Lonely Confusion

I woke up and showered and stuff and then got my things packed. I was sad to already be getting ready to leave the house in France (view from their spectacular porch picture 2). I felt like I had just arrived (actually, I pretty much did just arrive, I ended up only spending about 24 hours at the house). We didn't leave the house just yet though. I ate some cereal with some strawberries in it for my first breakfast (at the dining table picture 2). Then Jim was still getting ready so Francoise invited me to walk down to the bakery with her to get some more stuff. We walked and talked. It looked like it might be a pretty nice day out. I got a pain au chocolat and Francoise a pastry for herself and one for Jim. She says she always gets one for him even if he says he doesn't want one because he ends up always wanting one. Haha. We walked back and the two of us ate our pastries (my second breakfast). We hopped in the car (I took a timer shot of the three of us before we left picture 3) and drove to a mountain pass where, on a non-low-cloud day one would have a fantastic view of Mont Blanc. It was a low-cloud day so the view was not that great. That's ok. We walked into some souvenir shops which were cute. Then we drove down to a little trail. The trail lead up a mountain cliff where people were practicing their climbing. It was really nice out and very beautiful (pictures 4 and 5).

We ate lunch in the town of Thône (picture 6). It is another ski resort type place. It was France's Mother's Day. So, for the third time since January, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! The place was pretty busy for a while because of the holiday but we still got a table. Jim and I got the full lunch menu. We got to eat some stuff from the appetizer buffet. I had some vegetables, some taboulé (really good) and some other salad type stuff. For my main course, I had steak with a boat load of french fries, a couple skewers of grilled cherry tomatoes and pineapples, and mashed potatoes on top of mashed carrots. If that sounds like a lot to eat, let me tell you, it was. It was all soooooo good though. Jim mentioned that I had been in Europe for 4 months but still did not eat like one. By that he meant I held my utensils the wrong way. In Europe, you always hold the utensils and never set them down. You always hold the fork in the left and the knife in the right. Americans switch the fork from the left to the right (at least I do). It was very strange at first but I did feel more refined eating the way Europeans do. I explained to Jim that 99% of the time I eat finger foods alone so that's why I never learned the European way. I was glad he shared it with me though.

We drove back to the house and picked up Cici and our bags and then drove on to Geneva (Cici did her usual routine of throwing up soon after we left, Francoise cleaned it up and we drove on). I should mention our gas situation. Jim started the trip with about 140 km on the car already before we left plus we took the scenic route to the house. Then we drove through all those mountain towns on Saturday and today so we were extremely low on gas. The problem is that all the gas stations in France only have pay at the pumps open on Sunday (no place to go inside and pay). That is a problem because the pumps don't accept foreign credit cards. The other problem is that since Jim is an international worker for the UN (technically UPU, or UN Post) he doesn't pay tax on gas in Switzerland. So because of all that, Jim didn't want to, and couldn't, stop for gas in France. He used the gas he had left for the lawmower and dumped it in the car. That was enough to get us back to Geneva where he bought more gas (tax free). They dropped me off at the airport about 2 hours before my flight was to leave. I hate saying goodbye. Especially to people as nice, caring, and fun as Jim and Francoise. This is a weird metaphor but my time with them was like the eye of a storm. Beautiful, calm, and surrounded on either side by the unknown. When I was with them, I didn't have to make plans, I didn't have to decide what to eat, I didn't have to pay for lodging. It was all great. I had the same feeling of a large weight dropping back on my shoulders when I said goodbye to them as when I said goodbye to Catherine and to my mom. Oh well. That's part of the journey, learning to deal with that feeling.

So I walked into the airport and tried to check in to my flight. No go. I kept trying and eventually asked the guy at the counter. He said I wasn't on the flight. Uh oh... So here's the deal with that. I bought my ticket from Geneva to Amsterdam for 150 CHF because the price kept going up and I was worried I would have to pay more than that. The next day, I checked the price... 50 CHF. I called Easyjet to have them cancel my first ticket so I could buy a new, cheaper one. The email they sent to confirm it never said anything about cancelling the ticket, all it said was that they deducted 100 CHF. I thought they had taken care of it for me, apparently not. Apparently, they cancelled the ticket but there was a 50 CHF cancelation charge, again, the email they sent never said anything cancelling. Anyway, I was freaking out and went to the cash machine to get some money to buy a ticket from the desk (it would have been 220 CHF). The machine only let me get out 200 CHF and when I tried to get more, it said I couldn't. I was really freaking out but eventually calmed down. I went online and bought a ticket for Monday morning using my mom's credit card for 50 CHF. That meant I had to stay the night in the airport. I wasn't sure if I could do that which made me worry a whole lot. I never thought to ask someone. I bought a sandwich for dinner and a book at a bookstore. The book was by Micheal Connelly, whom I had read before. Another detective book. I finished it in about 3 hours. I listened to music and wandered around until about midnight. The airport was deserted a security guard walked up. I thought I was going to have to sleep outside or something. Turns out, the guard asked if I wanted to stay in the airport. I said I did and the guard looked at my passport and then said I could lay down wherever. They locked the doors and I slept (picture 7 is my sleeping corner).

Au Revoir!

Mountains, Valleys, and Chalets, Oh My!

Jim woke me up and I packed up all my stuff and then ate breakfast. It was cereal and some fresh peaches. Very delicious. I love peaches and, as I have said earlier, I have not eaten cereal in ages because I can't really get milk. We got all packed and ready to go. Jim and Francoise warned me about their cat Cici (I don't know how to spell it, you say it like C-C). She is old and deathly afraid of riding in a car. We packed up the car and left the apartment. After only 2 minutes, Cici threw up in her cage thing. I was forewarned so was not surprised, however, it did stink a little. We stopped at what Jim said is "the usual cleaning spot" on the side of the road. Francoise cleaned the cage. She told me that once time she was sick so Jim and Ian had to do. They did not like it and I don't blame them. Overall, it wasn't that bad though. I just felt bad for the cat. In the past, they would leave the cat with their neighbors when they left but now Cici has to be force fed pills in the morning and evening. The neighbors can't do that so Cici has to endure the car ride. We headed out from Bern and drove into the French speaking part of Switzerland (we were previously in the German speaking part). We passed through Fribourg and Montreaux (Lake Geneva picture 1). Jim decided to take the longer, scenic route because he thought we might have a chance at seeing Mont Blanc. We passed into France and went through Chamonix. Chamonix is just barely over the border. On a non-low-cloud day, you can see the entire massif of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe. Unfortunately, it was a low-cloud day so you could only make out some of the peaks (picture 2). Oh well. I got the idea and it was fun driving on the twisty roads and up and down the mountains (Cici did not agree).

We kept driving and finally arrived at their village, Le Petit Bornand. The village is located on one side of gorge. Le Petit Bornand has a population of 1,000 people but they are spread out in a bunch of different directions. We decided to stop off at the bakery in town to get some stuff. We got bread, some pastries, and a couple pizzas (for me and Jim). We brought it back to their house. On the way, we passed by their neighbor who they say is really dirty and based on his trailer, it definitely sounds that way. Their house is awesome (picture 3 and walkway picture 4). There are two garages, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, some space in the basement, a kitchen, and a dining room connected to a living room. I slept upstairs. We arrived and got settled. The clouds were still up around the tops of the mountains but they seemed to be clearing away and the sun made a few appearances and then a few more. That was a good sign. We ate our stuff from the bakery. It was super delicious. My pastry was a thing with creme and strawberries on top. Yummmmm. After eating, we started to get ready to go for a walk. First, Jim went to talk to the neighbors who are building a house a little farther up the hill. Francoise eventually joined him. I walked into the little field of flowers and grass behind their house. It was awesome standing in the field with the gorge spread out in either direction and the sun finally coming out. Some of the flowers were really pretty. They finished talking and we headed out.

We drove through the town of La Clusaz (picture 5). It is a ski resort and the place where Jim and Francoise used to have (part of) a chalet. They showed me the chalet. La Clusaz rests in a valley right by the Aravis Mountains. Seeing the ski lifts (obviously not in action) going up the mountains was mind boggling. I can't believe people ride those thing all the way up there. Jim explained that La Clusaz is a good example of why the Alps are so special and why they are soooo popular for skiing (other than the huge number of people who live close to them). The vertical distance between the town and the highest chair lift is something like 1,200 meters which is like 4,000 feet. The crazy thing is that that isn't even that much. The Alps are very steep I guess is the main thing (as you can see in picture 6). The Rockies come up on a plateau so the vertical distance is not as much. Anyway, we saw the chalet and then kept going to a parking area on the side of a beautiful valley. We hiked on a pretty level trail along one side of the valley (pictur 7 and 8). We passed by some cows and goats (picture 9). I loved the sound of their bells jingling. It was so green out. The trees and grass were just vibrant. The sun came out too which was fantastic. It felt good to hike for a little while. We talked while we hiked. I wish I could show you all the pictures but I can't right now. It was super fantastic and I am so glad that I was able to see the Alps if only for a day or two. I can't wait to come back again someday.

We finished our hike and started to drive back. We stopped in La Clusaz for some groceries. The grocery store was really fun to explore because it had tons of different, French things. There was pate and all sorts of cheeses and loads of wines. I liked looking at them. It was also FANTASTIC to not have to worry about what I was going to eat. As the faithful readers know, that is one of the few troubles I always seem to have when I travel. We left the grocery store and went back to the house. Jim mowed the lawn while Francoise and I drank tea and coffee and talked. I felt bad for not helping Jim but there wasn't really anything for me to do. I called my mom on the phone which was nice. Soon afterward, Jim finished and the three of us watched tv for a little bit. I think we watched mostly French stuff which was fun trying to figure out what they were saying. After a while, Jim brought out some salmon spread and we ate it with crackers. Then he got dinner ready. Francoise had a cheese pastry while Jim and I had raclette. Raclette is, I was told, a very Swiss thing to eat. There is a special cooker with a top and open sides. A heating element and you place a piece of cheese on a dish and stick it under the heating element. When the cheese is melted, you scrap it on top of some potatoes or some bread. IT TASTED GOOD. Haha, I loved it. There was some special raclette spice stuff that you can put on top as well that made it taste even better. Jim and I also had some deli meat (much nicer than that) like salami and smoked ham. All around great meal.

We finished the meal and then sat down by the tv again. I can't really remember what we watched but eventually we ended on a French soccer match. Jim and Francoise fell asleep in their chairs and I was getting tired myself. Jim woke up at one point and I told him he should go to bed. He said, "We make our appearances until 10". I thought that was funny. Well, right at 10 they went to bed. They apologized for being boring but I truly didn't mind. It is just as exciting back home I am sure. I stayed up for a little while waiting for the match to be done but ended up falling asleep on the couch as well. I went up to bed after that.

To Be Continued!