Mon cher Martignerain

You are right. It's rather difficult to find German names outside the 7 old districts; therefore I begun at Conthey/Gundis.
Martigny/Martinach, with the only remaining trade fair of Western Switzerland and the only place with a regular international Folklore Festival West of Fribourg is an exception, however.
It's a political exception too in a otherwise rather black and yellow dominated Canton.
And it's a real exception (or rather mess) concerninng international public transport:
if you want to go from Brig to Italy, you can cross the Simplon tunnel almost every hr and Swiss Half Fare Cards and Travel Passes are fully valid (up to Locarno);
but try to go by public transport from Martigny to Aosta:
during 3 days of the week you will find 2 daily buses where even small kids have to pay full fare and on the other 4 days you will have to make the detour via Chamonix - Courmayeur.
And never try to get any reduction at Televerbier or at the Philippin thing to Emosson, even with AG, Half Fare Card or whatever.

So, Martigny is really exceptional (as exceptional as Pascal Couchepin was as Federal Councel).

May be you can explain why?

First - I happen to hate "Folklore" anything with a passion. Very artificial I think.
Second - the SAVDA buses to Aosta are Italian and have their own "rules" about fares etc.
Third - Téléverbier is - like a lot of other lift companies - private. It decides whether to accept the HFC or not. Téléverbier (like most of the lifts in the Engadin) doesn't take the HFC and you cannot buy a "through" ticket say Geneva/Verbier if you plan to take the télécabine up. That is not my problem it is a fact of life!
Fourth - Martigny has excellent transport networks and is a wonderful town to live in. Great art, music etc as well. People come from all over Europe to visit the Fondation Gianadda.

I am not sure why you are picking on Martigny (but I have my suspicions) - frankly that is silly...

There must be a misunderstanding: I have absolutely nothing against Martigny: on the contrary!
I often use to hike there. In winter months for example along the sunny slopes from Branson via Tassonnieres - Planuit - Chiboz - Randonne to Ovronnaz, in spring along Bisse de Saxon or in summer from Col de lal Forclaz via Chalet du Glacier - Les Grands to Col de Balme to Réfuge Albert Premier, or - of course - between Ferret/Bourg St-Bernard/Mauvoisin and the Region autonome d'Aoste.
And you are right: I didnt' mention the most famous thing at Martigny: la Fondation Gianadda.

Nevertheless: the problem with the fares for TMR buses to Aosta (and for those of SAVDA too, of course) is not the relatively cheap Italian part, but the expensive Martigny - Bourg-St-Bernard part. I'm convinced that with this tariff system, this line will die rather soon.
Et cela fait mal au coeur!

Been to Martigny twice and found it a delightful town backdropped by awesome scenery.

Glad you have done and liked all that hiking - but none was actually here in Martigny! In adjoining communes...but nonetheless lovely. have you been to the Dinosaur tracks? That is a great hike (which I could no longer do but really enjoyed).
Actually I did not know that TMR runs bus service to Aosta - but they might. Bourg St Piere is Car postal which might be operated by TMR but I don't know that either (I find that TMR plays things very close to their chests!!)

Glad about this! I agree- from my window I see snow covered peaks and vineyards. Quoi de mieux?

This certainly became an interesting (and entertaining and educational) discussion. We are making progress with our trip plans ... my husband, who normally waits until the very last minute to read about our destinations, has plunged in and is offering suggestions. At the end of the trip, we are thinking of taking the train from Lausanne to Paris for a night (or two, if I have my way) so we can take the daily Delta flight direct from CDG to our home in Raleigh rather than an early flight from Geneva and fraught connection in Paris. I've read that the route is scenic and wonder if anyone has experienced it. Thanks again for sharing your expertise and advice.

The train ride from Lausanne through the Jura hills is scenic up to north of Dijon. From there up to Paris, it becomes somewhat more monotonous.
But it's a much nicer solution than a connecting flight from GVA to CDG anyway.

My connections through Paris have only been "fraught" if I haven't left enough time -- my bad, and perfectly avoidable. If I've booked all the way through, the airlines with which I've worked have done a magnificent job of getting me on to my connecting flight with minimal hassle. Maybe my experiences are unusual?

Do take the TGV Lausanne/Paris-Lyon. This lands you right in the midst of Paris. If you fly you have to go to Geneva, wait, security, wait, flight, then get bags and get into Paris. Estimated total time more than 5 1/2hrs. TGV Lausanne/Paris is 4. Route is not particularly scenic though. via Geneva it is more so BUT you waste 45mns getting to Geneva...

As the flights from Geneva dp 7.20 resp Basel dp 7.55 are Delta/AirFrance code share flights, there wouldn't be problems with the transfer at Paris CDG.
But it's much more comfortableto leave Lausanne by train the evening before (dp 18.23 - Paris ar 22.05) and to sleep in Paris.

I think the OP said he or his wife want to spend the last night in Paris. So the train is far better than a flight... And an evening in Paris is - well! An evening in Paris!!

Hello again, Fodorites.

I've made our travel and lodging arrangements and want to thank everyone who responded to my original posting for your counsel. I'm sharing the plans in case they're helpful to others who have similar taste/needs. We like to be able to sleep separately when we travel (snoring, day person/night person, even after 33 years of marriage) and my husband has some health issues and motion sickness concerns. We also like to limit our day-trip travel to 90 minutes one-way by train. Sorry if that's an overshare, but those are the factors that guide our planning.

Anyhow, we are flying to Zurich from Atlanta and spending five nights in a two-bedroom apartment in Luzern that's a short walk to the Emmenbrücke Gersag Train Station and a seven-minute ride from there into the center city. We'll plan to visit Rigi or Mount Pilatus; day trip to Bern; perhaps day trip to Basel or Zurich; hit the Luzern farmer's market on Saturday (I love markets); explore the old city.

Then we'll make our way by train to Murren, where we'll stay four nights in the two-bedroom apartment at the Hotel Alpenblick. If anyone has recent experience here, I'd love to hear your thoughts. We chose Murren over Wengen and Schilthorn over Jungfraujoch because of Bob's health/altitude/motion sickness concerns. I understand that getting to Murren can be a PITA, but overall, it seems the better choice for us given all of the above. We'll take the cable car to Schilthorn, see the falls in Lauterbrunnen, take a few walks and enjoy the scenery.

For the last leg of the trip, we go by train to the Lake Geneva region, where we will spend four nights in two rooms at the Auberge de la Gare in Grand Vaux. (Someone mentioned this hotel in another posting and I am enchanted by it -- and its restaurant.) We'll spend a day in Lausanne, visit vineyards and Castle Chillon and enjoy the wine region. This seems like a mellow and enjoyable end to the trip.

Finally, we'll take the train to Paris, spend one night at a hotel near CDG and take the direct flight home to Raleigh the next day. I still haven't done the Travel Pass/Half Fare Card math but am leaning toward the 15-day travel pass for the sake of convenience.

I'd be delighted to hear any restaurant recommendations in any of the places we're visiting. And any other sage advice.

Thanks again for your commentary.

You may also do more trips on boats and trains and city transits than you think and pass lets you just hop on anything that moves in Switzerland just about -even cows as of 2019! Book your train to from Lausanne to France early to get sweet discounts - www.oui.sncf. www.seat61.com has loads on doing that - general train info BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

I think you'll really like the Auberge de la Gare, and the vineyards. Sounds like a good trip.

Swiss Travel Pass also covers hundreds of sights for free entry- another factor for some.

In Lucerne, you might consider dining at the Wilden Mann, perhaps savoring their chugelipastete. Delicious!

Maybe re-think Mürren ? Mürren is the highest of all the villages in the immediate area - Wengen is 1200m and Mürren 1638m. For people with altitude-related problems sleeping up there might cause some concern. Schilthorn is 2970m which is about 500m lower than the Jungfrajoch BUT getting up there involves - from Mürren - a change of cable cars at Birg and the upper cable car might give some motion-related problems. (Cable car to get to Grütschalp where you take the train to Mürren is no joy either!! Stechelberg/Gimmelwald cable car is worse. I was once on that with a group of Indian visitors who were literally screaming in horror.

Yikes. I'll do some more research and perhaps find a less challenging alpine scenario, given the altitude and travel challenges for my husband. Further advice is welcomed on where we could spend a few days enjoying the mountains.

I don't really know anything about altitude sickness. Is it staying at high altitude that's a problem, but not necessarily short trips? If so, maybe consider staying on the valley floor in Lauterbrunnen or Grindewald. If it's a rapid ascent, then Murren requires a more rapid ascent than Wengen.