The First Step to Catching You Up!

Hello faithful readers! I apologize for not having posted a darn thing in 6 days, but I've had to deal with a mismatched adapter, and then a fickle internet connection. I would have occupied a computer at an internet cafe for a few hours... but the bill is quite expensive.

Anyway--I will start where I left off, and keep each separate post as a separate day. Sorry for any confusion, but I really want to catch you up on all of the excitement!!! Just to warn you, I will write as if the day had just happened :)

DAY AT LUCERNE

Today, we woke to much colder winds and more overcast skies. After getting the sleepies out of our eyes and preparing for the day, Remi drove us to "la gare," the Neuchatel train station, qutie anxiously. He was convinced that we would miss our train and that our plans would be ruined... in retrospect his hurried manner reminded me a bit of Juan--our tour guide from NPHS's trip to France 4 years ago: "On y va! On y va!" he would say as he would breeze past us all, like he was on a mission.

We thankfully made the train, and so began the day in which every moving mode of transportation caused me to immediately fall into a comatose sleep. (lol!)

It was nice to have a few hours with just mom and I; not having to worry about striking up conversations, forcing ourselves to drink multiple glasses of wine that would be offered, not having to exhaust my mind by translating and scraping the ends of my long term memory to talk with our hosts... granted, being in their company has been wonderful--but being by ourselves seemed relieving at the time.

Our trip to Lucerne was, primarily, to see the Alps. Of course, just by the mere fact that it was raining we knew that the clouds would certainly foil any hope that we had on seeing such sights. Upon arriving in Lucerne, our first priority was locating a clothing store within the upscale-version-New-Towne-Mall shopping center found inside the trainstation (this is normal in most large European train stations) to buy a raincoat slash sweater. While packing for our trip to Europe, we had anticipated Ohio weather... 70's... capris, short sleeves, maybe a pair of slacks or two... but the unusual weather was at least 15 degrees colder than usual... not to mention the rain and brisk wind gusts. The seemingly simple task of buying a sweater became an hour long escapade of going in and out of stores--not finding what we needed (or when we did, were so offended by the price tag). Mom bought a light jacket and I bought a thick zip up sweatshirt.

We toured the lakeside via boat (where we enjoyed the upperdeck first class seats, thank you very much!), enjoyed what we could see of the village and castles while indulging in apple tartes and peppermint tea. Of course, as all moving vehicles seemed to enduce, I slept :) On this boat were a couple from England... I would place them in their upper 60s. However, it wasn't until we asked the gentleman to take our picture that we noticed he looked EXACTLY like Prince Charles--the ears, the hair, the voice... EVERYTHING was a perfect match. It made me wonder if perhaps all British older men look like Prince Charles.

After docking the boat, we walked around the city in the rain. We gazed upon the oldest bridge in Switzerland (where people come from all over to be married on) and gawked and gasped at the insanely priced Swiss watches (some priced over 17,000 Euro!!!!!).

We took the train back where Remi met us to take us back to the "castle" (as we had begun to refer to it). After washing and warming up, Jacqueline once again joined us for dinner at the flat. Remi made us pasta, in preparation for what we'd encounter in Italy: slightly undercooked to the American palette. He whipped up this amazing spiced tomatoe sauce from scratch, which I simply could not get enough of... there was, of course, cheese, bread, salad, salami, and the California Ravenwood wine we had bought Remi as a host gift.

During dinner, Remi asked if mom and I were perhaps part-Swiss, part-Camel. Mom and I were puzzled by this question until he further explained that we had such trouble finishing our wine that he thought we had it stored somewhere in us! We had a good laugh about that. It was also during this dinner that I discovered how difficult it is for non-Americans to say the word "thirty." Jacqueline and Remi went on and on about how hard it is to make the "th" sound (English is one of the few languages who even use that sound) and kept saying "Tirty." I suppose it's the same as the trouble we Americans have learning foreign language sounds... in French it's the throaty "r's" and in German it's the achlauts and the ichlauts, and the umlauts.

Being surrounded by the French language and this particular Swiss dialect, I was able to catch on quick. The 4 years of high school french came whooshing back, and after a few days I could carry on a decent conversation with Remi. I still am awaiting the day I have a dream in French, although I fear that day is loooong away (particularly having to live in a German speaking country for 4 months....). This Swiss-French dialect is slightly different than the French I learned in high school--not every syllable is as defined and there is more accentuation on the gluttural "r's".

After dinner it was out to the Festival again. The original plan was to stay in Lucerne and attend the world renowned Lucerne Music Festival. HOWEVER, the only tickets that were left were 290 Euro... Sorry bout ya, but it ain't happenin! Then, we wanted to go to a free concert in Neuchatel, in this acoustically amazing "cave" of sorts--pas de place--no more seats. Then, Jacqueline's partner, Christophe (who works for an art museum) recommended we go to a contemporary music festival. BUUUUT by the time we got there, it was over, and the artists and musicians were standing around enjoying champagne and beers with their patrons. I did get a chance to walk around the art exhibit for a bit... and I did enjoy some interesting contemporary art, including strewn paper airplanes thrown at a bullseye and a molded clay penis. Yes, you heard me.

Remi took us on a quick nighttime tour of the city--to the ports, the lake, the courtyards (which were full of lovers, let me tell you it was gross) and the houses, the castles, and the mansions that frequented this particular street.

Then it was back home and off to bed... preparing for an early morning at the market and a trip to Remi's chalet in the mountains.

Stay tuned to the next few posts where I will catch you up further :)

Love and miss you all very much!!!
Laura