Shopping Spree in St. Tropez

Mike & I have been talking about how living here for an extended
period is different from, say, a two week vacation. Our trip to St. Tropez today was a good example. It was market day in St. Tropez and there were lots of stalls - food, jewelry, clothes, meats, cheeses, olive oils - you name it. If we were there on vacation I would have scoured the market for table
cloths - there were some lovely ones- little souvenirs, lavender
scented anything & maybe some jewelry. Mike would have been looking at
cooking gadgets to bring home. And we both would have been purusing
the food for any small things we could nibble on, all the time wishing we were
able to cook.

Today we has an opposite experience. First we shopped
for our meals through Saturday - our next market day. We bought meats,
cheeses, lots of veggies & strawberries fresh from a neighboring
town. Oh & pate, too. (It's odd that I'll eat things here that I would
never touch at home!). I skipped all the linens but glanced at clothes
- maybe another time.

After the market we wandered the streets & little shops. We had a big
shopping day! Our haul: 2 eggs cups for me (I'm eating lots of soft boiled eggs for breakfast since I have to skip the bread ), S hooks to hang lanterns from the tree, candles for the house, and our big achievement - a plastic cutting board! You have
no idea how hard it was to find that.


And, by the way, St. Tropez is lovely. It wasn't too busy except at the
market. The town is on the Bay of St. Tropez & the water is beautiful. We walked up to the Citadel for views across the bay. There were peacocks in the trees which the British tourists were calling cranes. We're glad to see St. Tropez before the crowds hit. We even watched a hot game of boule in the square.


Speaking of boule, Mike & I got a lesson from a couple we met in
Cotognac - Dave & Karen. They live in DC but have been in Cotignac for
6 months. They took us to the boule courts & gave us lessons in the basics. I
won't be a boule champion anytime soon. Can't speak for
Mike though! Since Dave & Karen are leaving for home soon we bought their
boule sets so we can practice! This is another thing we would not have
done on a vacation trip.

We've also found that we're spending more time imvestigating small
towns in our area. If we were on vacation we would be in bigger places
& in museums. This weekend, for example, we were at the market in Aups
when we ran across a flyer for a plant sale in Villecroze. So we put
off our plant purchases ( something else that's not a vacation
shopping item) for the plant market. Well - what a pleasant surprise! The
park in Villecroze is lovely. It has a waterfall that cuts into the
cliffs with landscaped grounds all around. Delightful. It's so fun to
stumble upon something so unexpected. (Sorry,no photos. We forgot the camera.)
From there we went to TourTour, a village perched on a hilltop. After
wandering the streets we saw a pretty secluded terrace with a few
tables under a big tree. It was charming. Turns out it was a
restaurant. We couldn't resist having lunch there. The owners are a
husband & wife team - she cooks & he waits tables & talks to guests.
They have a total of four - yes, four, tables - all outside under the
tree. The food was excellent including the strawberry mousse.


We also find that we're doing more local things. I wrote about the
concert before. This weekend we're going to a "cowboy soirée". Yep-
that's right. Boots, hats, country music & line dancing. The dancers
were at a kids "carnaval" this weekend so we saw their outfits - too
funny. The event is Saturday night and includes "apertifs & chili con
carne.". We'll provide a full report next week!


The last big differnce from vacationing is that we can take advantage of things
that take time. For example, I started French lessons this week.
It's definitely going to help. We worked on pronounciation so
maybe I can lose the Texas twang with my French accent! This is an
opportunity to learn the language that I am unlikely to have again.

So that's it - the big differences between living & vacationing.
Either one is a good choice.


PS : For those of you following the tire saga- it's over. The correct
tire was delivered & Mike took the car to Nice to have it put on. We
now have 4 matching tires!
But a new challenge has arrived. The hard drive on our computer
crashed. Thankfully Dell sent a new one to Mike's brother who will be
the delivery man next week when they come over. The only trick now is
to recover our files (including work on my book that I had not backed
up - stupid)from the last few days. We're hoping to retrieve the files. In the meantime, I wrote this blog on the iPhone - so please excuse the odd formating.

PSS: I have to brag on Mike. He worked the tire issue until it was taken care of and he was on the phone with Dell first thing this morning. He's been great with all these little challenges.

Springtime in Provence

It looks like Spring and warm weather have finally arrived. The last several days have been glorious – warm and sunny afternoons but still a little chilly at night. I think I can put my coat away! With the sun, the flowers are coming out. There are red poppies growing from rocks, mimosas (bushes with bright yellow, pompom-like flowers - not at all like the mimosa trees we have in Texas)
are in bloom and fill the air with fragrance, iris are about to bloom all over the yard, and the apricot and fig trees are coming out. Grape vines are sprouting at our house and in the vineyards all around Cotignac. It’s wonderful to see life emerging.



We’ve been enjoying the markets and are trying to pace ourselves with all the fresh produce that’s available. Mike has made some wonderful dishes. He’s enjoying trying new recipes from the Provence cookbook that we found in the house. So far he’s made a carrot dish with black olives. It was great partly because the carrots are so fresh they still have dirt on them. They even sliced differently. We had a roast chicken with fresh herbs stuffed under the skin – very yummy. And, the chicken came with the head and feet still attached! But the best thing yet is a fish dish he prepared early in the week. The fish is left whole (but cleaned) and placed on a bed of coarse sea salt. The fish is then completely covered with more sea salt so that you can’t see any of the fish in the pan. It looks like a huge pile of salt. It’s baked for a half hour and the salt forms a sort of crust. When it’s done, you crack open the crust, dust off the fish, peel back the skin and – viola! – the best fish ever….and I do mean ever! Needless to say, we are eating very well and this doesn’t include the fabulous cheeses, yogurts, fruit, honey and wines. …just one more food story. We were in Toulon yesterday and my lunch came with dessert. I choose a soft Corsican cheese that is pressed into a basket, sliced and served drizzled with local honey. A splash of raspberry coulis and it was masterful. I almost licked the plate!

We’ve had mini excursions including several lovely walks around Cotignac. One took us by an old chapel – Chapelle St. Martin. Another went to a monastery on the hill above us. We went to the perfume factories in Grasse and learned how perfume is made. It was very interesting and I bought some perfume – made possible courtesy of a gift from my staff before I left. Grasse turned out to be a charming town and we enjoyed our visit. Yesterday we traveled to Toulon to learn about the World War II invasion. Toulon is a mixture of new and old buildings because – as we learned – so much of the old city was blown up during the war.
There is a war memorial on the very top of a mountain in Toulon. The trick was to get to it. There was a VERY narrow and winding road all the way to the top. The road hugged the side of the mountain with one side a rock ledge and the other side a shear drop to the sea. As we got closer to the top the road seemed to disappear into the sky. It was very unnerving. Mike did a great job navigating it. We agreed that it was, hands down, the worst road we’ve ever been on and we’ve driven tiny lanes in Ireland and mountain roads on the edge of the Alps in France. Nothing compares to this one. The good news is that, first, we made it safely and, second, the view from the top was spectacular. The war memorial was also very informative and gave us a much better appreciation for the impact of the war on the south of France.


For those of you following the tire saga, it’s still not over. We went to Nice and left the car to have the new tire installed. The tire, as you may recall, was shipped from Germany just for us. When we returned to the dealership to pick up the car we were informed that the wrong tire had been sent. It seems that the front and rear tires are different and they had shipped a front tire when we needed the rear one. [heavy sigh] So, the correct tire has now been delivered and Mike goes on Friday to try – one more time – to get the tire issue resolved. Keep your fingers crossed. And I won’t even start on the story of UPS delivery (or not) of our rail tickets for Spain.

And on our final note for this blog, we learned how to correctly pronounce the name of our town. It seems that we’ve been saying it wrong all this time. We thought it was Co-tig-nac. But noooo. It’s Co-ti-gnac. The “gnac” sound is like cognac. Glad we learned this early on in our stay!

French Sing Along

We’ve had another busy (in the French view of time) week. We’re settling into a routine with me walking in the mornings, coffee & tea in town, doing some writing, lunch on the patio and an afternoon of exploring neighboring villages.
Mike has become proficient with clothes washing and drying. He found a contraption in the house for a clothes drying rack. It’s easier than climbing the terraces to the clothes line.

We tried to go on an organized hike with a local group but were not able to find their meeting spot – we got contradictory information. So, we made our own hike. We went to Lac Carces and walked for a couple of hours by the lake. We stumbled over a small canal that draws water from the lake so we followed it for awhile and came across a beautiful waterfall. It was a delightful afternoon full of unexpected surprises – the best kind. We found some other charming places this week including Aups, Entrecasteaux and an 12th century abbey built by Cistercian monks. It was beautiful in its stark way.


Today we went to a Medieval Festival in St. Maximin. It was like our Renaissance Festival in that it had people dressed in costumes and vendors with the usual swords, lancets, shields and dragon jewelry. This one was different, however, as it was in the shadow of a 4th century basilica. The basilica was beautiful and they were practicing for a concert that evening using the big organ. That was a nice treat.


We have been trying different restaurants and cafes in town. This week we stopped into the Modern Bar. Mike says that it is the Chick and Ruth’s of Cotignac. I think that’s being gracious to the Modern Bar. It’s clearly the hangout for the working guys and nonworking guys. It’s bustling and loud. People are outside drinking beer from opening until closing. They even have wine on tap. We’re probably not going to venture back into the Modern Bar!

Monday we go to Nice to finally get our tire replaced. What a saga! Mike has made call after call. Mercedes North America were the ones who finally got this worked out. Mercedes shipped a tire from Germany to Nice. They let us know that the tire was available in Nice and “all we had to do” was call to make an appointment for installation. Easier said than done. That took two tries since the first call was between Mike and someone who spoke only French. He finally hung up on Mike. Next I tried with my limited French. That went better particularly once the woman on the phone spoke English. Whew. Anyway, we get the tire on Monday. We’re making an excursion out of it. We’re going through Grasse to tour the perfume manufacturing operations. Eighty percent of the world’s perfume is made in Grasse.


The most entertaining event of the week was our “concert” in Cotignac on Saturday night. We made an evening of it with dinner before hand. (I almost mistakenly ordered a bottle of wine instead of a glass. It was listed for 9 euros so I assumed it was a glass. No – that was the price for the whole bottle! The glass was 2.5 euros. That’s definitely the cheapest thing to drink in town!) Afterward finishing the most amazing ice cream I’ve ever tasted, we set off for the concert. Remember, this is a tow of 2200 people. The concert was in a small town hall with plastic chairs and a little stage. A woman was in the back putting out paper cups and cookies. Very quaint. The performance was a one-man show. The best we can tell, he was singing the songs of a well known French singer. It was like someone performing John Denver songs. Everyone loved it and would sing along with most songs. Of course, we couldn’t understand. I was at least entertained by trying to pick out a word here and there. I averaged about ten words per song. It’s hard to develop a storyline with only ten words and some of those are prepositions. The effect was something like this.

“Les lys (the lilies)………..avec (with)…...Je suis (I am)………..……jolie (pretty)……..fleur (flower)……..…[everybody sing along now]…les lys, les lys…………...couleur (color)……....demain (morning)……….petite (small)……..” enthusiastic clapping

This went on for 2 hours and 15 minutes! He took no breaks (except to recite some poetry). We couldn’t leave. Towards the end he was singing a song with what seemed like a jillion verses – and he kept forgetting the words. The audience would help him out. Finally, he had to give up on the last verse – no one could remember. He did one more song and took a bow. Mike and I sprinted for the door. We were almost there when he started yelling about “le porte” (the door) and pointing to us. Oh my. It seems he remembered the last verse to the song and we couldn’t leave until he sang it. The whole experience was an evening to remember. Oh…and the concert started at 9PM!

We're Not Kidding - It's Narrow!

This will be a short blog post, but I wanted to share the series of photos that Mike took of me driving the car up the road and the driveway. This was my second time and was able to do it successfully without Mike coaching me in the car. Of course, to take these pictures, he had to walk up the steep hill in front of the car. Once again, I got the better deal. He's such a good husband! So here we go....













Since I'm writing - here are a few more photos from today. Here's what the grape vines look like this time of year. They are just starting to put out new growth.

Mike took this great shot of one of the MANY cats around Cotignac. We'll have an entire libary of these by the time we leave!


Finally, we had a nice lunch in Cotignac today. We went to the pizza restaurant. It was a beautiful sunny day, but you can see that it was still chilly. I'm bundled up in a sweater and coat. It's worth noting that the French women were in tank tops.

Settling In

We’re beginning to feel settled in our home away from home. Mike’s even mopping the kitchen floor while I type. I got the better end of the deal!


We spent the weekend unpacking and shopping for staples and supplies for the house. It’s funny the things that are difficult to find here – Ziploc bags, dental floss and face cloths, for example. Our first stop on Saturday was at the big market in Brignoles – the closest large town to us. As always, the produce looked so good we bought more than we could eat in a few days – fresh arugula, asparagus, morel mushrooms, goat cheese, parmesan reggiano, olives, and homemade ravioli. And, we’ve eaten well thanks to Mike’s cooking! We also went to the supermarket and got other foods and supplies. Once we got home, we remembered all the things we’d forgotten (paper towels)– of course. I should mention that it’s a 25 minute drive to the supermarket so there’s no running back to the store for last minute items and no Farm Store around the corner.

On Sunday we went to a plant market in Carces. I read about it on a poster during my morning walk. I was pleased that I understood since it’s all in French. We enjoyed picking out some plants and talking with the sellers. Mike bought three types of tomato plants and I bought several geraniums for pots on the patio. The nice man selling the geraniums spoke some English. He helped me understand some of the French words that were new to me. As we talked, Mike told him that I was trying to learn French. He laughed and offered that the best way to learn French was to sleep with a French man! Think I’ll stick with Rosetta Stone.


Today we hit the jackpot. We discovered the French version of Wal-Mart (but at a smaller scale). We were able to get everything (special shampoo and face cleanser for me, a hairdryer with some oomph, a bath mat, and sharp knives for Mike) but face cloths (we’ve since learned that they don’t use face cloths – they use hand mitts). I’ve never been so excited to see a Ziploc bag. The store is entertaining, too. How is it possible to have SO many types of yogurt? Yogurt takes up two aisles, and the cheese case takes another two aisles. Astounding. The meat case has all the usual selection plus 20+ types of foies gras. We were in the shopping center for hours. We discovered a French garden center, and their version of Home Depot. I found a health club that I hoped included a swim center but their pool was too small for laps. The closest lap pool is in Toulon – over an hour away. I’ll just have to swim a jillion laps in our tiny pool. The other issue was that no one spoke English since this commercial area was away from the tourist center. That made it even more entertaining. Try figuring out French cell phone plans using charades!

The weather has not been great, but it doesn’t matter. Today was Monday, it was raining, and we were not at work. I’ll take the rain. It’s also cold and an old French house is not great for warmth. The house has two wood-burning stoves so we searched all afternoon until we found kindling (the garden store). Mike made a toasty warm fire that I’m sitting in front of now.


We moved a small desk from an upstairs bedroom into the salon for my writing. The desk sits in a large window overlooking the view of the valley. It gets good light and is a perfect spot. I’ve already spent two mornings there. Couldn’t be better.

I’ve also had nice long walks the last couple of days. I even ran a mile this morning so maybe I’ll be able to get back into running soon. The mornings have all been beautiful and sunny with clouds and rain arriving in the afternoon. Each morning is a sensory experience. I walk outside to be greeted by the smell of pines and the chiming of bells from the church in town and the monastery on the hill. In town there’s the smell of fresh bread baking. The plants are still coming out. Forsythia is blooming in our yard, wisteria on the hillside is about to bloom, our apricot trees are barely starting and the grape vines are still just branches. I can’t wait to follow along with the seasons. I’m having another type of sensory experience as well – sore muscles. Since Cotignac is built into the side of a cliff, any way you walk is up…..and I mean UP.



Mike and I are getting into a routine. We’ve walked into town each morning for coffee, tea and a croissant for Mike. It’s delightful. This is a very small village (2200 population) but it has three bakeries. Mike has tested each of them! And, one of them bakes gluten free bread. I tried it today and it tastes too good. I’m skeptical but I had another slice with dinner with the best butter on the planet. I understand why Julia Child was inspired by butter. It’s definitely not Bluebonnet.

Friends are asking up how it feels to be living here. For me at least, the answer is still forming. After unpacking on our first day in the house I thought, “What are we going to do with our time?” But it hasn’t been an issue at all, plus, we haven’t turned on the TV yet. Running errands and rearranging things in the house to make it livable for an extended period have helped me start to feel like we’re making ourselves at home. We’re making an effort to do local things. We have a concert on Saturday night, a kids carnival and….get this, a Cowboy Dance next weekend. Those little things begin to make a difference. Still, I’m not yet fully “here.” I don’t think there will be a single moment of clarity but more a gradual meshing of us with this area. More to come on that.

Postscript: Great news! The hair dryer had plenty of power, my shampoo made my hair fluffy (very important), I learned how to work the towel warmer, AND I drove the car up the road and driveway for the first time (picture will follow). Yippee!

Ulysses' Journey

Our trip from Geneva to Cotignac was like the journey of Ulysses. Like Ulysses we started with great hopes for a fast trip. Also, like Ulysses, it didn’t turn out quite as we expected.


And on the morning we left for France, I went for a long walk (okay, I confess, I ran a few steps, too) before we started our long drive to Cotignac. There was low cloud cover and a heavy haze so that the mountains were completely obscured. Even so, I was struck by the beauty. I walked along the water front in a large park. It had such tall trees and vast expanses of green lawns. Well cared for flower beds were already blooming this early in the season. Trees looked like they were waiting for just the right moment to burst into flower. There were people walking, running and meandering through the sculptures and fountains that were placed around the park. It was lovely, even without the mountains. And every person I met greeted me with a cheery “bon jour.” The people here are so nice and helpful. I think being surrounded by beauty makes people happier.

We packed up for one last time. Watching me and Mike squish us and all the bags into the tiny European elevators is like those old films of college students trying to cram as many people as possible into a phone booth.

And then, life happened. We had a flat tire. And not just any kind of flat – a side wall puncture. Mike started his morning by unloading the bags and putting on the temporary spare tire. Then began the search for a Mercedes dealership. Thankfully, the navigation system is pre-programmed with Mercedes dealers. Score one for Mercedes. The closest dealer had a power outage and directed us to a very large dealership in the suburbs. They were most helpful despite the language difficulties. My French was of very little use. Here’s the bad news. The tire is so new that the dealerships don’t even have them yet. Minus two for Mercedes. They would have to order the tire from Stuttgart. They were very nice to us and found a used tire that would enable us to get to France where we’ll have to order a new one. At least they’ll got us on our way – three hours late – with minimal problems other any annoyance. All in all, it’s okay. This stuff happens and we’re not really pressed for time which was a good thing.

Based on Mapquest the trip from Geneva through Gap (a Tour de France destination) to Cotignac, the drive was going to take 5 ½ hours. Not so. It took more than 8 hours with a short stop for lunch. Maybe Ulysses used Mapquest, too. However, I will say that the section between Grenoble and Gap was stunning. It was probably nice coming out of Geneva, too, but the cloud cover was too low for us to see the mountains.

We had arranged to meet our rental agent, Ruth, at the house. We’d emailed from the Mercedes dealership that we’d be late due to the tire, but it became clear that we’d be much later than we’d expected. We tried to call her only to discover that we’d somehow written the number wrong – or I was dialing incorrectly. Eventually, we stopped along the way for me to go through all the files I’d brought to find her number. We looked in all the bags and never found it. Guess I wasn’t quite so organized after all. We assumed that Ruth would figure out that we were detained, which she did.

We arrived in Cotignac about 7:45PM; got the car up the VERY narrow incline (I think the street is more narrow in a new Mercedes!) and up the steep driveway. We were so relieved to finally arrive. What a journey. After finding the keys we walked into our new home to be greeted by fresh flowers and a bottle of wine from Ruth and a card from our dear friend, Dan. I was in tears by the time we finished reading the card. It gave us the boost we needed to tackle unloading the car. After much to and fro, we dropped all the bags on the first floor and walked into town for a late dinner. We went to the first little restaurant on the square – there were only two places open – and had an amazing dinner. As a side note – thankfully prices are back to “normal”. Meals are about half what they were in Switzerland and gas is down to $4.75 per gallon.


Where Ulysses met the Cyclops, we’re were met by Skeeter, aka Sam. When we walked into the house in Cotignac, Sam greeted us. Sam is the owner’s cat who now lives next door but who visits frequently. Sam has been in and out of the house since we arrived. And – when we went to dinner that evening, they only had one small table available. The restaurant is tiny and it was buzzing! I tried to pull my chair out but it was very heavy and there was something tangled in the table cloth. It was like there was a big, heavy lump under the table cloth on the chair. The lump was warm and soft – a little disconcerting. When I lifted the end of the table cloth, there was a calico cat happily snoozing on the chair. The waitress dumped him off but he returned later to sit in my lap over dessert. They may not be Skeeter, but they are nice, furry reminders of our little kitty.

So, today is a beautiful day and I’m writing on the patio overlooking the valley. Nice. So, like Ulysses, we arrived safe and sound and Mike didn't have to slaughter anyone! Oh...and we were also visited by our "Sirens" - the frogs.

And, tomorrow will be another, and another, and….

Geneva

Our travels today took us all around Geneva, via bus and trolley. We walked through a large garden and around town and got a glimpse of Mont Blanc. The unexpected highlight was a tour through the crypt at the cathedral. The area was under excavation when Mike was here in 1990. The crypt is now available for tours and was fascinating. It was interactive and showed the four churches that had occupied that site starting in 100AD with the burial of a chieftain whose bones are still there and partially visible. I’m not a big fan of touring churches and crypts even less so, but this was definitely worth it.


We finished the day with a tour of the original United Nations headquarters. It’s set on a hill overlooking the Lake. Peacocks wander the grounds as a living memorial to the man who donated the land to the City. He kept peacocks in his original garden. The tour was more interesting than I expected, particularly after the inefficiencies of the entry and ticket purchase process. I kept thinking – typical government processes and building. There were boxes and partitions stacked around giving the building a cluttered, lived in, don’t-know-what-to-do-with-all-this-stuff appearance. Once we got on the tour, however, it was stimulating and educational. (Why am I always reminded how limited my knowledge of world history is? Didn’t we learn this stuff in school in Texas?) The building, built in the 1930s, was home to the original League of Nations as envisioned by Woodrow Wilson. Ironically, the US was never a member because the US Senate wouldn’t ratify the treaty. Some things never change. We saw the original General Assembly room that is now in NYC. We also saw a beautifully painted room – donated by Spain in the 30s – with each wall depicting progress in some area such as human rights, medicine, work, etc. Interestingly, all of the figures were men – all of them (except for a few women crying for their husbands). Seems like we need a new wall on the progress of women. When I asked, the tour guide’s explanation was that the painting was done in the 30s. He went on to say that the building contains numerous references to Christianity which would obviously not be acceptable today, either.

Some random thoughts -

- Why do all these cities have super efficient bus service with real-time arrival information and the US doesn’t (and it’s provided free to hotel guests)
- How there can be a market for THIS many expensive watches (there are watch shops every few feet)
- Why there is every possible kind of food (Peruvian, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Ethiopian) EXCEPT Mexican (Honestly, we finally saw one Mexican restaurant in Geneva. It was fun to see enchiladas and tacos explained in French! )
- And mostly, I don’t understand fancy, high-heeled shoes on cobble stone streets.

Nice Days on Lake Geneva

Thanks to everyone who has been following us so far. The internet service in our hotel in Lausanne was broken last night so we took a break from email. We’re in Geneva now and seem to have a good connection.

We had a lovely drive from Bern through the mountains into Lausanne. The mountains are fabulous. We stayed in Lausanne last night on the shores of Lake Geneva. The view is across the water to snow covered mountains. Amazing. Two of my favorite things – water and mountains.

I have to say that I’ve been feeling better the last couple of days. I think it’s a combination of the peacefulness of the mountains, recovering from jet lag, and getting better at dealing with the luggage. Still, I’ll be glad to get to our home-away-from-home in a couple more days. I’m craving settling in, shopping for food to fix at home and becoming comfortable with the area. And I can’t wait to start the next round of changes to my book! I’m ready for that now. During our travels, Mike and I have found a couple of approaches to our travel that seem to work best for us. One is to pick a spot as a base and do day trips from there (like we did last year out of Cotignac). The other is to go only short distances in a day – like we’ve done on this trip. The only exception will be our drive from Geneva to Cotignac which will be five hours. Ugh.

Back to the experiences of the last couple of days. We left off in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. I got up early for a morning walk along the river front to discover farmers and merchants setting up for a big market along the main corridor. Mike was, of course, thrilled. It was the first market we’ve seen this trip and the first of many more to come. It was fun to walk through and think that in a few days, we can shop for our own meals at a market like this. Can’t wait!


Our drive took us into the Swiss countryside for two culinary adventures. The first we enjoyed in Gruyeres – the town that gives the cheese its name. We saw a cheese-making demonstration that was, well, cheesy. But the town was charming, situated on a hilltop with a castle and shops rambling down the slope. These little towns can have the most obscure museums. This one had an “alien” museum. It was put together by the man who made the movie “Aliens”. We couldn’t justify the admission price, so someone else will have to try it.
But the culinary adventure was VERY yummy. The area is known for its meringues – hard, crispy, sweets made from egg whites. (The town of Meringen is only a few kilometers away.) They are served with “double cream”. We had two meringues of which I ate almost all of both. The combination was heaven.


Our next culinary adventure was in Gstaad. Gstaad is another charming mountain town surrounded by soaring peaks. Gstaad is home to the rich and famous and you could definitely tell – Hermes, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and more. The shops were picture perfect – almost too much so.
Personally, I didn’t love the town. It was too pretentious for my taste. There was a shop called “Temporary Outlet”. It was the only one I went in thinking there might be some great bargain. Not so much. The clothes were all Valentino, Dior, Dolce Gabana, etc. The sales people glowered as I looked through the clothes. There was a nice leather Valentino jacket for 7,000 Euros – AT THE OUTLET. I decided to pass. We left and went to lunch – Swiss fondue! It was the real thing made primarily with the local gruyere cheese. Fondue is typically served with bread which I can’t have. At my request, they very nicely prepared apples and potatoes for me. And here’s the big news – I discussed my special need with the waitress all in French! It may not have been grammatically correct, but she and I got the job done. And the fondue was fabulous. Mike and I ate almost the whole pot of cheese (no – it wasn’t full).

Our drive through the mountains into the lake region was spectacular. It was a tiny road through the snow-covered mountains with dramatic drops into the valleys and mountains high overhead. As we came into the lake area, the terrain changed to a wine growing region. Vineyards were being cultivated on every possible surface. Mountainsides were terraced for the vines. They must tending the vines by hand since equipment would not be able to access the steep mountain sides and for such small patches of land. It’s a far cry from the county-sized farm lands of Texas.

Finally, we reached the southern end of Lake Geneva. It’s so beautiful with the mountains ringing the Lake. We stopped at Montreux for a cup of coffee and a walk along their promenade. Kids were everywhere on little scooters enjoying the sunshine and ice cream. It’s all so very Swiss.
You can tell because every other shop sells Swiss army knives! They are absolutely everywhere! I didn’t know they made this many types of knives and they are very expensive. Mike took a picture of what he says is the mother of all Swiss army knives. It was more than 1000 Euros! I can’t say that I understand paying that kind of money for a knife but then, I can’t imagine paying 7000 Euros for a coat either.

We enjoyed our stay overnight in Lausanne. It too is on the lake and our hotel room overlooked the water and mountains. Ideal. I took a long walk this morning along the shore and it was magnificent. Every day should start like this. When I got back, Mike was already showered and packed up! We took the bus up the big hill into the old town in search of a bakery and café.
In the process we saw the old town hall where Mozart played two concerts when he was 10 years old. They also have a magnificent gothic cathedral built in 1270. There were fruit, vegetable, cheese and meat stalls set up all around so that was fun, too. And even tortilla chips!

After our visit to the old town area, we went to the Olympic Museum. We’d both forgotten that Lausanne is the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee. And what I nice spot they picked! The museum was interesting and included all of the Olympic torches. It went through the history of the establishment of the Games. From there we headed to Geneva.

We’re staggering from the price of the food here. We decided to buy some bread, meats and cheese and eat dinner in the room. After all the meringues and fondue, I mostly skipped dinner – except for a glass wine (you can’t skip everything!). We even had leftovers for a picnic lunch today. Here’s an example of food prices in Geneva. For dinner, Mike had a pizza (a very yummy, wood fired pizza) for about $21 and I had a salad nicoise for about $20. In an upscale restaurant, the entrees alone would be between $30-50 each. I can eat a lot of picnic meals for that amount of money!

And, then there are gas prices. The prices were high in Germany but increased in Switzerland. Mike calculates that the price per gallon is $6.45. The car gets good gas mileage but, at these prices, it adds up quickly. We’re hoping the price will come down once we get to France.

We arrived in Geneva by mid-afternoon and spent some time exploring the old section of the city. Where yesterday was a stunning day with blue skies and warm weather, today was much cooler and cloudy. It made walking around less fun. But, we saw the main sights including a clock made from flowers, and the huge water jet that defines Geneva. Our room is nice so we’re looking forward to relaxing before our last day in Switzerland.

The Best Day so Far!

Just when I think it can’t get better, it does. We drove from Lucerne to Bern, Switzerland via Interlaken and several small villages in the Alps. These villages – Grindelwald, Wengen, and Kandersteg - are literally at the end of the road that dead ends into a mountain. And these are no wimpy mountains. They loom high overhead and dwarf the villages.
They include the Eiger (Mike was excited because of the Clint Eastwood movie “The Eiger Sanction”, so we got his picture in front of the Eiger –just like Clint!) and Jungfrau and many others. There are simply no words that can adequately describe what it looks like so I’ll just take a stab at how it feels.


I discovered that there is something about the mountains that attracts me. When I am among them I feel my heart rate slowing, my breath deepening, and a feeling of calmness descending. How great is that? Somehow the mountains put everything into the proper context that is missing in the bustle of a city. A city seems so self important with the business, cars, clothes, buildings and sense of control. But the mountains provide a different space – they give off strength and power. I feel more a part of the bigger existence there and also more at the proper scale. I don’t know how else to describe it – it just feels so good.


On to other observations. Grindelwald is my sort of town! There was a meditation center next door to a burrito restaurant, next door to a chocolate shop. Now…what can be better than that? As we traveled through these mountain villages, we were also on a mission to find apple sauce. As many of you know, I eat dietary supplements each morning with a little bit of apple sauce. I brought some with me but am now out and need to restock. Didn’t think it would be hard, but I was wrong. We tried several grocery stores. They have 100 types of chocolate (nothing wrong with that), 200 types of sausage, about a 1000 types of yogurt, taco shells (yep, taco shells) and NO apple sauce. It’s the oddest things that make a place feel different from home! In Kandersteg we saw people parasailing off the mountain tops. It must be a beautiful view from up there.


Mike and I both have noticed how clean everything is – and I mean everything. We’ve been in WCs in train stations all over Switzerland. They are nothing like a typical restroom in an Amtrak station, for example. These are spotless and even smell good (Mike says they smell inviting)! Where the restrooms are super clean, the food is super expensive and I mean VERY expensive. The only thing that is a bargain on the menu is the wine (nothing wrong with that).

The people have been unbelievably friendly and helpful. They mostly speak German so they haven’t been subjected to my spotty French. They go out of their way to provide advice, help, directions, anything they can. For example, we had a delightful lunch in Lauterbrunnen. The food was fresh and all handmade. We enjoyed every bite with the Beach Boys playing in the background. The woman who runs the shop told us all about the food, the area, how to get to the next village and a restaurant recommendation for when we arrived. I’m hoping to return to her shop later this summer when we come to hike.


We’re in Bern for the evening and had a nice walk around the town. We saw the town bears which are the namesake of Bern. There were actually four bears, a male, female and a pair of cubs. The cubs rolled and played while crowds of people watched. Too cute. It’s still the Easter holiday here so most shops are closed. We don’t mind and it means the traffic is much less. Unfortunately, the confectioner shops were closed today so we had to go without chocolate Easter eggs. Maybe they’ll be 50% off tomorrow! Something else to look forward to!

Before I go for the evening, Mike and I want to thank all our followers and, particularly, the commenters. We love that our friends and family are joining our trip by reading along. Keep the comments coming. We’ll respond when we figure out how!