SWITZERLAND

July 9, 2009

Our 2009 adventure takes us to Switzerland and France. We started our first day very early, rising at 3:30am to catch the shuttle to SFO. Our flight left at 8am via Air Canada to Toronto and then on to Geneva.

Air Canada has never disappointed us. This trip was very nice. The seats on the plane are wide enough and have plenty of legroom. Also, Air Canada equipment has those nice individual screens for each seat, so I could select the movie I wanted to watch, start it when I want

ed to and stop in the middle for a potty break. I really like this feature. Don was happy because each seat also has a power outlet for computers and a USB port for charging cell phones or MP3 players. The first leg of the flight I sat next to an Indian man and his 4 year-old son. He was very quiet and didn’t make eye contact or speak to me at all, but that was fine for me. We didn’t get an

y food, so I passed a few snacks to Don when the drinks arrived and we were fine. We had breakfast at the airport before the flight.

From Montreal to Geneve I sat next to a very interesting guy who runs mountain treks. Although he is “retired” at age 70 he still guides groups up Mont Blanc every yea

r. We had a very interesting talk about social and ethical issues, Barak Obama and the world’s expectations of him, and what the future holds for society. It was a stimulating and interesting conversation and I reluctantly stopped talking and let him watch his movie and go to sleep.

Don, who sat across the aisle, met an interesting couple who had arranged 3 home exhanges for their trip. They owned several apartment units in New York City that they rent on a vacation basis, and they are able to use these units for their exchanges.

When we reached Geneve we took the train to Estavayer-le-Lac. I was supposed to telephone the neighbor, Veronique Brasy, but I lost the number, so we caught a cab from the gare and I just knocked on her door when we arrived. She very cordially welcomed us and showed us around the house.

Our house is really nice. The rooms are very spacious, especially for a European house. The upstairs rooms have a very nice view of Neuchatel Lake. There are 3 bedrooms, and office, a very large living/dining room and a nice, spacious kitchen. In addition there is a full basement.

Later that evening we went into the town for dinner. We selected a nice outdoor pizza place, and the host seated us, but no one ever came to take our order, so we gave up and went home and made ham and egg sandwiches. How nice that the Zurbruggs left us plenty of food.. We went to bed at 11pm, although I did sneak in a nap in the afternoon. I slept very well and woke up about 4am. Not bad for the first night.

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On Saturday we had some breakfast and then went to the supermarche tobuy some supplies. I just about had a heart attack at the price of food. Things are very expensive here. I bought a small chicken and it was 7 francs. Since a franc is worth a few cents less than a dollar my little chicken, which would have cost $2.50 in Sunnyvale cost almost 3 times that in Estavayer. I found all of the food to be very expensive here. I hope France is better.

In the afternoon we did a nice, easy bike ride north along the lake and through some little towns and vacation home complexes to Portalban. We turned inland and found ourselves in farm country with corn and wheat, chard, tabacco, and potatoes. We went through Delley, St. Aubin, Missy and on to Estavayer. Don held back on his silage lecture, with an effort. The countryside here is rolling hills and forestland, farms and mountains. Our ride was mainly flat on paved and hardpack roads, with very little traffic. 30 kilometers today.

Now Don is taking a nap. One bad thing that happened—I needed to charge my Zen, so I double-checked the correct adapter with Don and plugged in the charger. After a few minutes my Zen made a funny noise and died. Darn!! But, I brought a backup. So I opened up my backup and tried to transfer some books onto it and

I can’t seem to get that to work either. Drat! I may h

ave to steal Don’s.

Sunday we took another nice ride, this time south along the lake and then up a 15% grade into farm country again. At the top of the hill we stopped at a tidy farm to buy a kilo of cherries at the honor stand. Don took a few photos and went over to look at the cows marching up the hill picture, and the farmyard dog was barking up a storm, so the woman came out to check and see what was riling the dog. We had a very nice chat. People seem to be able to understand my

French. We told her about our bike route, our vacation plans and our family and she, in turn told us about her two sons who are doing their military servicethis month. She liked us so much she invited us to come back for a longer visit and a drink later this week. We promised to return, took a photo of her in front of her farm and away we went down the hill into Montet, Bussy, Morens, Rueyres-les-Pres, and back to Estavayer. The weather has been cloudy, but rather muggy and warm.

A bit about the cow art. These are art pieces which depict a path winding up a hill with cows marching along followed by a farmer. There are several of these pictures here at the house, and we see them everywhere. If I understood the explanation we got from the farm lady the artist lives in Gruyere and his pictures are very popular folk art in the area. Each cow on the path represents a year at the location of the farm or house, I think. I will check this out with our host, Marc Zurbrugg, next time I email.

Our new friend also told us about her sons and some competition they participate in—lutie or ludie.. We think it is a cowbell-ringing contest, but this is another question for Marc. It has something to do with special pants, I deduced from our conversation. And the prizes are usually a cow or a huge bell or some kind of merchandise, never money.

After looking online and in the French-English dictionary we figured out that the farm boys participate in a special sport, Schwingen or Lutte. Click the link here to see more. Anyway, it is not cowbell ringing at all. It is more of a wrestling match where the participants wear special leggings or pants made of potato sacks. The winner is named the “King of Swingers (Schwingen)” and receives a bull for his prize. This is a very old and traditional country sport. I bet the Backroads folks NEVER get this kind of stuff for their $5000!

An update on my Zen problem—I got my backup to work after all. Sometimes I just have to let the unit use up all of its charge and then recharge it and it seems to work again. That is what I did this time. Sadly, I think the one I was using is a dead duck. I think the noise I heard was a component getting fried by the electric current. Now I only charge on the computer. Don is blaming the charger and it is the only one I have, so I will use the computer for the rest of the trip. I don’t want to lose my last one right at the start of the trip. I looked into buying some more units, but the price is double what I paid for my last order.

Well, Don is watching the Tour de France and I am going to take a shower and have a drink of water. More another day.

To see more photos of our trip click this link.