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We were informed yesterday afternoon that all the bars and restaurants in Switzerland were to be closed down at midnight. Time to head to Rocks while we still can.

It’s not just bars either. All non-essential shops have to close, so whilst we still have the Co-op, bakery and pharmacy, the sports and souvenir shops have all closed.

Today we’re continuing with our house move. Practically everyone in the village is unemployed now, so there’s no shortage of help.

The views from chalet Iltis make the effort worthwhile.

All that work, and we can’t even go to the pub. Criminal.

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It’s another beautiful day, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Wengen so quiet.

This morning Val popped down to Lauterbrunnen to see her boss Ben. I had a wander around. Summer is definitely coming.

The first flowers are appearing where the meadows are free of snow.

This afternoon we got the keys to our new chalet. We arranged to meet the electricity meter reader and took a few bits down. We’ll spend a few days doing this before we actually move in.

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The non-skiing season starts today, and the weather’s really nice. Off to Mürren for a walk.

We tried to get lunch at Winteregg, but they’re limited in 50 guests and were already full.

We walked on to Grütschalp.

The cable car took us back down to Lauterbrunnen, and we had lunch at Airtime. Empty train on the way back to Wengen.

Quiz later.

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Today the Jungfraubahn are going to try to operate our ski area within the constraints laid down by the government. To begin with, the cable car will now carry just 40 people rather than the usual 70.

Restaurants can only accommodate 50 people – including staff. Queues at Eigernordwand and the Bahnhof. This isn’t working.

Here’s a clue of what is to come. A member of staff from the railway company is putting up summer posters at the station.

Just after Val had finished her lesson, we got this.

So that’s the end of that. It’s easy to take the good life for granted up here in our elegant eyrie in the mountains, but with no guests, things are going to go downhill fast.

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Up until now the virus has had only a cursory impact on our village and its inhabitants. Bevez and Ibe had their weekly spot at the Caprice cancelled last week, only for it to be reinstated this week. There have been no cases of Covid-19 in Wengen or any of the neighbouring villages, and life for us has been pretty normal.

All this looks about to change. The federal government have decided to close all the schools for the next 3 weeks. In addition, gatherings of more than 100 people are banned. Bars and restaurants must not hold more than 50 people at a time – including staff. We already know that the Snowpenair concert at Scheidegg next month has been cancelled.

So what about our ski lifts? There’s been no official announcement from the Jungfraubahn yet, but it seems unlikely that they can operate the ski area within the new constraints.

No photos today; it’s been really foggy all day, and Val needed x-ray vision to guide her class from Männlichen round to Scheidegg this morning.

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The weather forecast isn’t great for today, but Ali has a rare day off so we’re going skiing regardless. The cable car stopped a couple of times on the way up as the gusts got stronger. At the top it was blowing a hoolie and the cable car promptly closed. We need to get round to Scheidegg, and we were very relieved to see that Gummi chair was still running when we got there. At the top.

From here it’s a straightforward run around to Scheidegg via Arven. It’s still very warm, and the people at the kiosk have filled their ice cream freezer and put it outside the shop.

We skied back to the village, and Ali went off to her German class. We ditched the skis and headed back up to Wengernalp. It’s Colin’s 50th birthday, and we’re having a barbecue next to the ski run.

A brilliant afternoon, with train drivers hooting us as they went past. Biggles the dog had a great time.

Happy birthday Colin. I expect that the celebrations will go on long into the night.

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Lovely evening out at Alison & Clive’s last night. Clive was sadly back in the UK.

The weather forecast was fantastic for today, so we slapped on the factor 30 and headed up to Scheidegg. Instead of the promised sunshine we got thick fog and really high temperatures.

Val’s colleague Ellie sent this photo from the top of the Lauberhorn. You can ski about 50 metres before you hit the top of the fog.

We had a ski through the murk and went for coffee. Eventually the fog began to disperse so we had another bash.

With the fog gone the temperature rose even further, and the snow turned to something resembling glue. Ah well, we tried. Uptown Lights at the Caprice later.