Boat To France

On Sunday we went on one last adventure with Auntie Katie to Yvoire, France. It's just right across the lake, so we caught a boat in Nyon to get there. The kids love watching the big boats on the lake, so they were super excited to actually get to ride one.

It was a pretty good trip overall, though there were a few hang-ups:

-In Morges we accidentally got onto the sleeping coaches (first time I've seen sleeping coaches on a Swiss train), and the door to the regular coaches was locked so we were stuck standing for the entire ride to Nyon. Somewhat ironically we couldn't get the door out of the sleeping coach to close, so it was nice and noisy--just what Rowan likes best.

-Niamh had an allergic reaction to the "sorbet" we got her in Yvoire. Perhaps those crazy French put egg in their sorbet. Perhaps some ice cream was left on the scoop, and that minute trace of egg made her sick. Perhaps it wasn't egg at all, but something else. Who knows. At any rate, that's when we decided to go home after only being in Yvoire an hour or so. Thankfully she'd only had a couple of licks and we got Benadryl in her right away, so she didn't actually throw up.

-In Nyon I completely spaced out a red light while crossing the street in front of a police car and got reprimanded for putting my children in danger. A little embarassing. Hey, I looked both ways before crossing, and determined that the police car was far enough away that I didn't need to wait....if only it had been a normal crosswalk.

Anyway, Yvoire is a very picturesque village, but there's not much to do there other than shop, which was disappointing. Even the castle was closed to the public.

waiting for the boat in Nyon

snacks on the boat

checking out the view from the stern

castle at Yvoire

I just liked this fire hydrant

picturesque, yes?

Jass

I was told that Jass is a popular family of swiss card games. It is a four person game similar to pinochle, but has more cards and a little more variability. The general rules can be found here and the rules for the version I am trying to learn, Schieber, can be found here.

The picture below shows the ace and face cards from the shields suit.


We have not played yet, but I hope to play soon.

A very hot, very lovely day in Sion

On Thursday Pat took the day off work and we rode the train to Sion for the day. Sion has my favorite castles in Switzerland. They are not the most touristed, but in my mind they are the most beautiful, by far. Being mostly in ruins makes them seem so mysterious, they would be the perfect setting for an Enid Blyton novel. Not to mention the breathtaking views!

The trip definitely went much better than it did last year--we had enough water, I wasn't pregnant, we didn't bring a stroller, and we didn't lose an alleegah (more pictures from that trip here, on the left hand side under late June photos). We also ended up doing some unexpected shopping--trains for Pat, souvenirs for Auntie Katie, and a couple of new cheeses from the Valais region for everyone!

Here are a few of the photos I took from the day, I think I'll probably put more up on Flickr.

All of the above pictures were taken inside the beautiful church at Château de Valère.

Auntie Katie, Rowan, and Niamh in front of the chapel at the bottom of Château de Valère. It was unfortunately locked.

Ro and Pat hiking up to Château de Tourbillon.

Group shot at the doorway of Château de Tourbillon, with Château de Valère in the background.

Rowan and Niamh loved all the grasshoppers at Château de Tourbillon

View from Château de Tourbillon

...through the grass at Château de Tourbillon

We stopped at the bottom of Château de Tourbillon for a much needed ice cream break. I bet that ice cream stand does good business! Niamh was, as usual, the messiest.

Poor Niamh was also the most tired! Luckily on the way back home we were in a fairly empty car so she could take a little snooze more comfortably. Or at least as comfortably as possible inside a sweltering train car.

To Lausanne

On Monday we took Auntie Katie to Lausanne, where I made her pose for a lot of photos at the cathedral! She was such a good sport! The cathedral was our main stop, and after that we just did a little shopping before heading home...chocolate shop, toy stores, souvenirs, H&M....fun, fun!

A Day In Zurich

We went to Zurich for the first time last Friday (July 31st) with Auntie Katie. During the 2.5 hour train ride there we were fortunate enough to catch a train with a super cool playground for the kids (we had been able to ride once before with the Kershners), which made the time pass very quickly.

Our first stop was the Saurier Museum Aathal, which our little dino-lover enjoyed a lot. We then went into the old part of Zurich for a bit. It was not nearly as impressive as I'd imagined it would be. I'm sure there's cool parts we didn't know about, but what we did manage to see didn't inspire me to take photos (being exhausted by the three little once didn't help any on the photo front). I think the only photo that got taken in Zurich was done so by Pat. Anyway, it was still a good time, and I'm glad we went!

on the train

in the family car on the train

at the dinosaur museum--they had a bunch of stamps that you could use to make dino footprints in the sand

Swiss National Day

Just a few pictures from the festivities in Morges for Swiss National Day.

We started the day off going to the park and then the market.

The castle was set up with all sorts of activities for children. Live music, lots of bouncy castles divided into different age groups and a big variety of games. The kids had a blast and mostly just wanted to play on the bouncy castles.

That evening there was lots of activity down at the lake. Auntie Katie was so sweet, and stayed home with the kids (sleeping and terrified of fireworks) while Pat and I checked things out.

I loved these lanterns that many kids were carrying around.

There was a bonfire out on the lake

The restaurants were festively decorated and packed with people.

There was a spot all gated off and watched over by firemen where you could bring your own fireworks and set them off. The majority of the participants seemed to be 11-18 year old boys.

I have really got to remember to take the filter off my 50mm lens when I'm taking photos in darker settings (notice the same random green lights I got at Notre Dame in Paris).

Some of the fireworks were so loud, I was sure we'd have awake and frightened kids by the time we got home. But they thankfully slept right through it all. I really hope next year that we can take them down! Auntie Katie suggested noise blocking headphones for Rowan, which I think we'll have to try.

Aathal Bahnhof

The train station near the dinosaur museum was quite small. It felt very remote for being only 26 minutes from Zurich.

The train station at Aathal.

Only two departures in each direction per hour.

Auntie Katie, Niamh, Rowan, and Emily waiting for the train.

A train departs the station.

The train network for Zurich.

Climate Guide

We need to do this the next time we are in the Jungfrau region.

Castle Time!

It looks like we'll be visiting some castles in late August.

Happy 1st of August!

There have been a ton of Swiss pride food products for sale the past couple of days, but these chickens were the best. Pat and I both thought separately that they needed to be blogged about.

More information about Swiss National Day here.

Not sure what we'll do today--we're pretty tired after our trip to Zurich yesterday (pics to come). There are sure to be fireworks at the lake later, but Rowan is terrified of them, so we will probably have to skip the display.