WHEN IN FRANCE....DO AS THE FRENCH DO

Mama and her long brown cigars

Your mother has lost her everloving mind. Gone to the cigars now and loves that French wine.

This is the result of the trip through the Alps. I come in from work and this is what I see. I've got to bring her home. Who knows what she will do next. Daddy

NOTES......I FORGOT TO MENTION

I got so involved with the toilets and food in France, I forgot to tell you about the toilets in Italy. They looked normal when you went into the stall (like ours). The difference was you stood on a wire grate and the entire time you are peeing, the water is flushing and a few seconds later water sprays under your feet (under the grate with a drain in it) . It was quite an experience wondering where is the water going to spray next. I could not find where to flush so I assumed it flushed the entire time you are in there. There were no buttons or flush units on the floor. I did hit the wall, but nothing happened. Oh well!

You know what I saw when we first got over into Italy? We stopped to get gasoline and snacks and there was a couple outside kissing (big deal) uh, no, it was. They were almost doing more, if you get the picture. Then I heard some guys talking italian. ahhhh! yes. I thought I am finally here. It is soooooo romantic. Then the service station attendant starting yelling over at someone that pulled into a pump. He got so mad and we don't know what he was saying but he told John he was not saying it to him. We were laughing. ahhhhh! mama mia!

We are going castle searching next weekend. Can you believe I am giving up a trip to Venice Italy (my very favorite dream) to go looking at castles? Well, I am. I cannot stand the idea of traveling through those Alps again. No way. I am still dizzy over the last 3 trips and will give up the Italian Romance in Venice and go look at castles in Switzerland and Germany instead. It is a 7 hour drive and most of it is through mountains. We have 4 days off over the weekend and then only 3 days left before we leave for USA. Been here 5 weeks but...........they are asking John to stay one more week. We have not decided yet. I have been over here so long now, I am catching myself saying words in German and French. "Merci"-thank you.

ARIVADERCHI - ROMANCE????

Driving @ 100km around mountains in Alps
Snow covered mountain we drove around and through tunnel
One of many tunnels we drove in and through the Alps

I was so excited that now, we are heading for Italy. Things are gonna be good now. OOPS! Just like before, we can't read or understand any of the signs on the highway. There was another big problem. We had to go back through the Alps. When we went through them the first time into France was scary enough. My foot was almost putting a hole in the floorboard braking for John S. and his speed limit going around and inside tunnels through those huge snow covered mountains. BUT now, we are later in the day going through them. There were places you could look off the side and see villages way down at the bottom. Now everyone knows how I feel about traveling in the mountains. They are pretty to look at - that is , in the distance, or going beside them but different going up in them. I kept moaning and groaning thinking he would slow down but then I would have to groan a little stronger to make him slow down. (He does love that Mercedes). It is amazing how you are coming right up to a mountain and I could see this one huge snow covered one thinking we will go beside it. No. You go through it. That's right, they have built tunnels all over those things and you drive for miles in a tunnel. I would rather do that than go along the edge looking down. We finally got through all the tolls in Italy and through the Alps and came into Milan. Oh, I could hardly wait. The traffic had been terrible like 5:00 traffic in Dallas. It is about 6:30 pm Sunday. Now what can you do at that time there. Sure can't shop. Everything is probably closed. All I could see were those Alps ahead of us and we had to travel 5 hours to get back home. Well, I started pouting and John said he would bring me back next weekend just to Milan. I said no it is too far and still kept pouting. I said I had always wanted to go to Italy and go to a restaurant and be serenaded by a romantic italian singer over candlelight. John said "let's just eat here then so you can experience that". We told "Miss Gips" to find a restaurant close and take us there. Well, now we are going to find out what kind of person this "Miss Gips" is. mmmmmm! not so good. SHE TOOK US TO THE "HOOD". We definitely were in the wrong side of town. It was getting later and I just kept saying I wanted to get through those mountains before dark. Well, WE DIDN'T. I was a total nervous wreck . That was the scariest trip I ever took through those mountains at night. It was DARK DARK DARK. Speed was 100km. Can you believe that? Driving around those sharp curves literally inside and out of those huge mountains. I was doing more than moaning and groaning on that trip. You can imagine what I was saying and doing. Poor daddy. I had actually grown some fingernails out but they are sure gone now and smoking was hot and heavy. We got home a little after midnight with some stories to tell and memories to keep forever.

TOLLGATES - TAKE A TICKET OR PAY UP FRONT

As we were cruising down the autobahn enjoying the beautiful scenery, we came up on a toll as we entered France. Now understand John S. was driving 120 -200 km and as we got close, we noticed a big building and parking and lots of people stopping. It said something like cash exchange or money change---but we kept on going. Now we have come to a tollgate. We drive up and get a ticket. Pull on through, get down the road and I mentioned we are now going to have to use euro not francs. We drove for miles wondering if they would take francs and thinking we really should have stopped at the money exchange and gotten some euros. He wasnt too worried (like I was) because he thought he could just use the credit card. We still worried that, what if they don't take credit card. We stopped along the way at these service stations you can get food, etc. at on the tollway. He asked the guy if the toll gate would take credit card. He shrugged his shoulders like "don't know". John asked if he took credit card so we could get some cash from it in euro. He shook his head no. Well we had some francs so John said could he exchange the francs for euro. He acted a little aggrevated and showed on paper the money exchange. John said ok. The guy changed it and made $12-$15 off us. I think it was more but he didn't want to hear me gripe. We feel safe now going down the road. Well, we get to the tollgate and look at the signs to see which one to go through - credit cards cash or tolltag. He chose to go through the toll tag. go figure. don't ask me why? Well that did'nt work so he BACKED UP. YEP! You got it. In all the traffic of cars pulling up - HE BACKED UP. Now he pulls next to it (credit card) and puts his MC in the slot when he figured out how to do it. NOPE. Would not take it. They only take Amer. Express and their own country type cards. So, here we go backing up AGAIN with cars honking and my eyes closed, he goes to the next gate (when a car nicely let him in) and it has a person in the booth. He told her what had happened and that the credit card machine kept his toll ticket and what should he do. She didn't speak real good english but handed him a piece of paper and he wrote down it was 13.70 euro. He gave her 13.70 euro and we were on our way again. In Italy, you have to go through tolls every few miles. Their highways weren't too good either. I have all the tickets so I can count up exactlyhow many times we paid on that one highway and how much total it cost us to drive that highway in Italy. One time we stopped for a toll and it cost 33.70 euro . That is about $50.00 USD. It was to go through a tunnel for about 15-20 miles long. Well after my experience with those beautiful mountains I have been taking so many pictures of and ohhhhhing and ahhhhing over, believe me, I would have paid $100. to go through that tunnel. Now that is another story - the Alps. Oh Lord, just get me home.

PICTURES CAN BE DECEIVING

Lunch in France at les lyonnais Bouchon Saint-Antoine
Notre-Dame de Fourviere basilica-Lyon France
on Fourviere Hill overlooks the city built 1872

Views from our hotel balcony-Lyon France
John and new waiter at restaurant in Lyon, France

He was so nervous, he dropped the adding machine tape from his

machine and it unrolled all over the place. I held it in place so he could roll

it back up into the machine.He was very embarrassed He was very sweet.

Our hotel in Lyon France, according to the internet, looked fantastic. The reviews were good and It showed big spacious nice rooms and had choice of bathroom with tub or shower. I checked the reviews and they were all good. Picture shows a big white hotel that stands alone with a big sign on top with the name on it . mmmmmmmmm! It took us 2 hours to finally find it. "Miss Gips" kept telling us "you have reached your destination" but we could not find it anywhere. We were tired and frustrated. It was 7 pm and all the shops had closed but still lots of people walking around. France is all about nightlife. We finally found a parking place and got out to walk and try to find it. I saw a very nice looking lady locking her shop and went over and asked if she spoke english. I was afraid to walk very far from the car because we might never find it again. The lady was very nice and helpful and walked us down the street to show us where it should be. It was on a pedestrian street 2 blocks away on those narrow little streets (like the one daddy tried to drive on in another town). The hotel was just one of many tall old buildings that seemed to all look alike. The name was just above the door. We went in and the girl at front desk was very nice and told us we could park 2 blocks away at a parking garage that was also an oil station. He would give hotel guests a cut rate. We walked 2 blocks to park the car there and the guy told us it would be 10 euro. Problemo-once we put the car in there it stayed until the next day. He told us to leave car unlocked and key inside. NO WAY JOSEA! We didnt feel too good about that but oh well. We got our suitcase and treched back to the hotel. The elevator sounded awful like that was the last time it was going to move. Well, once I tried to go up on it and it was stuck on 3rd floor and the boy works there ran up 3 flights of stairs to get it unstuck. He came running back down and it was still stuck. He went in the storage room and turned it off then came back and said to try it. OK. It worked so I got on. It made a terrible noise again and I thought I was going to be stuck in that little 2 man elevator all night. It made it but I started using the stairs. When we got into the room it was about the size of my bedroom at mothers house. The little back bedroom. UH! We stood there and laughed. I opened the door to the balcony and was afraid to step outside because I was afraid it would crumble and fall. I did though, so I could smoke. It was a very clean room and smelled good. I had read review of some that smelled like pee. I have since learned that rooms in Europe are relatively small. The people were nice there at the desk and very helpful. They told us about a nice restaurant to eat at. Our view was not real good but it was ok. It was noisy down the streets all night till very early morning. Remember this is France and the nightlife is-------. We decided to stay and it was very nice. They served a very nice breakfast the next morning. And, there was quite a few people staying there. (Wonder if they saw the same picture on internet that I did).The guy at the parking garage , the next morning, told us it was 13 euro (not 10) . That happened to us a lot in France. Well, we tried to leave and there was a huge running marathon going on. The police had all the streets on that side of the river blocked. Great. "Miss Gips" was trying to navigate us out of there and could'nt because of the marathon. We ended up walking up and down the river and found out they have market day on the river on Sunday. It was fun. They were selling everything from flowers, meat, flowers, veggies and fruits. There were some amazing buildings to see, such as the Notre-Dame de Fourviere basilica on top of Fourviere hill, overlooking the city. We had a terrible time finding our way out of that town and was later leaving than we planned in order to get to Milano, Italy. Now that was another amazing experience. ITALY. The one country I have wanted to go to ALL MY LIFE.

MY FAVORITE STOPOVER

John and I on Chapel Bridge Lucerne Switzerland . Castle Meggenhornon on hill in background. Bridge goes to Jesuit Church we toured.

Covered Wooden Spreuer Bridge over Reuss River. Jesuit Church in background.

Lion Monument-Lucerne Switzerland. Carved out of rock mountain to honor the swiss guards during the French Revolution that died (more than 700) defending their royal family Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette and their children.

John S. on the covered wooden bridge. The eaves have old painted pictures of the history of Lucerne and the wars fought.

We were on our way to France and Italy but - I had been working on the itinerary and found a really quaint town to see on the way. It was called Lucerne (English and French) Lucerna (Italian) and Luzern (swiss and german). Well our GPS (poor thing) does'nt know what language she is and got confused as to where we wanted to go. I checked the road map thinking we should be getting there , but their road maps make no sense at all. Sure enough we had missed it. I was so mad at "Gips" (GPS) because that was one place I really wanted to see. It was built in 750. wow. In 1168 a walking wooden bridge was built over river Reuss to connect to the church. Lots of medieval stuff here I love to see. Just think who all must have walked on those old cobblestone streets in these old towns like Lyon France and Lucerne. I could almost see Picasso or Napolean coming down the street. I kept telling John all of this so he turned around and went back. That's when our trip started getting messed up. We spent way too much time there and on top of all that, it was up in the Alps (another BIG story).

EXPERIENCE A NEW TOILET....AND FOOD !

John S. in the toilet - Lyon France


My Ravioli (never did see a ravioli in that dish) with strange fish on top.

Well, we are back from our big trip to France and Italy. All countries in Europe are different as in houses, roads, food, and TOILETS. You have read the experiences we have had with toilets. OK-are you ready for France and Italy? In France, they are called toilette's. Easy enough -ok - We went to a very nice restaurant to eat dinner and daddy came back from toilet grinning and said "you will not believe this" , "the men and women use the same toilet and there is just a petition between. If a woman is washing her hands and wants to look, she can see the men through the mirror standing at the urinals. " Now I had to check this out and you got it, I could see a man over there. ok. The next day we were down by the river at the market day and we had to use the toilet. This is different. See the picture. I laughed my head off because a woman came by as daddy was in the men's part. At least the women have a door. Men have to wash hands outside at a faucet. The food in France is fantastic. They do know how to cook. I had a ravioli wrapped in some kind of green vegetable like lettuce leaf with a slice of some kind of fish or unknown meat on top. It was not like any ravioli I had ever seen or eaten but it had a cheese and wine sauce. Never did see the ravioli though. I, of course, had a glass of wine. John had baked fish and they stood there and cut the fish head off and scraped the bone off. He said his was very good also. I had ravioli the next day too (it was the only thing I recognized on the menu and could read). Well, it looked entirely different. It was a bowl of raviolis stuffed with (I don't know what) and a wine sauce. It was also delicious. John had beef stragonoff and wine of course.

GOODBYE HEIDI, MY FRIEND

Heidi , my housekeeper, just stopped by. She said "Holy Day-ok?" I said ok wondering what she was telling me that for. She got a sad face look then went to her locked closet and took a bunch of cleaning stuff out and gave it to me along with trash bags, etc. She usually takes the towels, and bedding to wash on Thursday and brings it back on Friday and puts it in her locked closet for the next week. Today, she put the towels up in my closet and said "ok?" again, I said ok. What in the world is she doing? She started to leave and looked at me sad and said "problem" then said "Carmen". uh oh, I thought there might be a problem with Carmen. (She is in charge of the condo from CCI) I was afraid that the balcony door not locking yesterday and having the repairman over upset Carmen. I thought ,maybe Carmen is sending us home early. After my usual worrying, I thought - Maybe Heidi was trying to say "Holiday" instead of "Holy Day" and I won't see her anymore before I leave because she reached out sad to hug me when she was leaving. Well, we leave Thursday, May 8 for home and she comes to clean on Thursdays. She is really my good friend. I will miss our "talks" in 2 different languages where we laugh and make hand signs for communication and facial expressions especially with that washing machine .

What If I Can't Smoke?

Heidi, the maid, is here. She is so cute. I got a pic of her sitting in the floor trying to make that washing machine go again and us laughing. My balcony door is not shutting good and won't lock so she called and the superintendent to come up. He said he could only get someone out next week hopefully to fix it. He locked it and said I could not unlock it until it is fixed. ooops! This means "oh no, how do I get outside to smoke?" I am 3 stories up. Heidi was so funny. Our communication is hilarious. She went to the bedroom window and opened it out and leaned outside and played like she was smoking and said "yeah?" She was meaning for me to go to the bedroom window and lean out to smoke. ha Well, the man just came and fixed it. Yeah! It was a technical problem - not anything I had done. The man spoke English too. Now it is fixed. Whew!

What? No Bathroom?

Daddy and I have been working on the iteniary for this weekend and he is going to call for reservations at the Residence Hotel in Lyon France and hopefully get a room for Saturday night. I really wanted to come on home, but there is just too much to see and not enough time plus about a 5 or 6 hour trip. Wanna hear something funny? I found out when I was reading reviews on the hotels trying to decide which one, that you better remember to ask for a bathroom. Not all rooms have separate bathrooms in even the fancy hotels in France. Would that not have been funny? Can't you just see Daddy and I walking into our room and have no bathroom.ha

LIVING IN WINTERTHUR SWITZERLAND

For a month we will be experiencing new cultures, new languages, and oh boy, new food. Food like I have never eaten before. We have tried the beef and it is very chewey. People over here are not overweight because they chew on the same bite of meat all day long. Who knows, it could be horse. They do eat that over here and think it is good. I WILL NOT TRY THAT. The only meat we can eat is chicken and german sausage. It is good. The view I have from the balcony is breathtaking and I love the chalets all over town. We cant tell what we are buying at the store so it is a surprise when we go to eat. I bought what I thought was a zucchini (the sign looked like it spelled it and it looked like a zucchini BUT when I sliced it and fried it - nope - it was cucumber. Don't ever try to fry cucumbers. It is nasty. It is also very hard to read instructions on the box. I just guess. ummm sometimes it was'nt a good guess. We have ended up a couple of times going out to Micky D's (yep, they got those here and they are good). Won't tell how much they cost. People over here rent or buy little shacks and a tiny piece of land to grow gardens and flowers. I know now why they all do this. It is because the meat and veggies are so high and so bad, they just grow their own. They make it an all day family affair to go to these little places on the hillsides on weekends to take care of their gardens. The little shacks on their property hold their gardening tools and seed, etc. Every day is a new experience for us. We were on a trip and needed to stop at the restroom. We kept looking for rest areas and figured out the sign WC means "Water Closet" (restrooms). When we go to Germany the signs say "Pissoir" (that also means restroom). Now when you flush the toilets in Germany, you hit the wall behind the toilet. There is nothing there, you just hit the wall and it flushes. I am serious. I kept looking for the handle or something to flush the toilet and I saw a pic of a hand hitting the wall so I did and it flushed.

Exploring Europe

Julie Andrews The Sound of Music

Well, we have entered a whole different culture. It is so much fun but confusing at times. Our first weekend was traveling to Munich Germany with a stopover in Austria. I know I heard Julie Andrews singing a song on the radio from "The Sound of Music" as we were driving through this beautiful snowcovered Alps country. We arrived in Munich at the parking garage and took 15 min. to figure out how to get a ticket for the gate to open. We went to Old Town Munich and saw structures built back in the 1100 - 1500. That was a LONG time ago. Everything was absolutely beautiful down to the carillon in the tower of the town hall that dances around at noon and 3 pm. Food was fantastic there (hard to read what we were eating). They do eat horse over here. Now USA needs these: the toilets have a container of cleaner that cleans the seats when you flush. The seat actually turns in a circle as the cleaner sprays it clean. Went to the Hofbrauhaus beerhouse and everyone was dressed in traditional clothing, band was playing typical beerdrinking german music, people hollering, no empty tables unless you sit down with a bunch of happy drunks at a long table for 16-20 people. It was too noisy so we left. We came, we saw, and we left - went to a quaint romantic restaurant and had the same beer and wine and weinerschnitzel. I thought it was going to be like a hot dog, but it came out like a fried pork chop with the best german potato salad. After a full day of walking, we started home. Now John S. loves the autobahn. It has no speed limit and it was like a racetrack. Stay out of the left lane unless you are racing. John S. really likes the mercedes we were in and took it to 200m -uh-sometimes I would look and it was at 250m. OK, it was time to step in and slow it down. I wanted to get back in one piece. Driving through long tunnels is nothing here. They just build a tunnel on hwy instead of going over the mountain or cutting through it. Whew, we made it home in one piece. Next report will be our trip to the Stein amRhein Falls. It is a castle and you climb down the mountain to the largest waterfalls in Europe.

Welcome to your blog!!!

You are all set now. You are an official blogger and we can not wait to hear and see all about your adventures in Switzerland!!!
Love You,
Diana & Cheri