How is THIS?!!!  I will never view the mountains in the same way again!  I have flown in over the alps to Geneva in winter, but today we were flown in a small, single-engined plane called a Robin, over all the areas we have ever walked in (and a few we haven't!).  What a thrill!  Years ago when we first had computer difficulties here we enlisted the support of a computer geek in a village below called La Poste.  As he spoke NO English he enlisted the help of a friend who did and Remy has remained our friend ever since!  A smashing guy who has lived in Australia for a few years so his English is good, each year we phone him or he phones us and then we meet and catch up on our lives.  Normally, if it's winter, he comes to ski above us and then skis down to visit us, after which he skis off the edge of our patio and home through the forest!  In summer, he will walk up the mountain and hike for most of the day in the peaks above us then visit on his way home - he makes us feel OLD!!!!  But in the nicest way!  Anyway he announced this trip that he has his pilots licence and would like to take us up so we met at the tiny airfield in Bex in the Rhone Valley below at 11 am and up we went.  First down the valley and out over Lake Geneva, then up over the mountains to Gruyere and Gstaad and then over the Diableret Glacier (a picture of which is above) and then he steered the tiny plane along all the hiking routes we have ever done!  And I was impressed - with US!!!!!  It is absolutely formidable up in the mountains and yet we, OAP, my sis and I, managed some great hikes.  Sis, the only one we didn't fly over was that hellish high lake set in a sort of volcanic crater place in the mountains where it was SO steep that we never thought we'd get there, then SO steep walking back that it was almost as hard going down as going up!! The hike around Anzeindaz was incredible and here I must add another picture of the 'miroir' where we sometimes see people climbing - like tiny ants against the rock face!

,Whether there's anyone on the rock face I don't know but doubt it as today is Tuesday and they normally climb over the weekend.

In the pic above you can vaguely see a zigzag path going up and there were people on the path heading for the summit of this mountain whose name I can't remember but we actually look out onto it.  On the 1st August - Swiss National Day - there will be a blazing bonfire on top and today the climbers were hauling the firewood up to the summit for the bonfire!

And this is our little Robin with OAP on the left and Remy, our pilot, standing on the wing. 
What a day!  Which, I might add, began with a panic as we suddenly realised we'd double dated ourselves as the car was due for it's MOT (Roadworthy to the SA readers!) at 10am.  We got there at 9, no one spoke English, my French was understood but their replies were not understood by me and we caused havoc by placing ourselves plonk outside the doors when we should have parked in the little diagonal bays at 90 degrees to the doors!  But being Swiss they were incredibly polite and just drove round us until it was our turn!  I had to do it as my French is better than OAPs and it was fascinating - and fast!  I'll tell you about it in an email!