Yes, that’s right, I am finally finishing the four part saga that was our trip from Norway to Switzerland and back. This is probably the most important chapter, given that it contains the whole reason for the trip in the first place; Juliane and Ueli’s wedding.

Firstly let me say that the decision to travel in second class sleeper couchettes was a bad one. It might have been okay if we had the compartment to ourselves, but we had two strangers sleeping above us who were already very settled, very asleep and very locked in by the time we got on the train at around midnight. Also, being woken at 1am for a passport check wasn’t much fun either… especially since they take your passport away and don’t bring it back until morning; in our case about 5am. Ugh. So we were feeling less than fresh by the time we rolled into Aigle at around 10am.

Luckily for Chris and I, our hotel was probably only 100 metres from the train station, so we really didn’t have far to lug our suitcases. Dad and Jo had to search a bit harder to find theirs, but honestly by then we were too tired and hungry to care. We took a wander around the pretty little village and found a nice pasta place to have lunch. After that we went back to the hotel and crashed for a couple of hours before dinner.

Once we’d had a little rest, we met up with the rest of the wedding guests who were staying in Aigle for dinner, and of course the happy couple themselves. Most people ate a dish of a locally caught fish, but owing to my aversion to all things fishy I asked Juliane what else she recommended. She recommended a horse steak, which I thought I would try. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t just another gamey red meat, it was actually a distinctive but mild and pleasantly flavoured meat that was quite tender. For dessert I tried a apricot sorbet, which was lovely until I got to the unknown spirit in which it was floating… let’s just say it burned my tongue and made my eyes water. Some of the Aussies reading this may remember the apricot icecream-bar from the 80’s called Skona; well the sorbet tasted just like that. Very nostalgic.

The next morning was the wedding, which we were really looking forward to, but a bit worried about the weather. It had rained every single day in every location up to this point, so we were amazed to discover that the wedding day was 36C and sunny. We started by walking to the church, where Juliane and Ueli were standing outside surrounded by dozens of well-wishers. Then we all went inside and enjoyed the ceremony, which was delivered in both French and Swiss-German. Chris had a little taste of what life in Norway has been like for me, while we sat and wondered what they were all saying.

Next we went around to the back of the church for champagne and mingling, and even by then it was getting HOT. All the poor men wearing black suits were almost melting in the sun. Luckily for Juliane, her beautiful medieval style wedding dress had a matching parasol, so she was able to be in the shade the whole time. After toasting the newlyweds, we all went around to the front of the church for some photos, and then went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I think I have forgotten to mention that the whole wedding was travel-themed, right down to the invitations in the form of flight boarding passes. So the lunch fit right into the theme with little individual flight-style meals, which were definitely more like what you would get in first class rather than the swill you often get in economy.

After lunch we had some free time before the celebrations continued for the evening. I know that there was a train trip available for those who wanted a tour around the vinyards, but Chris and I decided to take a short walk and then head back to the hotel for a rest before getting ready for dinner.

The dinner was hosted at the Aigle Castle, but before that got started Juliane, Ueli and their families got all the wedding guests to team up and compete in some fun little games as a way of getting people to mingle and also to have a fun tour of the castle.

Five courses (including a quail each) and many glasses of wine later, we had heard speeches from Ueli’s parents and his three brothers, watched a little comedy sketch put on by Juliane’s parents and seen a travel-themed datashow made by Ueli’s brothers. Then it was time for dancing! We kicked up our heels until around 3am and then we hobbled back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

The following day we spent with Juliane, Ueli and Juliane’s parents in Lavey, which is about a 15 minute drive from Aigle. We went to a hot springs swimming centre and spent four hours swimming, relaxing in the saunas and steam rooms, and playing around in the whirlpool. It was the perfect way to end our trip; I thought when we were leaving that Chris was going to hold onto the door and refuse to leave!

That night we were treated to the ultimate in Swiss cuisine; the Raclette. This is basically a big wheel of a specific kind of cheese that is cut in half and roasted under a purpose-built grill. Then the melting cheese is scraped off onto your plate which you then use to dip cured meats, boiled potatoes and various pickles. It was one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it again.

Then it was time to say goodbye not only to our gracious hosts, but to Dad and Jo. They were staying in Switzerland another day, and then heading to Paris for a few days before heading home to Australia. We ended up back at our hotel in Aigle late in the evening, full of cheese and extremely relaxed. Our train to the airport left early in the morning and we were back in Oslo again by about 5pm. Oh! And I finally bought my birthday watch at the duty free in Copenhagen airport: