Following our tour of the G H Mumm Champagne House on Sunday morning we enjoyed a magnificent meal in the main street of town, including a local dish of Sauerkraut with Ham Hock and other assorted meats. Stuffed to the gills we grabbed our bags and staggered to the Reims de la Gare to catch the first of the four trains that will deliver us into Switzerland.

Reims to Champagne-Ardenne is a short trip of 10 minutes. The Champagne-Ardenne station is a junction station in the middle of fields of barley. If you have ever wondered how fast a bullet train travels… this is a great place to get ‘up close and personal’ with a rocket on rails. Standing on our platform we saw in the distance what we thought would be our train… however, it did not stop… it did not even slow down… and within not more than the blink of an eye this monster steel snake shot past at 300 kmh and left us in its wake. It was an amazing experience… that lasted all of not more than a second. Shortly afterwards our bullet train rolled in to collect us for the for sprint to Strasbourg, close to the German border. Heading south west the mountains start to build on both sides, and within 2 hours we arrive at the Strasbourg city centre, just long enough to dash into the street for a few pics.

The third train of the afternoon is from Strasbourg to Basel (Bale), just over the border into Switzerland. Whilst Basel is a Swiss town, it sits on the point where Germany, France and Switzerland meet… kind of like Cameron’s Corner. Sadly we have only 15 minutes to transfer here to our 4th train of the day… Basel to Bern.

Whilst technically not a bullet train, the Swiss SBB trains maintain a rapid pace of around 160kph and are the most comfortable train so far. The carriage fills up with Swiss Guards just before we roll out of Basel station, but they all vacate at Olten, the only stop the train makes en route to Bern.

The Swiss do trains really well. Tunnels, one at least 20 kilometres long, and a lot of them as the Swiss Alps get closer.

We arrive in Bern just as night falls, and with packs on our backs walk to the ‘old quarter’ to find some digs for the night. This is a tough call, but we eventually find a small room up a narrow spiral staircase above a bar/street cafe. The Nydeck Hotel, 160 Swiss francs… not even sure how much that is!!!!

Tomorrow is something special. Interlarken and Jungfrau. The view that makes other views cringe in shame and embarrassment. It will be cold. We will have to wear ALL our t-shirts at once.