Black sheep

Switzerland is awesome for a vacation, and even better when you're with good friends.

 

There is a scary side.. which isn't too far off from the American scariness of late.  See below the conservative party sign.. see the black sheep getting kicked out (top left corner)? Has made for some interesting discussions with the kids, that keep asking why people need to be mean to each other (yay!).

We made sure to grab some socialist party swag at the farmers market ;)

 

fancy shopping

Jaffa has a taste for fancy, sparkly things.. and Lausanne is right up her alley!

 

Not surprisingly, she got hooked on Laduree macarons.

The Marie-Antoinette tea-flavored ones, please. 

They are light green.  She does share (sometimes).

After chocolate, another castle.. cheese and fondue!

How Swiss! 

We ate chocolate..

then we walked it off (well, maybe some of it) looking at another spectacular castle..

 

 

 

.. and then some lunch.. fondue of course!

 

Then the cheese factory!!

It goes without saying, I think, that we didn't really need to try the samples.

Phew - what a fabulous day!!

We went home happy for sure--what could be better than cheese and chocolate??

Caillet -- chocolate!

We were there to see all of the great things about Switzerland, so of course we did a tour of the Caillet chocolate factory.  We learned about the history of chocolate. Did you know that Marie Antoinette's last meal was hot chocolate?  And then we saw what a factory line looked like.. and then we ate so many free samples that we almost barfed.

 

And then we shopped :)

I might have to go back there for a chocolate making class!!

farmers market

I've gotten into a habit.  It's not that I don't like tropical fruit and vegetables, or that I mind paying a little more for imported things every once in awhile.  But I really do miss farmers markets, and Europe has great ones.  Of course, I have to get things we haven't eaten in awhile... and we do have suitcases to bring things back, so...  why not? This trip, we bit the farmers market the say before we left and had lots of brussel sprouts and cheese and figs in our bags.  (The most recent trip to Paris, I upped my game and came home with white and green asparagus, and fresh oysters!)

 

Anyway, we went to the farmers market, bought olives and dried fruit from the Moroccan guys.. and then sooooooo much fennel and leeks that we cooked it for the rest of the time we were in Lausanne!

 

Snow!!!!

You  may have heard this story already, but when we found out we were going to Kinshasa as our next posting, Eben's first question was whether there would be snow there.  He's really counting on living somewhere where it snows.  So, the deal was.. we will take you skiing in the winter. It was a promise.  And so.. off we went to the slopes at Les Diablerets!!

 

 

We love snow!!

And skiing lessons (more Eben than Jaffa)

And Zeric was back to his northern NY roots

 

We made several excursions to the mountain,

and one afternoon, Jaffa and I decided to sled and build a snowman while the boys skiied.

What a great time in the beautiful mountains!!

Chateau Chillon

We arrived in Geneva in the morning, after a quick transit through Paris.  It was COLD, and the suitcase that had our coats hadn't made it.  We rented a car, blasted the heat, and drove from Geneva to Lausanne.. the ride was beautiful! We got the warmest welcome from Afia, Amira and Arno!! It was sooo good to see them.  Afia had planned the week, and we were ready to explore!  Off in borrowed coats to explore Lausanne, then a great Pakistani dinner and some sleep. 

 

The next day, we were off to the lake to see Chateau Chillon. 

And on the boardwalk.. hot roasted chestnuts!!

 

Then a boat ride..

 

 

 

with some goofy-feeling kids!

 

Beautiful place!

 

 

Lord Byron was here!

 

 

so happy to be with good friends..