Quiet Montreux

After a late breakfast this morning, I received a call from the electrician to say that he would come by and fit the replacement boiler thermostat this afternoon. I was eating lunch when he arrived, so he and his apprentice must have eaten (and probably got up and started work) earlier than I. The job was done in ten minutes, and the boiler began to work normally straight away. I was then free to go into town and do some shopping. It's not because I don't have transport to enable me to do one big weekly supermarket trip, but rather prefer to walk and buy what I need a little and often, which is preferable when catering for oneself. This combines nourishment and exercise!

The streets of Montreux are fairly quiet at the moment and apart from weekends the flow of traffic is less dense. It's taken the best part of two weeks to dismantle the lumberjack village log cabin themed Christmas market buildings along the quayside. It's  low season along the Riviera, and only a shortage of skiable snow would lead to an increase of lakeside visitors. Alpine resorts with ample snow are very busy this month, so down here, some restaurants, small stores and gift shops close down and take a holiday.

This week there's an elevated risk of avalanches as temperatures are not as low as they need to be, so snow is somewhat less stable. Zermatt and some other high resorts had colossal amounts of snow dumped in a short time, cutting off roads and railways, making skiing impossible, until the resort machinery could get to grips with it.  

It's rained little this past few day, so the skies have been mostly cloudy with a few sunny breaks. It has meant some beautiful sunsets however, and this evening was no exception, as the lake reflected the orange glow of the clouds. I wonder what it's like up in resorts that are above the cloudbase?