Staying cozy
 al fresco

The balmy spring weather is playing hard to get in the Seattle area.   The occasional break of sunshine beckons us outside, but the coolness is a factor.

While in the Alps — I noticed the cool air didn’t stop people from lingering outdoors.  Even with snow on the ground, people were drawn to the comfortable outdoor seating for the fresh air, the view, and a drink or dessert.  What did they do to stave off the cold?
As they have for years, they offered good old fashioned animal skins and blankets, but these were the more chic sort of skins and blankets.  
At Chez Vrony, located in the small village of Findelbord, on the ski slope above Zermatt, they are always ready to après ski with plenty of blankets, shearlings and pillows on hand.  These blankets, printed with their logo made great party favors when my friends and I went for lunch, to read more about that day click on champagne, Assiette du Valais, and Chez Vrony.

In town, the fluffy outdoor seating at this restaurant along the charming, winding pedestrian streets of Zermatt was most inviting.

The chairs at a remarkable design shop across from the market in Chamonix, France were a nice place to pause and enjoy the view.

This shop is known for their hot chocolate.  They created benches of the windowsills of the shop, placed a silver shearling on top and and placed this simple, metal table in front.   This is a premium location for people watching in Zermatt, whilst sipping the best hot chocolate in town.  This maybe a little hard to see, because the colors are so subtle, but the shopping bag is on the silver shearling covered bench.

This door has nothing to do with the topic, but I loved the colors and the creativity of decorating a door with script.   It was a lovely sight while strolling through Interlaken, Switzerland on Easter morning.