July 27

Bright blues skies….more hiking before hiking down to the cars. The only thing you could hear was the sound of the cow bells, some in the distance and some very close. It was peaceful.
Back in the cars to Lausanne but first a stop in Montreux. Walk along the water, had some ice cream and some of us went for a swim. Home to Sugnens, dinner and a good game of cards before bed. We played for Chocolate instead of money….what else would you do in Switzerland.

July 26

We met friends (Jen, Alex, son Lian 7 yrs, and Tessa10mnths) of Graham’s in a little village in the mountains called Gryon/Solalex. We needed to be there to put our gear on a truck to be taken to the Refuge, but we were running a bit behind due to some traffic issue in some of the other little villages. Then the thunder storm hit! We met Alex and crew however the road to the Refuge was washed out in several places and the truck could not go up or down. So we sat in a cozy little restaurant and drank white wine, beer and hot chocolate until the rain stopped. (about an hour or so) Then the 13 of us hike for an hour and a bit to the Refuge. We dined on a very good Fondue and tucked in for the night. No rocking to sleep for anyone. Nine of us did sleep in one room so that made for lots of laughter….until we got in trouble from one of the French speaking workers…..it was only 10:30 for heaven sakes.

July 25

We spent the next 3 days and 3 night with the Trumpy's.. We went to Grindelwald to walk beside the Eiger and through some amazing mountains. The skies were clear so we had fantastic views. Some of us were a little stiff the next day but up for more hiking.

July 24

Up in the am and after breakfast we did Notre Dame. A very impressive building to be in!! However the outside was just as impressive. Hopped the TGV back to Lausanne and met Carrie, Chris, Beast and Tina in a little town close to us called Echellens. It was great to see them. We had a great dinner with them: Beast and Tina make spaghetti and all the fix’ns, Graham made some very good G&Ts….and we laughed a lot.

July 23

Slept well. Breakfast in our funky little hotel and off we went to the Louvre. It was busy but we managed to see a fair bit including the Mona Lisa….A bit of a disappointment because it is so small and the crowds were crazy. After a couple of hours in the Louvre we walked through the Champs D’Elysees to the Arc de Triump for an amazing 360 degree view of the city. We were lucky as it was a clear sunny day ( warm too about 30 ). Then back to the hotel shower and off to dinner and walk to Notre Dame which was closed for the night but it was lit up from the outside. At night the street vendors seem to come out and that night we saw an impressive group of young men doing crazy stunts on their roller blades…yes it was without any protective gear so it was hard for Graham and I to listen to how “COOL” it was from the boys…..however impressive it was.

July 22

Off to Paris on the TGV (fast train) today. The train was very comfy, spacious and peaceful. Left Lausanne at 9:03 and arrived in Paris at 13:04. The first thing we did was go and see Bastille, which was not the actuall prison form all those years ago during the French Revolution, but instead stood a momument in its place. After a very good lunch at a little restaurant on a street corner with a waiter who was lots of fun, we headed off through the Gardens of Luxemburg, towards Saint Sulpice. The Gardens of Luxemburg was quite neat with a tree laden path and a huge golden head topped of by the Presidential Offices. Saint Sulpice was a big church but very well kept and details galore, with most of its fame coming thanks to The Davinci Code. Our hotel was as we remembered…cooked floors and ceilings and exposed brown beams with white walls. Our two rooms were on the very top floor. Good thing we didn’t have any suite cases. We freshened up and went to the Eiffel Tower…that was about 7pm. After waiting in line for about 45 to 60 mins we climbed the stairs to the second level….what a view!! We didn’t go all the way to the top as it would have been over a 1 hour wait from the second stage and we heard the next day that it was a 2 hour wait to get down. Once down we went to the park beside it and watch a light show on the Tower. It was beautiful. We were happy to be down. We then headed to our hotel and went to bed!

July 20

A travel day….took the train from Zurich to Lausanne on the way to our home in Sugnens. We switched trains in Lausanne and took another to Yverdon, where a car with complete directions to the house waited for us. The house is very aggreable and the family had a nice bottle of wine several maps, and books about what to see and do in this region. We dined on a very tasty dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce left for us by Manuela….very kind. The parents in the neighbouring area speak excellent English, whereas the kids speak none at all. There is a play area just down the road with a grassy area for soccer, basket ball and general play for the kids that live here. The boys have been out with the local kids, including the boy next door, Hugo, who is 8. He has a ping pong table, along with a pool. The surrounding area is mostly rolling hills with wheat, sunflowers and turnip (I think) growing in them. The thing that I like best is the peaceful jingle of the cow bells in the distant fields.

July 19

What a day…the train ride on the first class train didn’t end-up so first class. Our train had some technical difficulties so we had to get off of it and board a regional, slower, and fuller-so-we-stood-for-almost-an-hour train. Then onto one of the nice trains for an hour ride into Zurich, which was pretty. We got a very nice hotel in the heart of Zurich and dragged the boys all over our old stomping grounds: along the Neidredorff to walk along cobble stone roads lined with cafes/restaurants, to the lake side, on a tram to Vollieshoffen to our old place were we lived, past the AMI Clinic were I use to work, back to the center of town to get money from the UBS bank were Graham worked ,and a walk along the Bhanoffstrasse. For dinner we ate a typical Swiss dinner of Rosti and snitzel/sausage and beer. We strolled back to our hotel looking at some of the beautiful sights of Zurich and now we are going to bed. WHEW…

July 17-18

We made it!! The flights were great….Air Canada was way better than we had been told. Everything was on time and all five of the bags arrived, the food was tasty ( and I didn’t have to make it or clean up….YES!) and even a couple of free G&Ts. Jack and Graham managed to sleep a bit more than the rest of us so we were all very tired when we got to our hotel in Frankfurt. It was very hard to just have an hour nap….Graham was trying so hard to wake Charlie up and just couldn’t so he yelled,” BLACK HAWK DOWN” WE eventually got him up and went into the center of Frankfurt for some bratwurst, beer and Orangina drinks. Then back to the hotel to sleep…..with a detour of the “red light district”….nice, really nice. I think we were in bed and asleep by 8pm Frankfurt time,(11 am in Vancouver). Everyone slept well and Graham woke us up with Coffee,OJ, Bananas and very, very good Chocolate Croissants.
We are now on the train to Zurich….the boys love our seats. They think they are going to “Hogwarts”. All is well…..