Switzerland in early April was another total spur-of-the moment decision. My original intention was to travel from Barcelona to Rome since April 9th was mail pickup date in Rome. Having a Eurail pass, I could jump on any train going anywhere. I noticed that one route I could take to Italy would briefly cross into Switzerland where France, Italy, and Switzerland have common borders around Mont Blanc. I also read that a youth hostel in Chamonix at the base of Mont Blanc was both comfortable and inexpensive. I took a local train to Chamonix that climbed slowly through the alps largely in the clouds though we occasionally popped out on top of the clouds and got glimpses of Mont Blanc. By the time I got to Chamonix station, I had developed my first and only cold during the first 7 months of my travels. The weather was cloudy, snowy, and cold and I was pretty miserable, so I found a bed in a corner and was grateful that I had packed some Nyquill cold medicine that knocked me out for a couple of days so I could recover. 43 years later, I would return to Chamonix for an amazing two weeks of clear weather during which my buddy, Milt Carter (who saw me off in Boston at the beginning of my trip and welcomed me home in San Francisco at the end), and I acclimated while cheering on participants in the Tour du Mont Blanc Ultramarathon and then we hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc staying in rustic mountain refuges.