A little while back, some close friends suggested we use their holiday chalet in Switzerland, as it wasn’t being let outside the skiing season and was obviously not being used by anyone else. So not being ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, we immediately took them up on their very kind offer, and wasted little time in going online in search of a hire car. After all, car rental comparison is now so easy with a PC. How on earth did we ever manage before?
Having not driven an environmentally friendly car before, now, I thought, would be an ideal time to try one. So I plumped for the Toyota Prius T3. This is the latest model from the Toyota stable. And I have to admit that this car is an absolute joy to drive. I guess the excellent Swiss roads from Geneva airport helped. But this car feels very smooth and its blend of petrol engine and electric motor works seamlessly in town where the silent battery powered running is very impressive.
Besides the comfortable drive (the kids fell asleep in the back), this car is incredibly clean. Thanks in part to skinnier wheels, it emits 89g of CO2 per km. And according to the AA, the only other car to do better than this is the Smart 42 CDI, but then that’s tiny by comparison.
We stopped off en-route at one of the motorway services, and had a very good meal in the smart dining area. It’s not something you’d ever experience at a motorway service station in the UK. But then, this is Switzerland. And I have to say that you certainly feel better for breathing all that Swiss air.
Morgins is a small development of Swiss chalets and is presumably pretty busy during the skiing season. The ski lifts take you up to the mountains in no more than a few minutes. We did this one fine morning ourselves only to find that you couldn’t see further than your own nose at the top due to mist or clouds or both.
If you love walking, which we do, Morgins is a perfectly good place from which to do some really lovely walks. But if you’re not the walking type, you may find yourself at a loose end if you don’t have a set of wheels. With a car, you can comfortably go and visit places like Evian, which is well worth the visit or Lausanne with its elegant promenade and excellent Olympics museum. If you don’t mind the journey, Mont Blanc is a fabulous day trip. Take the narrow gauge railway up and then hop on the cable car to the glacier. You won’t be disappointed.
Alternatively, if you don’t fancy driving for hours, pop across the border to Chatel and check out the market. The fruit, vegetables and flowers sold here are fabulous and far cheaper than anything you’ll find in Switzerland. And if you like chateaus, pop next door to Aigle where you’ll discover the very lovely fairy tale turrets of Chateau d’Aigle.
Alex Pearl is a freelance copywriter and author of ‘Sleeping with the Blackbirds’.
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