WCP415

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

Saturday Morning [June 1895]¹

My dear Annie²

Soon after your departure a letter from your Pa³ arrived, saying he could not start till the Friday after your return. So that is settled. I find by my ^new guidebook that the trains to top of Pilatus do run on Sunday & cheaper! So we can do Pilatus on Sunday, & on Monday leave for the mountains, unless we decide to stay a week on Pilatus. There is another hotel on the top (or near it) called the Klimsenhorn Hotel. This is, I think, rather smaller & cheaper, & when you go to Pilatus you might go there to lunch or get some slight refreshment (Soda water &c.) and ask them what they charge by the day, "tout compris", for 2-3 days or a week. I expect there are lots of rare plants on the mountain, & it could not be explored in a week. [2] Also do not forget to enquire about a small moderate hotel in Lucerne for us to go to when we get there – one near the Station preferred.

When you get this you will I suppose be revelling in the glories of Lake Lucerne & the mountains. I see there is another mountain called the Stangerhorn opposite Pilatus to the south-east, an inlet of the lake between them. It is higher than the Rigi but not so high as Pilatus, & has a little railway to top and a hotel; and as it is much less known than the Rigi & Pilatus it is probably cheaper. You can probably see at the Chalets, or at Lucerne one directory of [3] Hotels, & see what their prices are for "pension". I expect it would be a delightful place to stay a few days, as the views must be magnificent, and there are sure to be plenty of flowers as part of it is called the Blumatalp.

Let me know if you have had afternoon tea successfully with the lamp & kettle; also how you got through the journey, & all your adventures & what the Chalets are like, & what kind of a feast you had with your three meals on Sunday! Also if you have made any acquaintances among your fellow-travellers. Give my love to Bessie,⁴who I hope is enjoying herself [4] and likes Switzerland better than Rouen. Tell me also if Violet⁵ met you at the Station.

I have a letter today from Miss Jekyll⁶ enclosing some queries of a gentleman who wants to live at Lyme Regis & make a garden, & is afraid sea-air is not good for many plants! I think it is good for all plants if they are sheltered from wind. The garden looks & feels beautifully fresh this morning after the rain. Your Pa says there were mosquitoes at the Rhone Glacier when he was there but that was in August & they bit him!! But, as there are plenty of flowers I suppose he will dare the dangers of those infuriated Beasts! Hoping you do not find it too hot & humid.

Your ever affectionate | Alfred [signature]