Even though Switzerland is famous for its mountains, the only mountain we visited on our trip was actually across the border in France. We took a bus to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and spent a day there enjoying some spectacular scenery.

There are a few options listed on Happy Cow and we settled on Sesame, which I believe was the only vegetarian place in the town. We understood that all but one dish (halloumi fries) on the menu was vegan, so we stopped by for a late lunch. It was a very small menu, and for us personally it was a bit unexciting, but it served us well enough.

I had the falafel bowl, which was ok. There were three falafel, which were quite dry but well seasoned. It was a slightly scant portion of hummus, and under seasoned for me. The tabbouleh was fine, quite fresh and flavoursome. There were only two small triangles of pita, that was disappointing. For the advertised roasted veg, I only got three bits of butternut squash that were slightly underdone, they still had a little too much bite. There was some good seasoning on the salad dressing and spicy sauce. For me there was far too much salad!

Mother HH got the hummus and focaccia from the smaller plates section. She received pita, but we saw them baking focaccia later, which made me wonder if the restaurant is more geared towards evening service, when everyone staying in the town has returned from a day in the mountains. The hummus was served with oil and seeds, and it was very smooth. She enjoyed it.

And Doctor HH got the burger. It was a meaty, juicy patty. There was a good chunk of cheese but it tasted just like Violife, which is not too exciting to long term vegans like us. There was very little sun-dried tomato, and he would have enjoyed more. The sauces were well seasoned, and it was all in a good robust bun. If you want fries, you need to order them separately (we did not get any, but we were asked if we wanted them).

We really wanted chocolate marquise for dessert, but they were sold out of all but one dessert: cheesecake. I’ve been underwhelmed by too many vegan cheesecakes so I resisted, but Mother HH tried it. The base was nutty and that was the main flavour she detected. The cheesy part was a bit bland or overwhelmed by the base, and it was semi frozen (again, making me think they’re focused on evening service). She liked it though.

Service was great, really welcoming and unrushed. There was lots of outdoor seating, but we sat indoors in our usual attempt to avoid smokers.

As for the scenery, it was really incredible. We took a train ride up to a glacier and then took a cable car down to an ice cave, which was extremely cold.

After the bad weather of the morning cleared, we also took two gondolas up to the mountain top. This was absolutely the most terrifying moment of my life. I’d never been up a proper mountain before, though I have read a lot of terrifying accounts of people climbing Everest and have a (very healthy, in my opinion) lot of fear about the perils of high places. The only thing more terrifying than the gondola ride was actually emerging at the top and looking down on the world below. Fortunately, the freezing temperatures gave me something to think about besides my absolute terror!

Anyway, there’s nothing like a thrill to make you feel alive! I’d still recommend it, even to cowards like me, because it was such a new experience to be up a real mountain surrounded by snow on a hot summer day. And there’s enough vegan food to make it a viable option too.