A leisurely morning. Coffee out of the espresso machine, catching up on some correspondence, waiting for the fog to lift across the lake. Molly and Mikeal go for a nice long run.
The three of us head out later to the town of Gruyere, my choice, famous for a castle and cheese. I enjoy watching Mikeal drive.......foot to the gas on the straight aways, hard break before the turns, honk if a single lane, blind curve, swear at tractors and slow drivers, king of the round abouts. We have gotten everywhere safe and sound, no tickets, no accidents. And to Gruyere, the road is narrow and windy.
The little village is so typical what I would think of for Switzerland. Red geraniums in all the window boxes, stone walkways, fountains and the quietness of a very peaceful and proper country. What I found endearing were the cows outside the village, each with a large cow bell hanging around its neck. There was actually a musical benefit of the dairy cows as they ate grass on the hillside. Now why don't they do that in Lynden? They should.........
We wandered thru the castle, took great pictures of the views. Mikael cracked his head on the low doorway into Lady Lucy's room. I believe the people were all much shorter 500 years ago. Still no bathrooms in the castles, so the Suisse were no smarter than the French.
The man who wrote the movie "Alien" is from Guyere. There is a museum and many sculptures near the castle in recognition of his contribution to Hollywood. Good grief. Such an odd combination of naked, spiny, alien creatures outside the historic castle. The only part of Alien I remember is when the creatures pop out of someone's stomach. Did anyone even like this movie?
We drove next to take the gondola up the nearby mountain for a view of the valley and the Alps. Actually, first we took a train like tram, then took the gondola. Similar to Whistler/Blackcomb, the gondola moves precariously up a steep cliffside, with sharp rocks and a very long drop. The gondola operator spoke no English and didn't respond when I asked him if it was safe. Hmmmm. Obviously, it was, as I am still writing today.........the views were totally worth it. You could see all the Suisse Alps, including Mont Blanc and Grand Sex. I, of course, had heard of Mont Blanc.
Jutta made us a dinner of pumpkin soup and raviolis. We drank a lot of wine, Molly made cookies and we discussed my favorite movie "The Sound of Music".......even being from Austria, Jutta had never heard of the movie. WHAT? We got on YouTube and played all the songs, Molly and I singing along......when Mikael came in from soccer practice, we were yodeling and he thought we had all gone crazy.
