Flying Home

On the way back home, we had a layover in Houston. I saw a good number of people enjoying their Harry Potter which reminded me that we hadn't ordered ours yet. :p

So, for our next trip to France (whenever that is), I would like to:
a) finish up Paris - Rodin museum and maybe walk through parts of the Louvre
b) do more shopping when the exchange rate is more in our favor
c) visit a couple more chateaus in the Loire valley
d) visit Monet's garden in Giverny
e) visit another part of France, preferably Provence and Cote d'Azur

GEEZ, so much left to see!

Versailles

Woke up at 7:30am to a light sprinkling. As per my mother's suggestion, we bought lunch before going to Versailles. Stopped by the local market for salami and cassis cookies and the boulangerie for a loaf of fresh brioche.

Took the replacement bus, again, to the RER station where we were running with the morning's business people to catch the Versailles train. Made it! We arrived in Versailles around 9:30am and there was a long teeming line of tourists lined up into the middle of the courtyard. We stepped right in. The line moved fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the girl in front of us in line didn't know that this was the line for ticket holders so she had to go to the line across the courtyard to buy tickets. ugh!

Inside the chateau: Since we were there during high tourist season, every room was crammed with different guides with their groups. Some of these tour groups are very hi-tech! There was one group where each person had their own earpiece and their guide spoke into a device that transmitted his voice to their earpieces. We also saw a woman tour guide of European descent speaking perfect Chinese! We got the audio guide but, of course, it didn't cover the rooms where they provided guided tours. Once we left the more popular rooms, the crowd thinned out quickly (read - no tour groups). One cool area was the long gallery lined with 33 murals of important French battles.

After our walk through the chateau, it was time to look for a restroom. Avoiding the restrooms in/near the chateau, we walked to the cafe in the gardens. There was already a huge line there for the ladies room when I got there, and it was moving very very slowly. So we decided to walk further out towards the Grand Canal. No wait! I got there right on time because by the time I got out of the restroom, there was a small line forming. :p

We ate lunch next to the Grand Canal "docks". Such a simple yet delicious meal of salami sandwiches. :) While we ate, we spotted gigantic fish swimming underneath the boats. It was such an idyllic scene with people paddling on the water and the green landscaping that surrounds the canal. After lunch, we rented bikes to go around the gardens. We didn't know it at the time of rental but bikes are not allowed to go into the gardens, only the outskirts. (At least the property is large enough for us to bike around.) We saw one group of tourists trying to teach one of the girls how to ride a bike - not a good place to pick that up! Other tourists were watching the lesson, kind of embarrassing for the girl.

In the afternoon, we visited the Grand and Petit Trianons. The Petit Trianon was definitely the more interesting one since that's the one that Marie Antoinette influenced the most. She had a hamlet built for herself and her kids. It had a Disneyland-like feel to it. It was her own little village to rule. The gardens were very different (read - very English) compared to the usual French chateau gardens. We also got to see her personal theater. Can you imagine owning your own theater??? Sort of like in the Sound of Music but with its own building.

Got gelato from a guy who was very proud of his gelato. White peach - yum! :)

So pooped from walking the entire day. We had eschewed the tram that takes you around Versailles - the wait was too long plus it cost 3.5 euros each.

Paris: Les Egouts and Moulin Rouge

Woke up to a rainy day. Hung out in the apartment until lunch time because we were hoping that rain would cease. No such luck. We had to get lunch so we trooped out anyway. To brighten this gloomy day, we treated ourselves to a pastry-only lunch! :p We got pain au chocolat, strawberry pastry, apple tart, and a pastry of vanilla and chocolate. All so yummy! ^_^

Took the RER C replacement bus to the Invalides stop where our task was to buy a one-day Versailles pass for tomorrow. My French is sadly lacking because after my first sentence to the lady at the ticket office, she responded in English. haha. But we got the tickets so all was good.

Les Égouts: Going underground is not a bad idea when it's raining above. There was a faint musty smell, but what could you expect? Flowers? We got to see actual running sewer water and the vehicles they use to clean the sewers. The museum covered the complete history of the Paris sewer system which was not something you hear about everyday. One panel told of (in earlier times) the extra sewer water was diverted to a field which later produced world-record sized vegetables. ewww. There was a large sewer ball on display which reminded us of Indiana Jones running away from the big stone ball. Proud workers - there was a family tree of sewer workers on display. Family occupation - hmm.

Moulin Rouge: Our big splurge in Paris was the dinner and show. We thought we were early arriving half an hour before seating but not early enough! There was a line already when we got there. Once we got into the main lobby, they confiscated our cameras. We were then lead into the main dining room. Our seat was right up against stage left. The dining room was a spectacular sight because it was dimly lit save for the little red lamps on each table. The room was crammed with tables - maximize capacity = more money.

Sat next to an older couple from the UK and another older couple from New Zealand. Dinner was pleasant. After dinner, the tour groups showed up and filled all the empty spaces in the dining room. SO MANY ASIAN TOURISTS! I'm so glad we opted to do dinner since being stuck with the tour groups did not look enjoyable.

The show was great fun! It's like being at the circus watching musical numbers. Since we were sitting so close to the stage, some of the costumes brushed up against DH. hehe. The costumes were very dazzling. Very high energy show. They change the show every now and then so maybe we'll catch a new one the next time we're back in Paris! :)

Paris: Eiffel to d'Orsay to flea market

This morning we hit the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to ride to the top (and beat the lines) so we were up at bright and early 7am. Since our direct metro line (RER C) to the Eiffel Tower stop was closed for the summer, we took the metro to the nearest stop and then hiked 20 minutes to the Tower. We thought we were early...but the lines there were so long!

One of the "legs" was a stairwell, which we considered doing because of the number people already in line. Out of the remaining three legs, only one of them would definitely be opening the ticket office. So I stood in that line while DH stood in a line that was hopefully going to open as well. It was a chilly breezy morning standing there in line.

When it was close to the opening time, there was a single guy who stood next to the two American ladies in front of me. They weren't talking to each other so I suspected that he was cutting. I asked one of the girls if she knew him. She looked and said she didn't. Since I was a)cold and b)tired of waiting in line, I was NOT going to let this guy cut in front of me! I asked him quite loudly (so the girls in front could hear) if he knew those ladies, which he answered truthfully "no". Then I asked him point blank if he was trying to cut in line. He gave me some sad tale of how he and his friends stood in line yesterday evening and bought tickets to go to the top of the Tower but it was closed by the time they got to the second level. Now one of the girls stepped into our "conversation" and said that the least he could do is let me go before him. :)

So finally my line opened! While filing forward to get our tickets, DH came back to my line and told me that he met a nice couple from NY in his line. He had told the couple to split up like we did just in case his line didn't open up. (Thankfully they took his advice because his line never did open.) We got to the top quickly. Since it was very windy, everyone was huddled to one side of the viewing platform - the other side was practically empty. :p I got to meet the NY couple at the top and they told us a few tidbits:

1. Their concierge recommended going to the flea market at the end of line 4


2. Very flavorful salt called "fleur de sel"


3. When they stayed in a countryside castle, she encountered a little girl ghost at night. When she told the (old) lady of the castle, the lady told her not to tell anybody else because she didn't want people to be scared to stay at her castle.

Museé d'Orsay: To save time, we took a taxi to the museum. (Yes, much better than hiking 20 minutes back to the metro stop.) Awesome open layout. Lots of sculptures including lots of Rodin's and fantastic collection of Impressionists. (Yes, it's very cliché but I immensely enjoy Monet. hehe.) There was a shocker in the collection as well... We lunched in the museum restaurant. The interior was so beautiful that it felt like we were dining in a Fabergé egg! The lunch was also surprisingly delicious - haddock with fettuccine and pork medallions with gnocchi.

(The museum pass was an absolute time saver because we bypassed the enormous ticket line for the museum. We felt like VIPs walking into the alternate entrance. heeeheehee.)

Walked through Tuileries Garden to the Place de la Concorde. Then took the metro to the Montmartre area.

Espace Dali: Smaller collections, not his major works. There was a temporary exhibition of Dali influenced fashion - so weird! The most amazing piece was one that had to be viewed on a metal pipe where you see the reflection of the piece underneath. On the way out of the museum, there was a Q&A piece with hilarious answers by Dali.

Flea Market: Seedier part of Paris it seems. They were near closing when we arrived but we got to go around the whole place. It's not that large. We were surprised to see a large number of Indian booths selling scarves and hookahs. We got a souvenir T-shirt and a pair of flats.

Walking down the street to our apartment, all of a sudden we saw it - "Paris Bangkok". We had been looking for this restaurant all week since it was recommended by our landlord. Turns out that the restaurant name is actually Pré Grill. It has two locations - Paris and Bangkok - which was very prominent on their awning. :D

Funny incident: We sat down for dinner and ordered our customary bottle of tap water. A visiting family (Russian?) was seated at the table next to us. After they ordered their bottled water, the dad looked at our bottle of tap water and then looked at his 4 euro bottle of water. He did this several times so we knew that he was wondering how we got ours! :p

Paris: Picasso to Louvre

Church bells again this morning but we were up before then.

Picasso Museum: sizable collection of sculptures. He made junk into pieces of art. For example, a piece of broken pottery became a face with a few brush strokes. Got to see some of his earlier realistic paintings.

Centre Pompidou: Went to the very top where there was an expensive but beautifully laid out restaurant. Walked through the galleries of art. Some pieces that I found funny/interesting:

1. three blank canvases


2. piano covered in grey felt


3. pieces by Matisse, Magritte, Dali


4. more Picassos!


5. room of bizarre sculptures


6. 100 boots series by Eleanor Antin -- so cute!

Forum les Halles metro stop: Crowded like an Asian city. Not recommended. Couldn't resist walking into the H&M though. There were so many people that there were announcements about their return policy - they were encouraging people to buy and try their clothes on at home instead of in the store.

St Eustache Church: gigantic head sculpture

Les Jardin du Palais-Royal: dinner time so we scoped out the restaurants surrounding the gardens. Lots of Moroccan - there was a couscous and tagine dish on every menu. Found a tasty and romantic restaurant behind the gardens. After dinner, when we walked by the black and white pillars, there was a bride and groom getting their wedding photos taken.

Louvre: getting dark after dinner. No crowds whatsoever so perfect for picture taking. The museum was closed but we could still go inside to take pictures from inside the glass pyramid.

Pont des Arts: crossed this bridge on the walk home. It was twilight but the bridge was full of people! Like on the Champs de Mars, they were picnicking (ranging from feasts of wine and quiche to bags of chips) and just hanging out. Very pleasant place to gather with friends.

At the St Michel metro stop, there was a huge crowd around a street performer. The crowd was so big that I couldn't even see the performer! Then, the performer started a song which then the whole crowd joined in. I don't think I've ever seen such a popular street performance.

Paris: Notre Dame to Place des Vosges

At 9am, the church right across the street from us (Saint Severin Church) started ringing. Then we heard two other sets of bells from other churches in the area. (I wonder if any one of those were from the Notre Dame??)

Musee du Moyen Age: Bought our 4-day Paris Museum Pass and proceeded to find the museum's highlighted piece - Lady and the Unicorn. The tapestries hang in a special room all to themselves. We went through the museum pretty quickly since the tapestries were what we were really there for. We did spend enough time to see medieval waffle makers! :p

Ile de la Cite: Crypte Archaeologique - go underneath the Notre Dame plaza. Interesting concept of refuse wells. Thanks to the museum pass, otherwise, we probably wouldn't have visited. heehee.

Notre Dame: beautiful offering candles, confessionals still being used!, gigantic chandelier display, and of course the famous rose windows. From the garden in back of the Notre Dame, you get a great view of the beautiful architecture. We crossed a small bridge behind the Notre Dame to get some gelato at a recommended place (recommended by brother-in-law). I think this was the place also featured on one of Giada's (yes, Food Network girl) eating trips to Paris. Went back to Notre Dame to take a picture of point zero.

Conciergerie: Very cool history at this site. Got to see how the old prison worked, including parts of the original cell Marie Antoinette occupied. (Another use of the museum pass!)

Place des Vosges: Maison de Victor Hugo - free entrance - saw some surprisingly good sketches he made. Never knew he was an artist. The square itself is amazing in its symmetry.

On the walk home, we walked along the Seine where Paris Plage was set up. Blue canvas umbrellas and sunbathing spots lined the river.

We had walked the entire day so it was an early night for us.

Chenonceaux to Paris

Another gigantic breakfast this morning! (Instead of French toast, we got a sour cherry cobbler. Plus, there were homemade croissants!) We drove over to Amboise to drop off the rental car. The guy who runs the rental car office and the gas station booked a taxi for us to take us to the train station in Amboise. We took the TGV into Paris - quick trip.

From the train station, we bought metro tickets to get to our stop - St Michel. For our stay in Paris, we rented an apartment for a week. We had told the guy we would be arriving in Paris between 2pm and 4pm. Since we arrived around 2pm, we were really hoping that he would come early...which he did! He was also relieved that he didn't have to wait long for us to arrive. He showed us around the apartment. There was a small kitchen, tiny bathroom, tv, and internet. The real reason why French women don't get fat is because they wouldn't be able to use their shower. It was a pretty tight squeeze in the bathroom. :P

Since it was late afternoon by the time we had settled into the apartment, we just explored the nearby area. Walked down Blvd St Michel - lots of shops and took a look at the Pantheon. Since we were near La Sorbonne (university), there were a lot of students in our area. We even heard English several times - I guess they're exchange students.

Around 6pm, I was starving but couldn't find a restaurant open for dinner. I had forgotten that dinnertime generally started around 7pm, 7:30pm. We walked around searching for an open restaurant. It was almost 7pm when we found our first open restaurant - Chez Clement - a restaurant that is open at all hours. Got a dish with a generous side of mashed potatoes. Kind of strange that it's not French fries.

After dinner, we took the metro to the Trocadero stop where we got a great view of the Eiffel Tower and the huge lines to get to the top of the tower. Took a few pictures and then walked over to the Champ de Mars. We waited around until we saw the first sparkling light show of the evening. The lawn was covered with picnicking groups - some with dinner, and some with bottles of wine. There were wine hawkers in case you forgot your own bottle of wine. haha!

Chenonceaux

When we came down for breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised by the lavish spread: chocolate croissants, yogurt, and bread accompanied by different jellies and jams, honey, and cheese. While we ate, our hostess went into her garden and picked fresh strawberries for us! Then, she also brought out freshly made French toast. Other than juice, we also got a generous pot of tea and very rich hot chocolate. We completely stuffed ourselves on the delicious food!

Our first stop of the day was the Chateau de Chenonceau. We thought we got there early at 9:30am, but there was already a line at the ticket booth. We elected to get a video iPod tour. In some of the rooms, the original flooring can still be seen at the edges where wall meets floor. Generally, beautiful gardens and river views - it's supposed to be one of the most picturesque chateaus. The most intriguing was the last room on the tour. It was a room of mourning, so quite somber compared to the rest of the chateau.

After a quick lunch of sandwiches, we drove off to the city of Amboise. On the drive there, we stopped by the only gas station on the road. We asked around, and it turns out that THIS was the gas station we were to drop off our rental car tomorrow. Good thing we found it..and by accident too! So the guy there told us he would help us arrange a taxi to the train station when we returned our car tomorrow.

In Amboise, DH's lucky navigation found the tourism office (and parking!) very quickly. We visited the Chateau du Clos Lucé where there was an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's machines, cool replicas that IBM created from his notes. There's also an outdoor area where you can see life-size versions of these machines and try them out.

Last castle of the day was Chateau d'Amboise. The chapel were da Vinci is buried is located here. Throughout the castle, you can see Gothic vs. Renaissance styles on the chairs, windows, and chimneys. We were taking pictures of a chair when we were stopped by a museum guard. oops. We didn't know - we had already taken pictures in the castle earlier. ;p We got a great view of the Loire and the city from the castle's tower.

When we exited the castle, we saw signs for a "fête nuit" at the Chateau d'Amboise that evening. I guess in the summertime, each chateau has some evening program. At Chenonceau, there was a nightly garden stroll available and a chance to see the chateau lit at night. We had dinner at this awesome (and very reasonably priced) restaurant called l'Ecluse right next to the free parking lot near the chateau. We had a great prix fixe menu - DH had a delicious duck entree. And since we had time, we dashed back to our B&B to change into warmer clothes for the evening show.

We had gotten the very front seats in a pretty good section so unobstructed view of the whole show. It was mainly a show of historical re-enactments and a chance to see period costumes. They also had a pack of very well-trained horses. It was pretty amazing to see the riders weave around each other. They also had two firebreathers. They alternated where one would take a swig from his bottle and the other would breathe out fire. The show ended with a fireworks display, which was a re-enactment of da Vinci's nighttime festivals for King Francois I who was his generous patron -- Francois gave Le Clos Lucé to da Vinci. (Imagine getting a castle as a gift.)

Dijon to Chenonceaux

For breakfast, we headed to the local boulangerie. Tried their pain d'épices (gingerbread) which was kind of hard but very gingery. We walked around the streets as we ate. There were people setting up stalls around the city streets selling everything - used books, vegetables, handbags, etc.

Walked around to see the unusual architecture: patterned roofs, houses made of stone and wood on Rue Verriere, and the wall of the Notre Dame that's covered in 3 rows of gargoyles.

Before lunchtime, we headed back to the train station to the car rental office. Since we had not reserved a car through the internet, we couldn't get the internet prices. Therefore, ended up paying a whole lot more than what we saw on the internet. booo. And we couldn't rent a GPS unit because we were dropping the car off at a different location. PLUS, on top of this, we discovered that we forgot our map of France (with the route to Chenonceaux highlighted) back in Switzerland. oops!

Needless to say, we did end up getting lost which set us back by about 2-3 hours. We missed a turn onto a "major road" and ended up going to a town (Auxerre) where we got lost for about an hour, looking for a particular road that didn't exist in town. It also took us a while to find the tourism office - I had to run around town asking people where it was located. When we finally found it, the lady helped us look at our directions and told us we had to backtrack because we had overshot the turn. We made it to Chenonceaux close to dinner time, around 7pm. Good thing we started the drive early!

Outside of our detour, the drive was pleasant. Got to see the French countryside with its herds of white cows and cynlindrical bales of hay. There are no major highways in France, just roads that run through small villages. Most of the roads had small signs perched upon a pole on the side of the road. We also went through lots of roundabouts, which was great when we weren't sure where to turn. :p

We got a cute room in our B&B, Le Clos Mony. It was decorated mainly in a lilac - it even had a white and lilac chandelier! We hustled out to get dinner since we were starving from the drive. There are only 6 choices in town so we went down the main road, reading the menus. The one we decided on had only dining in the garden...and it was full! We were told "no more service". We opted for our second choice which was also outdoor dining. This restaurant was so busy that the waitstaff were literally running back and forth from the kitchen. While we were eating, people were being turned away and told to come back at 9pm for dinner. It took us 2.5 hours to finish dinner because service was pretty slow - they were both understaffed and swamped with tourists. When we left, some people were just getting seated. (We got there just in time to be seated - phew!)

Dijon

From the village, we drove to the train station. We decided to do a supermarket run so we could eat lunch on the train ride to Dijon. Since day one, the kids had been teaching me to say réglisse rouge (red licorice). Saying the "r" sounds like a smoker coughing up phlegm. It took me a few days to master it. Well, since we had been saying réglisse rouge all week, Viv got them some at the market. :p

They sent us to the train station and then left. Sad to see them leave but also happy to start a quiet vacation.

We took the train to Lausanne where we transferred to the TGV to Dijon. At the Lausanne station, we decided to buy snacks in order to spend the last of our Swiss francs. Greedy us, we ended up buying too much. We were going to put something back but the guy at the cashier took money out of his own pocket to cover for us. SO NICE!!!

The train ride to Dijon was pretty smooth until a group of school children got on board later in the trip. They were loud as kids are on a field trip. The most annoying though is when we reached our stop. Several kids were eye-ing our seats since it was a group of four chairs around a table. They were making their way up the aisle while we were making our way down (with luggage) to exit the train. They made it very difficult to pass through. Their teacher ended up yelling at them to sit down so that we could make it out before the train left the station.

Outside the train station, we followed signs to the tourism office to get local maps. Then, we went to find our hotel - Hôtel Villages - very similar to a Howard Johnson. Very minimal furnishings but sufficient for our one night stay. It was a great location too. The first thing we did was walk to the restaurant we wanted to try for dinner to make a reservation. It was the first time that I whipped out the high school French. :p I hobbled together a statement and then the guy at the desk started speaking to me in English. :D His English is a LOT better than my French.

We walked to the Palais des Ducs. It's definitely a grand palace, with a pair of fountains in the plaza in front of the palace. We went into the Musee des Beaux-Arts to see intricately carved tombs - the highlight of the museum according to the guidebook we had. We also wanted to see the palace kitchens (les cuisines ducales) but we were told that they were closed. FORTUNATELY though, I guess we looked sufficiently sad that we couldn't see them, so the old guard gestured for us to follow him. He took us into the huge kitchen and explained the rotisseries and the ventilation system to us. What a nice old man!!! So grateful he took pity on us!

On the walk back to our hotel, we walked down the main street where all the shopping was! The French summer sales had been going for about a week or two by now so most of the sales items left were the large sizes. Still, it was fun just to do some shopping (since I had missed out in Switzerland!).

We had dinner at Les Oenophiles, located in the Hotel Philippe Le Bon. Since the weather was so nice, everyone sat in the garden. We had a nice private corner under a tree. I chose their 44 euro prix fixe menu while DH chose a la carte since he doesn't eat cheese. (All the prix fixe menus had a cheese platter.) Instead of the usual bread basket, we got cheese puff pastries, two each. Then we got a tomato basil amuse. The cheese platter was fun to pick because they presented so many different types of cheeses. I tried this AMAZING cheese covered with raisins. It tastes like sweet cream cheese! :) Also tried epoisses which smells horrible but has a fairly light taste, brie-like texture.


From the top left, clockwise: goat cheese, cheese covered by seeds (tangy and spicy), cheese covered in raisins, and smelly epoisses.


We finished with dessert and a complimentary plate of dessert samples (mint marshmallows, sesame seed chips, and mini muffins). :)

Switzerland: last day

This was a day of research - how do we get to Dijon? Where should we rent a car? How would we drive from Dijon to the Loire Valley? We spent the morning on the internet doing research. For breakfast, we had fresh pastries from the local bakery - chocolate croissants, regular croissants, bread and cheese. Ate them outdoors since the weather has just been wonderful lately. Kind of like the weather in California. :)

For lunch, Didier made salad dressing! I was so intrigued because most people just buy a bottle at the supermarket. He told me it was very common to make your own dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and herbs. And apparently the balsamic vinegar we find at the supermarkets aren't the real thing. Balsamic vinegar is supposed to be very expensive. So he doesn't even use it himself. He calls it a cheap imitation. hehe, learning so much!

After lunch, DH and Viv biked to the local train station to get tomorrow's train tickets to Dijon. Didier and I stayed home with the kiddies. The older two played outside while I got to enjoy some quiet reading time (it's been rare). After half an hour, I heard crying. So I went upstairs where Ariane was taking a nap and found her standing in her crib, crying for her mom. I told her that "Mommy will be home really soon. In 5 minutes. Did you want to wait for Mommy?" She nodded so I went back downstairs after making sure that she would be ok waiting in the crib. Well, after 10 minutes, she started crying again. So this time around, she wanted to get out of the crib to wait for Mommy. I got her downstairs and took her over to Didier who was working on the landscaping outside. It was time for her afternoon bottle.

Once Didier went into the house to heat up the milk, the two older kids came back into the house for the rest of the afternoon. Entertaining them takes so much more energy than Ariane. We had to play "cook the shark" where I was the cook who had to cut, prepare, and cook the shark while one of the two would be the shark fillet. We played that several times because they did not seem to tire from this repetitive game. :p After a while, we went upstairs to play trains. Ok, I'm not that limber anymore. It was difficult playing on the ground and crawling around the toy train tracks. You end up feeling like a big oaf.

While playing, Cass told me she was hungry. It was getting close to dinner time so I didn't know the household policy on snacking. So I told her that I didn't know what she could eat without spoiling her appetite for dinner. We looked through the snack stash and she took a peanut, saying that the peanut would be good. I looked at her,"one peanut?!?" Yup, just one peanut would tide her over until dinner. Amazing! (Such small appetites!)

Back upstairs, while we were all playing, Zach went off into the bedroom. After a while, we were wondering, where's Zach? I found him sprawled out on his bed, taking a nap. haha! It was so sweet. He was a bit grumpy when playing trains so I guess it was because he was tired.

Well, DH and Viv got back from their very strenuous biking trip. After they washed up, we decided to eat dinner outdoors again. After dinner, we went down to the garden where the raspberries bushes were abuzz with bees. During the summer months, the kids would just pick raspberries and eat them. So we got to see that bit of action today. They weren't even scared of the bees! They just went right into the bushes, started picking the berries off and stuffing them into their mouths. We got to pick some too after getting over our fear of getting stung by the bees.

Since it was our last night, we stayed up late (11pm - oooh, so late) talking and watching movies.

Switzerland: Vevey

Didier stayed home to tend to his garden - he's got a LOT of stuff growing such as carrots, lettuce, rhubarb, raspberries, potatoes, and even fennel! Since he had been recently busy at work, he had neglected his garden so now it was time for some weeding.

We took the kids by boat to Rivaz, a small train stop right next to the water. Boat rides on Lake Geneva are amazing because they keep close to the shore so you can see all the vineyards and trains winding around the mountains. Switzerland is just beautiful, beautiful in its simplicity of landscape. Nothing spectacular, just a certain calmness about the surroundings.

At Rivaz, the kids waded in the lake - freezing cold by the way - while we skipped stones. After they had enough of the cold water, DH and I headed out to Vevey while they went home. We spent most of the time in Vevey along the water because of its gorgeous view of Lake Geneva. Along the walkway, there were sculptures surrounded by a bit of garden that had environmental messages. For example, they had cubes made of crushed aluminum cans with a placard of facts about the impact of recycling soda cans. We also came across fountains that were used as public pools. Funny, huh? You never see anyone splashing around a fountain in the US, only coin tossing and wish making.

After Vevey, we took a boat back to Lausanne where I looked forward to doing some street shopping. The streets there were very steep, like San Francisco. NOT what I was expecting at all. We were pretty thirsty so we stopped by a cafe for Coke. Unfortunately, I didn't know at the time that all shops closed at 5pm or 6pm on Saturdays. So by the time we were finished at the cafe, all the stores were very close to closing. I went into one and was told that I couldn't even browse because they were closing. I was pretty annoyed about this whole closing early thing but alas, what can you do? We ate dinner and headed home.

Back at home, Viv had served dinner outdoors. We were there in time for dessert - lemon and peach/apricot sorbets and vanilla ice cream. Yum! We also got to meet their neighbors who spoke British English - "blokes"!

Unfortunately we were pooped so we couldn't stay up and chat long. Turned in early for the night. (It's been the trend so far on our stay.) :p

Switzerland: Chateau D'Oex Day 2

DH and I were the first ones down to breakfast out of the entire hotel! haha! Sat down for some fresh croissants, hot tea, and fresh bread with different jams. The gondola was right next to our hotel, so we took it (teleferique) up the mountain. We then switched from the big gondola that held our entire party to smaller gondolas. I rode with Cass, my little 5 year old niece. While going up, we heard what sounded like church bells (again, a la Sound of Music during the wedding). But she corrected me and told they were cow bells! It was so musical. Who would've thought the sounds were made by a bunch of cows.

At the stop, we played at the small playground...and it had the pulley thing!! Of course, all the adults all had to try it out. You get a really forceful swing upwards at the end. There was so much momentum that Zach fell off on his try - a little too much for a 4 year old. After some more swinging and seesawing, we started our hike down the mountain. We passed local farms where we could step into the barns and feed the cows. Even saw a billy goat munching on the grass. Passed through a herd of cows - man, they smell! Parts of the hike were strange because we were literally walking through other people's backyards. But that's how the trail went!

For lunch, we went to Didier's friend's (Pascal and Henriette) rented chalet. Got to experience a four course luncheon - started munching on raw carrots, and then an entree of roast chicken and potatoes, and (of course) bread and cheese. Pascal apparently worked in the agricultural department so he knew a lot about cheese and farming. He had bought Evitaz, a local cheese, and it was absolutely incredible! The milk is from cows that are fed only grass. Then it takes a whole year to prep the cheese before they sell it. It was so good you didn't even need the bread. And after this cheese course, they brought out dessert: meringues and strawberries with cream. SO YUMMY...

We couldn't really linger too long at their place because we had to catch the train back home. Didier stayed longer since he was going to drive home. So we took only Cass with us on this return trip because we had to make many transfers:
- Golden Pass train to Montreux (big summer jazz festival going on)
NEVER take the Golden Pass train without reservations - the whole train was booked out by tour groups. We had to stand the entire trip. Luckily Viv found a seat where she could hold Cass in her lap.
- boat ride to Ouchy (big white party going on - all these trendy looking people dressed all in white were milling around the docks)
- bus to Lausanne
- bus to our little village and then walked home

That evening we took a walk through the village - yeah, it took us like 5 minutes to walk through the whole village. haha! But we went down a road that led us through the wheat and corn fields. We turned back and then took another road off of the main road. That was a short trip after the road became littered with cow droppings - lovely.

Switzerland: Chateau D'Oex

SUNSHINE!!! I was so excited we saw sun that I went to the backyard and took pictures of the neighboring wheat field. haha! :D

My brother-in-law Didier had some friends who were visiting Chateau D'Oex (pronounced day) and he hadn't seen them in a long while. It was the perfect excuse to take a short two day excursion. He took Ariane with him by car and the rest of us went by train. From a nearby village, we took a small cable car (funiculaire) to the train station.

Right across the train station in Chateau D'Oex was our hotel, Hotel de la Poste. Very convenient. We were a little confused when we went in the hotel because there was no lobby or front desk. We had to go into the hotel restaurant to find the owner who showed us to our rooms. Once we all had time to drop off our luggage and freshen up, we hiked around the village. Absolutely beautiful! Wooden cottages scattered about the lush green mountains - think Sound of Music.

We ended our hike at the local playground. They had an interesting piece of equipment that was very popular with the older kids. You hang onto a piece of rope which is knotted on the bottom to act like a seat. Then you slide down a rope tied to the end of a post on the other side. A yard before you reach the post, there's actually a metal pulley device that stops you. Because of all the momentum you get from riding across, you swing up quite hard. (They can never do that in the US - I can foresee too many lawsuits with that one.) But it looked REALLY fun! Our stint at the playground when Zach had a huge tantrum - he's very loud when he cries. So Didier took him back to the hotel early to take a nap. hehe.

We walked up to a little church and through the main street before heading back to the hotel. That evening, we had a delicious dinner - paradelle with spinach, bacon, cream, and Evitaz <- I had no idea what that was but it seemed local because there was no translation for it. (I found out later what it was though!) For dessert, sorbet in the flavor of fleurs de sureau. Tasted kind of lychee at first but then you get a heavy flower flavor in your mouth. (Back in the States, found out it was elder tree flowers.)

Switzerland: Tropiquarium

So despite the forecast for sun, it was still a drizzly cool day. Seeking indoor activities, we headed to the tropiquarium - a cross of zoo and aquarium. Got to see penguin feeding, very creepy and very still crocodiles floating in a pond (there was a glass cross section so you can see their eyes above water and their entire bodies below water - hate to come across one of these!), basilisks (small ones, not Harry Potter sized), skinks and gerbils.

In the zoo portion, we saw a pen of guinea pigs! There was even a small family of 4 babies following the mom! We actually saw a good number of baby birds too. Zach is really into pigs so we had to pause at the warthogs pen. Those things are massive! The bears in the zoo were very active. They would stand up and walk around a lot. Maybe because they needed to keep warm? Anyway, we got to see them fed - they eat so fast!

Little Ms. Ariane, my youngest niece, suddenly became very very fussy while watching the bears so we took one car home early. The older kids stayed behind with Viv. It was actually kind of funny since she's such a mellow baby. We had no idea what caused all the crying. (She fell asleep on the way home after she finished fussing.)

Later that night, we watched the whole of Dumbo. (We always turn in early, like around 9:30pm or 10pm. So sad. But at least we were keeping with the kids schedule so they don't wake us up in the morning - we're awake when they awake.)

Switzerland: Saillon

Breakfast was an assortment of cereals (they literally mixed two cereals together - so clever!) and whole milk <- haven't had that in a LONG while. Whole milk is so creamy!

It was somewhat of a dreary day but we decided to head out anyway. We drove over to a little village called Saillon and had a picnic in a small park. There was a seesaw! DH and I got really excited and played on it for a bit because it was high (and sturdy) enough to support adult weight. :p

After lunch, we hiked through a small cluster of homes to a tower where there was a fabulous view of the surrounding area. Lots of vineyards and farmland. It was a quaint little hike through cobblestone streets. The kids pretended that there was a dragon behind every wooden door we saw. They were pretty good as in they didn't complain too much for the most part. (I know that I hated hiking as a kid. It all seemed so pointless.)

Then we set off for the hot baths. There were heated swimming pools, one indoors and several outdoors. A lot of people hanging out on the edges of the pool, getting massaged by the jets on the sides of the pool. It was funny being in a warm pool and getting hit by drops of cold rain on your face. And when you looked around, there was heavy mist in the surrounding mountains.

On the drive home, Viv used a really smart trick on Zach. She told him that he didn't have to take a nap but just to rest his eyes. Of course he took a nice nap in the back of the car on the way home! :D It's funny how kids hate taking naps so it's never good to suggest one.

Well, as I mentioned it was dreary, so we spent the rest of the evening watching DVDs - going through the happy parts of Dumbo, 1 minute of Little Einsteins, and the whole of Cars. They were very excited about Cars...especially the shorts.

Switzerland: Fun Planet!

We landed in Geneva, got our baggage, and then waited for DH's sister Viv to pick us up. While we sat there people watching, we saw a little boy run back towards the doors he just came out of (customs) and get knocked down. They were one-way doors that you're not supposed to go back into so he got struck by the closing door. Kinda freaky, but he was fine overall.

Anyways, we got picked up and were driven to their lovely home in a small village near Lausanne. There are many sunflower, corn, and wheat fields in the area - very quaint. When we got home, her kids were still eating breakfast. They were a bit shy at first but within 5 minutes, they were over it. It was amazing how big they'd grown since the last time we saw them (Xmas 2005). The youngest was already talking! The last time we saw her, she was a newborn.

Since it was a rainy day, we headed out to Fun Planet. It's an indoor entertainment area for both kids and adults. However, the toddlers play area was closed for the day. booo. But the kids were able to find some stuff to play with. Zach (4 yrs) and DH played this shoot-em-up game called "Let's Go Jungle!" where you use "machine guns" to shoot scary jungle bugs. Zach was actually pretty good! He scored half of what DH scored. :) They also tried out a few of the other arcade games but most of them were for older kids. We did get to see some superfast go-karting. The go-karters wore heavy protective gear and zoomed around the indoor track so fast.

Back home, we took a nap before dinner. Towards the end of dinner, the kids wanted to re-enact what they saw on "Let's Go Jungle!" so they pretended to be big scary spiders while Steven and I were supposed to shoot them. We did this, over and over again. Ok, that takes a lot of energy. We were pooped EARLY that evening. We went to bed before the sky was completely dark. (Since it's summer, the sky doesn't fall completely dark until around 10:30pm)

Flight to Geneva

When we got back to the house, we were all so pooped. But we all needed to pack up for the next day. TT was so tired that he didn't realize that his carry-on had an expandable portion so that he could, in fact, pack everything back in without leaving stuff behind. :p TT had also booked an early early flight such that he would have to take the first subway that ran in the morning and would barely make it to the airport in time for the flight.

Well...early morning, DH gets a phone call that the subway stop nearby was under construction. So DH had to drive TT to the airport after all.

We were so pooped from all the wedding activities that we completely passed out on the flight to Switzerland.

Boston: wedding!

Woke up and got ready for the busy busy day. The scary part was when I finished my shower, I heard the bride crying very hard. (One of the guests thought that one of the neighbors was fighting.) In my head I was thinking "Please don't let the wedding be off!"

What had happened was that the bride's mother had distressed the bride by trying to change the schedule that they had created the previous night. The demand was a bit unreasonable considering that the change would delay everyone at the ceremony. But thankfully the groom is really calm and adept at dealing with these situations (now) so everything went on as planned.

We picked up the flowers and dropped the bride off at the hotel. On the drive home, the groom began making arrangements to minimize the stress his bride would encounter that day by calling all the wedding party members to instruct them to NOT let the bride answer her cell phone. He didn't want any more distressing phone calls for the day.

At home, ate (pizza with sliced meatballs!) and got ready for the wedding. (Well, I had to since I wasn't really part of the party and it'd be kinda lame to get ready in the hotel with them.)

At the hotel, the guys had a broken hotel room (the lock didn't work) to get dressed in and the ladies got the presidential suite! I wasn't clear exactly how they got the upgrade but it was awesome! Got to see the girls put on their saris, and boy, is it a process. I had no idea they were so complicated to put on!

Then it was picture time at the Boston Gardens! We had one car that we were using so the party went off in groups, ladies first. While we were waiting for the car to come back to pick up the guys, the groom spotted a limo parked in front of the hotel . So he went over, chatted up the driver, and scored a free ride to the Gardens for the rest of the group. :D

When our one car came back, I was the only one left since I needed to stay back and inform our trusty chauffeur TT about what had just happened. Then, it was off to the Gardens to watch them take pictures. There were so many wedding parties in the garden that day!!! We saw a HUGE party of maybe 16 girls, arranged by height, all in pink. There was a casual wedding going on as well.

Then it was ceremony (a short Muslim one where the officiant translated to the audience what he was singing/saying which was really nice so we can understand what was going on), cocktail hours (delicious lamb chops!), and then reception.

When we sat down at the tables, I had to laugh. The favors...earlier that morning, while looking for a teaspoon, TT and I found a very cute little set. The ones with heart-shaped spoons and labeled mushy sayings. Well, he had taken a look at it and had commented "Hmm, tacky". And these were our favors! Hahah! :D I had to give him a jab for that one. :P

The dinner consisted of delicious crab cakes, salad, sea bass, and steak. The slice of wedding cake was accompanied by a tuxedo strawberry. Considering we were in an upscale hotel, the food was exactly what I expected. :)

Towards the end of the reception, I was asked to go to the wedding suite to retrieve the bride's mother's handbag since she didn't know me and could only be polite about it. (They were afraid she wanted to go up to the suite and stick around.)

After the reception, we all went up and hung our a bit in the wedding suite. Everyone was SO GLAD that the wedding was over, which meant no more drama. (A lot of stuff went on that I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in. Let's just say that this was the most stressful wedding I've ever seen and I was incredibly relieved when they finally got married.)

Boston: wedding prep

In the morning we drove back to the airport to pick up DH's best friend TT who also happens to be a very good friend of the groom as well. Did the customary dimsum in Chinatown.

When we got back to the house, the bride and one of her maids of honor was about to step out for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. So, I went for a second lunch! :D Her maid of honor is this cute little Indian girl with a British accent. Bebe was having a sale and she was so in shock how affordable the clothes were compared to shopping at Bebe's in London where she resides. (Plus, the British pound is literally pounding the USD - ugh)

Well after our food and shopping, we had to go pick up the boys for rehearsal. They were short one girl because the groom's father didn't want to walk down the aisle by himself so I ended up walking down the aisle with my DH! (He's the best man.)

Side note: This was the wedding that was supposed to have taken place in Tanzania...but due to family issues, the wedding was now in Boston. (eek) So when the bride saw her parents, that was the first time she's seen them in a long while. Hence, the whole rehearsal was a bit tense and teary. [It was a bit scary when the bride's maid of honor kept saying that she was so scared to meet the bride's mom - they knew each other since she and the bride had grown up together in Tanzania.]

After rehearsal, we returned home to get the apartment ready for the mendhi party. It was a casual affair where all the girls got henna done on their hands. The only downside to the beautiful tattoos was that you couldn't do anything with your hands while you waited for it to dry. THEN, we had to put a concoction of sugar, water, and lemon onto the henna to help it last longer. (sticky)

After all of us got henna'd, we improvised and tried to do some traditional mendhi party activities such as dancing around the bride in a circle and waving money above her head. :D

Once the party was over, the wedding party stayed up sorting out schedules and duties into the wee hours of the night. PLUS, there was also ironing to be done.

I think this wedding was more tiring than my own! :p

Start of the trip: Boston

On the night of July 4th, we took a red eye over to Boston. There were many babies and toddlers on board such that their screaming and crying during the safety review caused the flight attendants to laugh while showing us how to don an oxygen mask.

Anyway, we arrived bright and early and hungry. A friend picked us up for breakfast at the Harvard Inn - very pretty dining area. He showed us his new iPhone which he got for research purposes. No really, that's his industry so it's a biz expense! :p

We had come to Boston to help out at a wedding. So after breakfast, he dropped us off at the groom's house where we took a nap until mid-afternoon. I woke up to my DH having a very positive phone call which couldn't wait until after our vacation. So finally, we were off to visit our favorite haunts in Boston!

First stop, Burdick...unfortunately it was closed for renovations! Passing by, you can see the basement from a whole in the floor. booo. We settled for a late lunch at Cafe of India right next door. Then it was off to Downtown Crossing to buy some a present for our brother-in-law. He's into rowing so we decided on Nautica's new Deck Shirt (no idea what that really means - it looks like a regular polo).

Walked down Newbury to Kenmore Square where we dropped in Ankara Cafe (formerly Angora's) for frozen yogurt that's like ice cream. It was much-frequented back in our college days. We did SO much takeout from here!

Anyway, later, we passed out while waiting for the bride and groom to return home. They were up until 2am getting the bride's henna done.