Villars, August 2, 2014

My last day in Switzerland!  Danielle and I took the télécabines from Villars up to Roc d'Orsay at 2000m. From Roc d'Orsay, you can ski in all directions.  We settled in on the terrace of the restaurant.  It was a gorgeous day with splendid views of the mountains, including the Dents du Midi, which had been pretty much hidden in clouds for most of the week.  We ordered wine and turned our faces to the sun.  Then we ordered lunch. I had roesti with a local Tomme de chèvre and a salad. So now I have eaten all my favorites: fondue, Raclette and roesti! 

We stayed quite a while and then took the cabines down into town where David met us and drove us home. Normally, I would have walked to the cabines!  And we would even have taken the little train halfway up and walked down.  Maybe next time with two new knees and no cane! 

And so it ends.  Tomorrow I will take the train from Aigle to Geneva airport, fly to London Gatwick, transfer to Heathrow, spend the night there and fly home on Monday.  The last five weeks have been just wonderful. 

London, Heathrow Airport, August 4, 2014

As I await my plane...on a gorgeous and hot day I might add...I wanted to share a nice quotation that is so apt.

"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen."

- Benjamin Disraeli

Villars, August 1, 2014

Today is the Swiss National Holiday.  On August 1, 1291, three Alpine Cantons swore an oath of confederation, which later became regarded as the foundation of Switzerland.

Parades, bonfires, music, fireworks, sausages and beer or Raclette, dances till the wee hours and sometimes lights in the highest peaks, taken there by alpinists.

The weather was not good up here, very cloudy, but it was beautiful down in the town where we went around 4 and watched the parade from benches provided by the town.  There were food and souvenir stands lining the main street, all under tents.  A carousel for the children.  Everyone walking, eating, drinking, laughing....wonderful ambiance.

Then the parade started with the old Vaudois militia on horseback in 19th century costume.

The Hallebardiers in red with their distinctive cleated sabots which make a lovely clacking noise.  This group is not that old, having been organized only in 1970, but their costumes hark back to the Burgundy wars.

The wonderful cows with their floral crowns and bells.  I photographed every single one!  I love Swiss cows.

The bell shakers.  What a sound!

The alpenhorns.  Beautiful music.

The yodelers.  So haunting! 

The goats.

Local costumes.

And bands, ski groups, medieval fair groups, more horses, more cows.....and much more!  It was one of the best I have seen...sorry Bristol!

We then came back to the house and had Raclette with tiny boiled potatoes and all the accoutrements, gherkins, pickled onions, viande des Grisons and other cured meats.   And for dessert...une tarte aux poires!  David was the cook and ate while standing at the Raclette machine, scraping off the cheese for us.  He put a half a wheel of Gruyères in the machine.  I think we ate about half.  At some point you have to scrape off the rind as well and it is called "la religieuse"(the nun).  It is crackling and soooooo good.  The origin of this expression is obscure, but one that sounds likely is this: when nuns visited homes, they asked people to set aside the rinds of cheese for them, the unused portions of the cheese.  Sounds good to me.  There is no doubt that these melted rinds are absolutely delicious.

Then we had a nice wait, with Glenfiddich, for the fireworks.  There were definitely thunderstorms in the area, but the mist gradually dissipated.  The sunset was not too bad.

Neighbors joined us on the terrace and the show started around 10:30.  The fireworks were spectacular and right in front of us!   Danielle and Dave's chalet is one of the highest in the town, so we had a great vantage point.

When we went to bad, the weather had deteriorated and we had tremendous thunderstorms and rain in the night.  Woke us up!  This July has been the worst for rain and lack of sunshine for the past 55 years in Switzerland.  All sorts of records have been broken.  When we left Gruyères the other day, we took a different route home via Gstaad and Les Diablerets.  Although the rain was not as heavy as it had been that morning, the rivers, including the Rhône, were raging mountain torrents and there were magnificent waterfalls all around us.  It was a spectacular drive home.

St. Gingolph, July 31, 2014

PUp here, the weather is still pretty dismal, but we were optimistic that it would clear as we descended into the valley.We set off around noon for lunch in St. Gingolph, on the southern side of Lac Léman (aka Lake Geneva), within a stone's throw...literally...from the French border.  And the weather cleared...beautiful blue skies, sunshine and warmth!  We went to Le Bellevue, since Villa Eugénie is now closed.  We went specifically for les filets de perche (Ken, take note!).  We all had exactly the same thing, except that Dave and Danielle had pommes vapeur and I had pommes frites.  The dish was served "en deux temps", Swiss style.  This means that they serve you a nice plateful of your order....then a second plateful, exactly the same!  We had started with  a very nice mixed salad, so we were pretty full at the end of the meal.  We had a bottle of a wonderful Saint Saphorin, one of my favorite Vaudois wines.  In the past, we have gone over ther border into France to have coffee farther along the lake, or to go to Evian, but we returned to Monthey to stop in and see Paulette, Danielle's mother, for a quick visit.

Back up to Villars where we decorated for the national holiday tomorrow....strings of Swiss flags and red and white electric candles!  Olivia came over for a drink and helped out.  Then another neighbor, Valerie, also dropped by.  The weather up here was better than it had been...it was nice and sunny, with some lingering clouds as we sat outside.  We finally saw some of the Dents du Midi before they disappeared again into the clouds. There were a few fireworks ahead of the holiday.  An almost new moon completed the picture.  Oh yes and some lovely birds at the feeders...lifers for me.  Chaffinches, Green finches and European goldfinches. All very colorful.

Gruyères, July 30, 2014

Yes, as in the cheese!  We had made plans to meet Jennifer, Dave and Danielle's daighter in Gruyères.  She drove down from home near Neuchâtel and met us there.  It poured with rain all the way and barely let up the entire time we were there.  It is one of my favorite places.  We found a lovely place for lunch....spoiled for choice here....on the enclosed "terasse" with panoramic view!  Except that today the panoramic view was socked in!  We all had quiche gruyérienne avec salade.  Rich, creamy quiche with only Gruyères cheese. And, of course, wonderful local wines!

Notice how the castle is now enshrouded in fog!

Dave, Danielle, Jennifer (who was making a face at her former French teacher!)

Villars, July 29, 2014

It is cool, cloudy, misty, rainy....just not nice, though there is a certain fascination in the low clouds that hide the alps across the valley.

Olivia, it seems, had wrecked a tire on her rental car.  Long story short, car had to be towed and we drove her into Lausanne to pick up a replacement car.  We dropped her off and then went down to Ouchy, the lakefront of Lausanne.  We parked and then walked to the famous Hôtel Angleterre...Byron was a famous resident.  And my parents stayed here....more than once I believe. 

Hotel Angleterre

Château d'Ouchy

 Lausanne holds many memories for me.  When I was at school here 1957-58, I contracted a serious eye infection and spent several weeks at the famous Hôpital Ophthalmique/Asile des Aveugles.  Dad was able to come over and visit me at both ends of a business trip. After my morning tests, shots and meds, we explored the city, buying gifts for Mother and enjoying fondue bourguinonne.  He bought me some fab grey suede high heels and I bought my first 35mm camera with my previous summer's earnings.  The happy side of a bad situation.  I also came here during my Wheeler years as part of an accreditation team for Brillamont School.

Olivia joined us and we had  delightful lunch in the L'Accademia restaurant.  We really couldn't walk Long the lakefront because of the rain.

To Switzerland, July 28, 2014

We left for the airport at 6am, both of us having flights around 8am.  Ken flew to London where he will spend the night, then meet Ruth tomorrow. I flew to Geneva where Danielle met me.  Weather is still good, but it is not supposed to last.  Great to see both Danielle and David in their lovely home in Villars, high above the Rhône Valley.  

We had a lovely lunch outside in the sun.   There were low-lyong clouds and I could not see the Dents du Midi.  A friend from Miami, Olivia, whom I have met before, is visiting for a week and renting nearby.  She used to work in the area, with Danielle's sister at one point, and that is how they all met many, many years ago.  Olivia came over for fondue.  Danielle prepared it and David stirred!  Yum, especially when, following David's advice, I dipped my bread in Williamine (local pear eau-de-vie) before dunking it in the fondue!  Of course, after dinner, David and I had Williamines.  We both love the stuff!

By the time we were preparing for dinner, the weather had deteriorated.  It became very cool, so much so that Danielle made a fire in  the wonderful stove in the dining room.  Later it started to rain and it was quite heavy in the night.

David, Elaine, Danielle

David, Elaine, Olivia

Budapest, July 27, 2014

"Budapest is a prime site for dreams: the East's exuberant vision of the West, the West's uneasy hallucination of the East." (M. John Harrison)

Last day in this beautiful city.  Ken went off to walk some areas we had not seen.  The heat and humidity were intense.  A quick thunder shower cooled the air down, so that by the time we went out to tour the Opera House, we had a very pleasant walk under the trees of Andrassy.

The Hungarian State Opera House is a Neo-Renaissaince building built from 1875-1884. Although not the largest opera house, it is considered to be the among the most beautiful and to have the third best acoustics of the European opera houses.

The auditorium is horseshoe shaped and is a blaze of gold.  The former royal box is impressive.  The foyer, staircases and halls are richly decorated with marble of various colors.  There are baroque elements and musical themes in the statuary.  Busts of famous Hungarian comoosers abound, the most famous being Franz Liszt.  The vaulted ceilings are painted with frescoes.  Chandeliers and lamps gleam.  The overall effect is one of brilliant color, mainly gold!  Only the Empress's private rooms are more subdued, paneled in light carved wood.  The Empress had her own entrance, staircase, drawing room, bathroom and buffet.  The walls of the drawing room contain oil portraits of famous opera stars in costume.

After the tour, we were treated to a brief concert by a soprano in evening dress.  She sang: Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" and the drinking song from Verdi's La Traviata.  Two excellent selections.  She was lovely and did not just stand there and sing.  She used a wine glass as a prop and she invited one of the tourists to waltz with her....fortunately he could waltz! 

We then went to the Alexandra Café (aka Alexandra Bookstore Café) in part of the old Paris Department Store for an early supper.  

The Paris Department store was built in 1909 on the site of a casino which burned down. It was a jewel of Art Deco design.  It suffered in WWII and the building was later renovated.  Inside, some of the original open floor plans can be seen.  The Alexandra Bookstore occupies the ground and part of the first floors.  The rest of the first floor is taken up by the Alexandra Café in the Lotz Hall, originally the casino's ballroom, which survived fhe fire and is named for the painter of the frescoes adorning the ceiling.

I had the most wonderful combination of foie gras, smoked duck breast, Roquefort and fresh figs...with the most delicious home-made bread, made with potato flour!  We caved and had very rich chocolate tortes for dessert!  Wow!

Then home to set the alarm for 5am!  But before we go, here are photos of the apartment, as described previously.

The bedrooms flanked the living room.

Budapest, July 26, 2014

We set off after breakfast with the intention of exploring the Buda Castle area.  So we hopped on a yellow bus which took us on a long ride up to the Castle area through some very interesting working class neighborhoods, hotbeds of various revolutions.  We passed the Technical  University, Corvinus University, the Gellért Bath complex, the Gellért Monument, and what the locals call Bálna, the Whale.  It is a whale-like glass structure attached to two old warehouses...project of a Dutch architect....which will be a commercial, cultural and entertainment center when completed.  

Technical University

The Whale

Inner Parish Church at Elizabeth Bridge.

Liberty Bridge

We arrived on Castle Hill and hopped off the bus in the old town of Buda.  Ken went off to see the stunning Mátyás Church.  There were far too many steps for me. So I went to the terrace in front of the Royal Palace which is now a museum.  I walked a little, took photos and sat down on a bench to wait for Ken.  45 minutes ahead of time, he appeared....the church was closed!  Weddings!  And weddings there were...all over the city. I include Ken's photos of the church which I saw but did not visit!

Note:  No museums.  I simply cannot do that kind of walking.

Mátyás Church

Saint Mátyás

Royal Palace

Eugene of Savoy, a liberator.

Fountain

St. George Terrace

(Note:  The old Hungarian kings were all saints!)

We had lunch at the same restaurant as on Thursday and enjoyed even better views!

And, I never tired of photographing Parliament!

After lunch, we hopped on the red line bus which took us on an already familiar route, winding down the back of Castle Hill and up to the Citadel on top of Gellért Hill.....spectacular panoramic views od the city.  We then wound down to the Elizabeth Bridge and back onto the Pest side.  We hopped off at  one of the docks and hopped on to the boat tour, which was included in our hopalong ticket.  

We passed the church of the former Carmelite Monastery and St. Anne's Church.

We went north as far as the Margaret Bridge which is at the tip of Margaret Island, which is basically a very large park.  We did not hop off!

Margaret Bridge.

Then we turned down river and....more photos of Parliament.

We disembarked and walked home past all the luxury hotels with fabulous views!

After a well-earned rest...we had been out for almost 6 hours...we went out to search for a nice restaurant for dinner.  We decided to go down to a pedestrian area between St. Stephan's and the river.  Saturday night in Budapest....young people everywhere....from all corners of the world....sitting on the wide steps in front of the Basilica....cafés whose tables,  chairs and bar stools spilled out onto the plaza.  A very heady scene.  We settled on a nice restaurant called Elsö Pesti Reteshaz on Oktöber 6 Street. We did not want another heavy Hungarian meal.  Ken had a salad and I had a charcuterie plate I been eying for the last couple of days.  Spicy dried sausage, ham, pork cracklings (yes!), sautéed goose liver, a white cheese I could not identify and various garnishes.  It was very good and we enjoyed the ambiance outside. This restaurant is considered the best Strudel restaurant of Budapest.  We thought about having some...but we have eaten so much since we have been here, we decided against it.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!