed down. He drew our attention to the point where an avalanche had covered the tracks. They had now dug through snow about 3 metre thick by the side of us.

Julie's eyeballs bulged!

As soon as we were through the recent obstruction we gathered pace, stopping at the town of St. Niklaus. I don't know if it was a permanent fixture or just a leftover from Christmas but there was a large and rather trashy image of Saint Nicholas, or St. Niklaus, aka Santa Klaus or Claus.

I was a little confused because I know the actual saint connected with genorosity and the "Christmas spirit" was a 4th century bishop from somewhere now in Turkey not the Swiss Alps.

I know it was just a bit of fun but this kind of dis-informtion could one day be believed to be the truth. It needs calling out! 

From there on in, the landscape was transformed into a stunning snowy wonderland. You could tell be the trees that there hadn't been a fresh fall of snow but what had fallen was still covering everything in a thick layer. 

The train continued through stations at Herbriggen, Randa and Täsch. We had pretty much followed the road up to this point but Zermatt was a car-free zone, so the road ended in Täsch.

About ten minutes from Täsch we reached the train station at Zermatt. It felt so good to finally arrive after quite an epic journey.

Walking out of the station we noticed that Zermatt wasn't exactly vehicle free as many hotel-affiliated battery powered vehicles collected people to ferry them onwards.

However, there were definitely no cars which was gave the place a lovely peaceful vibe.

Our hotel didn't offer a shuttle service because it was within easy walking distance of the train station.

A couple of minutes walk away was the Backstage Hotel Vernissage, our humble abode for the next three nights. Of course I joke because there was nothing humble about it. This boutique accomodation was extravagant oppulence and we loved it.

Reception was upstairs.

Check-in was a relaxed affair, completed whilst sipping our complimentary glass of prosecco, sat beneath a fabulous chandelier made from musical instruments, admiring the gorgeous view back down the Mattertal valley.

The service was perfect, as if we were meeting a friend welcoming us to her home.

Once the formalities were completed we were shown to our room, our deluxe room.

It had quirky details like bed-side lamps disguised as large feathers, a designer bath in the actual room and a view of the Matterhorn from our balcony. It really was stunning.

We sat out on the balcony, in the warmth of the sun; opened our champagne, broke off a chunk of Toblerone and relaxed, gazing at the unmistakable shard of rock called the Matterhorn. 

 If truth be told it was only a partal view but that didn't detract from the feeling of wonder.

In front of us was the Mont Cervin Palace, one of Zermatt's premier hotels, but we couldn't imagine anywhere better than ours. 

An hour and a half was spent blissfully relaxing, appreciating everything we were experiencing. It was one of those moments that made us feel glad to be alive.

Once the sun dipped behind the ridge the drop in temperature was considerable.

At 6pm we decided to pop out to find somewhere for supper.  No research had been done, we left it all to serendipity, which is so unlike me!

Directly opposite the hotel, which I was surprised we hadn't noticed earlier, there was a full size skating rink. A hand full youngsters were having a game between themselves, like we would do at home at a 5-a-side pitch.

From our hotel we walked down Banhoffstrasse until we came across the Brown Cow pub. It sounded perfect for our needs, nothing too fancy that ticked all the boxes, beer (tick) wine (tick) something vegetarian (tick).

It was very busy. Room only at the bar, which was fine. We perched ourselves on stools and ordered a Pinot Grigio and a Cardinal beer. On their menu the veggie burger was described very simply, without mention of any toppings. I looked enviously at the various beef burgers, such as the Swiss Burger topped with cheese and sauerkraut before realising that they could probably accomodate me, if I asked nicely.

"Is it at all possible to have a Swiss Veggie burger , please?" I asked. 

It was met with approval from the waitress. "For sure" came the decisive reply.

I was so glad I asked because it was incredibly delicious. Julie also enjoyed her Chicken Burger, which was a fillet topped with brie and a honey called Kräuterhonig. The toppings made such a huge difference.

It felt expensive at 48 Swiss Fancs (CHF) about £36 but for Zermatt that was a relatively cheap eat!

Once we paid our bill we moved on, looking for another welcoming bar. By chance we passed Hotel Pollux just as someone opened the door to leave. It looked extremely inviting with a roaring fireplace inside, so we decided to give it a try.

It was warm and cosy and smelt of melting cheese, proper comforting. We sat on leather sofas near to the fire and had a round of drink. I tried the Zermatt bier Mattehorn, a local brewery right here in the town, on Spissstrasse. I joked it was called "Pissedstrasse" but it wasn't very funny. 

"Do you fancy trying the hotel's spa?" asked Julie from out of nowehere.

We quickly returned to our room, got changed into our swimming costumes and robes and went down in the lift to the ground floor. The spa had seven experiences, five of which were outside. 

It felt most peculiar stepping outside into the snow in our slippers and dressing gowns but at the same time quite exciting.

The first experience was the sauna. It was a different experience because it had large TV on the wall. We had never seen a sauna with a television before!  It was showing images of the stars from the Hubble Telescope.

I pretended to take my shorts off. The last time we were in Switzerland (Grindelwald) going naked into the sauna felt almost obligatory. Julie put a quick stop to it.

It was getting too hot for Julie so we moved on to the next hut. It was a floatarium.

We read the instructions, pressed the big blue button, and entered. The shallow pool filled with warm salty water felt so good to submerge ourselves into. I lay on my back and miracuously floated. I can't swim, can't even float on my back in a regular swimming pool so this was a new sensation.

It was all going swimmingly until I got some water into my eyes. It stung so much. Then it happened to Juile. Despite being blinded by the salt we really enjoyed this experience. It came an end only when the water level appeared to lower and our bottoms were touching the bottom of the pool. 

The next hut was a mystery. We entered into a small room filled with towels. There were two doors, one locked, the other lead to a small dark room, only big enough for one of us. There didn't seem to be anything going on inside so we left.

On leaving I slipped on some ice on the step and fell right on my arse. Bruised but in one piece we couldn't stop laughing!

In the final hut was another kind of floating experience, only this was a water bed. We settled into the centre, lay on our backs and looked at the image of "the creation" from the Sistine Chapel. We lasted less than a minute before getting bored and moved on. 

The hot tub was now free and was the real highlight of the spa experiences. The water was a wonderfully warm temperature. The jacuzzi button blew bubbles soothing our aching travel weary limbs. It felt so good.

It was also nice to have it to ourselves. There was a group in it earlier and it was large enough for a dozen people.

As our skins became wrinkly it was time to bring our experience to an end and retire to our room.

With our butane fuelled fireplace switched on we lay in bed scrolling through the TV channels but nothing grabbed our attention.

We had brought a few DVDs with us because we knew they had a library from which you could borrow. I popped in Michael Palin's Brazil travel documentary but it didn't work. Compatability issues. 

Nevermind.

Lights out at 10pm was a much more sensible thing to do anyway.