December in Morges

Sorry, I haven't written for awhile. Here's a little update. The month of December went by quickly (in retrospect). We love our new apartment. Anna Claire loves riding her bike on the balcony just like Daddy does (with his trainer on cold days). She also loves the wide hallways that give her a chance to clomp around the apartment in Mommy's heels. I enjoy getting to do laundry in our own apartment and walking to town to get everything I need. After grocery shopping, Anna Claire and I stop by the little park on the way home, where she plays in her own little "house" and then we feed the ducks in the canal just a block from our apartment. Now I understand even better why people love Switzerland. In many ways, we are really living the dream life!

Anna Claire riding her bike on the balcony

(Just like Daddy!)

Down the slide at the little park near our apartment.

Feeding the ducks in the canal

(She really does enjoy this, but doesn't enjoy

posing for pictures!)

Skyping it! Anna Claire loves talking to

relatives and friends through Skype!

Walking the lake trail in the Vallee de Jeux.


Clomping around in Mommy's shoes.

CHRISTMAS 2007!

It was hard to be away from family this Christmas, but we've had a great time here. Bishop Balmer invited us to spend Christmas Eve with them at their daughter, Natalie's, home. They served up a fabulous candlelit gourmet Swiss-French Christmas Eve dinner. Fortunately, Andreas and Natalie's two kids and especially their cat provided Anna Claire with enough distractions for us to make it through the meal in relative peace. We started with raw oysters (a French delicacy which I probably should not have been eating while pregnant) and moved on to toast and foie gras. We did feel a little like the little duck or goose that produced the foie gras as we were stuffed with giant slabs of the duck liver pate and then proceeded to be fed huge portions of duck and chicken with rice. Afterwards, we enjoyed not one but two courses of dessert, including super rich (and delicious) chocolate mousse, made from only the finest Swiss chocolate. Afterwards, we sat around the Christmas tree and sang French carols while Anna Claire opened some presents and almost destroyed the family's ostrich egg collectibles. Ah, the joys of a toddler! The Balmers were so kind to host us at their home and we had a wonderful time learning all about Swiss-French Christmas traditions.

Anna Claire opening a duckie gift from Sister Balmer.

Christmas morning was nice and quiet. Anna Claire fortunately doesn't quite understand the concept of Santa Clause or gifts, but was quite happy to find new toys under the tree. She especially loved her little doll stroller, which she now rolls all around the apartment piled with toys, stuffed animals, crackers and anything else she can find along the way. I think she may be turning into a bag lady.

The missionaries came to eat breakfast casserole (Rob's family favorite) with us and read the Christmas story. This year I have particularly pondered Mary and her role in Christ's life as I too have been "great with child". What a huge responsibility she must have felt to bear the Son of God. And what a courageous woman to willingly take on such a responsibility.

In the afternoon we ate real turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and even American rice krispie treats at the home of another American family. What a treat! There is nothing like good food to bring back feelings of home!

Hmmm, what gift should I open next?

ANNECY

On the Saturday before New Year's Day, the family made a last minute pre-baby outing to Annecy, France (the little Venice). Annecy is a darling little town about 1 1/2 hours from us. It sits on Lake Annecy and is crossed with lots of little canals, just like Venice. It was a beautiful sunny day and we discovered a nice bike path along the lake. Rob spent a lot of time jealously eyeing the bikers going by. Next time, we have to bring our bikes (or at least Rob's -- I'm a little too large for my bike right now).

In front of Lac Annecy.

Just outside of Annecy is a gorgeous 14th century castle. It was closed for the winter so we just walked around it, imaging what life would have been like as royalty in such a place. When I had to use the restroom, I realized that I'm glad I live in the modern day. :)

The castle near Annecy, France

Hey guys, look at me!

Our Move to Morges

We switched apartments last week. The company called us Thanksgiving Day and told us that we were moving to a new apartment the next day. So after we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving Day dinner with the missionaries, complete with pumpkin cheesecake (better than pie) and turkey breasts (a whole turkey was nowhere to be found), we packed up all our worldly wares and made several car trips down the road to our new apartment. We love our new place -- we have lots more space and a huge covered balcony so that Anna Claire can ride her little bike to her heart's content. And, JOY, we have a washer/dryer in the apartment so no more rushing up and downstairs during an alloted laundry time. Plus, we now live right across the street from Lake Geneva and right next to the town center where we can buy most anything we need.

Standing on the Main Street of Morges

In front of Morges Castle (and Lake Geneva)

I must say that although I enjoy the "quaint" ways of the Swiss, I sure do appreciate good old American convenience. Yes, it's nice that the Swiss all drive tiny, fuel-efficient stick-shift cars and park in midget-sized spaces. They save space and help the environment. But a gas-guzzling SUV is sure nice when it comes to dragging around kids and bikes and strollers. Plus, I have grown to truly appreciate our spacious suburban parking lots. The parking spaces here just scream out "Ding my car!" In fact, in order to park at the Lonay apartment, I had to do a five-point turn and wedge the car between a station wagon and a fenced wall. I was quite the sight each morning as I oh-so-gracefully squeezed my pregnant belly several different ways to try to get into the car. Pulling Anna Claire out of her carseat while squishing my belly to the side of the car was yet another sight to see. Forget the environment . . . on behalf of pregnant moms around the world I say bring on the suburban parking lot sprawl and the SUVs!

October - November Travels

Well, here we are -- halfway through November and I'm just updating this. We love living in Switzerland. What's not to like? Everything is beautiful, the bread and chocolate are to die for and we've met some wonderful people. I'm taking a French class once a week and I can now actually say a few phrases. (Of course, I quickly learned the phrases "excuse me," "I'm sorry" and "Don't touch!" just to make it through a grocery shopping trip with Anna Claire.)

Anna Claire finally has a little schedule with playgroups and Kindermusik, all of which give me a chance to meet other people. I haven't befriended many Swiss yet because of the language barrier, but I've met some really great expat moms from all over the world! And lots of them are older moms (or mums as the Brits and Aussies say) just like me.

One ongoing drama is laundry. The Swiss are quite regulated about their laundry. We have one washer and dryer in our apartment building and we have special times assigned to us for our use. Our main time is Tuesday from 7am to 12pm. That gives me 5 hours to do all of the laundry for the week -- including blankets and carseat after Anna Claire gets car sick. Tuesday mornings have become quite the circus. I get up and rush to sort the clothes so that I can pop them in the washer right at 7am. I still haven't figured out what all the buttons mean so I push as many as I can until the machine starts, just praying that I won't end up with the long 1h45m cycle. Of course, Anna Claire won't let me leave her in the apartment along, so in addition to my giant belly, I carry Anna Claire in one arm and the laundry bag in the other as I stumble up and down two flights of stairs. And while I'm there, Anna Claire inevitably lets our neighbors know that she is down there by screaming or stomping or spilling someone else's laundry detergent. Ah, the joys of parenthood!

World Cycling Center and Le Chateau de Chillon
A few weeks ago we took off on a little weekend exploring trip around Lake Geneva. We somehow stumbled upon the "World Cycling Center," which is about an hour from Lausanne. Rob was totally entranced by the cyclists riding the indoor cycling track. It's pretty amazing to see the cyclists ride the track at an almost 90 degree angle to the ground and not fall off their bikes. The Center had a fabulous exhibit documenting the history of the Tour de France.

Rob at the World Cycling Center

We also stopped at the Castle of Chillon. It's a gorgeous castle right on Lake Geneva that was the old Savoy fortress and residence. The best part was seeing the old dungeon where the "Prisoner of Chillon" was tortured for 5 years (and inspired the Byron poem).

The Castle of Chillon -- isn't it picturesque?

Grenoble and Alpe D'Huez
At the end of October, we headed to France to check out the land of "The Tour". Grenoble is in a picturesque location, surrounded by Alps on all sides. Unfortunately, our attempt to visit its great art museum was somewhat thwarted by Anna Claire refusing to stay in her stroller and giving the guard a heart attack by smashing her hand against an expensive piece of modern art.

Anna Claire and Mommy in Grenoble


Our afternoon drive to Alpe D'Huez was breathtaking. Rob finally did it! He biked up the famous Tour de France route to Alpe D'Huez. The road is just as windy as it looks on television -- and even narrower. I thought it would take Rob hours to climb it, but he did it in just over an hour--after not biking for a month! I do have quite the cyclist husband! We loved seeing all the names of great cyclists painted on the pavement. Unfortunately, the only pavement messages written to Lance Armstrong were explitives. (Gee, the French really do hate him.) Anna Claire had a little bit of a rough time coming down and threw up all over her carseat for the third time since we've arrived.

The End of the Epic Ride in Alpe D'Huez

Yep, Here It Is -- the One and Only

Nice, Cannes and Monaco
Last weekend, we took a little (actually quite long) road trip with our Stanford/HBS friends Emily and Patrick O'Laughlin. Emily is on a consulting project in Geneva right now. The five of us squished into our tiny Jetta and headed to France. We didn't do the traffic calculations quite right so our 5 hour trip turned into a 7 1/2 hour trip. But, hey, we got to see the Riviera!


We did have a little drama with our hotel. The crib they provided was really short and Anna Claire just climbed right out. Not wanting her to fall out in the middle of the night, we put her mattress on the floor. Free from her normal prison, she just wandered around all night, climbing in and out of our bed. Needless to say, we ended up exploring the French Riviera through tired, bloodshot eyes.

Anna Claire Making Mischief in our Hotel

Thank goodness for regular cribs!

Nice is a charming city with a gigantic, colorful fruit and vegetable market in the town center every Saturday morning. Now I understand how Matisse got his Fauvist inspiration from here. Cannes is a beautiful beach town. For some reason, all the Europeans we spoke to liked the beaches in Nice -- but they're all rock. They were great at preventing Anna Claire from running off (she can't run far on stones) but not quite as comfortable as the brown sand in Cannes. I was hoping to run into some can-can dancers, but no luck. Instead, we discovered a quaint little Provencal restaurant by the local chateau. On Sunday we attended church in Nice at a little chapel that my mom helped to build 40 years ago when she was a missionary there. Hooray Mom, it's still functioning!

On the Beach in Cannes

One of the Hilltop Towns Near the Riviera

Peek-a-boo Anna Claire

Touring the Riviera with Patrick and Emily

Very QUICK Stop in Monaco -- Note the Flags

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Wow, our first week in Switzerland has been full of adventure! We packed up our house last Wednesday, flew to Geneva on Thursday and arrived Friday morning where Rob had five minutes to shower and rush to a work meeting. We are living in a little town called Lonay. It’s the quintessential Swiss town – cobblestone sidewalks, rustic buildings with green shutters and flower boxes, a tiny market with “pain” and “lait”, and a quaint little church with bells that toll every hour. Fortunately, a little path outside our door leads to a park down the street. Our apartment is roomy but sparsely furnished. Fortunately, man from the relocation agency came over and put together a simple IKEA crib and a changing table. We had also requested a high chair. But in the language confusion, they had purchased an IKEA chair that is high – not at all a high chair. Anna Claire is just going to have to survive with a booster from the local baby products store and her IKEA “high” chair for now.

Our Lonay apartment (note the lovely shutters)

Rob and I have had our share of laughter at our “foreigner faux pas”. The first day here, I ran to the tiny market first and was trying to communicate to the cashier what I needed when Anna Claire found the candy section and chewed through a Spree wrapper. Not a very nice thing for the neat and clean Swiss. Rob and I later drove to a real grocery store. First we had trouble trying to get a grocery cart. In Switzerland, they have the kind of carts where you put in a coin and retrieve the coin later, after you’ve returned the cart. Well, we had no idea which coin fit in the cart. After noticing us make a fuss, a man who spoke a little English stopped and gave us a “fake” coin that we could use. After meandering through the store noisily discussing which products were which, we purchased our items and the cashier asked us something about bags. I nodded and she gave us a tiny bag in which to put our frozen goods. It turns out the Swiss are so recycling conscious that they bring their own bags. Here we were with a grocery cart full of items and no bags!

Another difficulty we had initially is how to close our shutters. Those cute little green shutters outside every window are more complex than you think. The first night, we wanted Anna Claire to sleep without the streetlight glaring into her eyes and I couldn’t figure out how to detach this little roller that holds the shutters open. Rob finally got frustrated and bent the rollers until the shutters came loose. We finally figured out that the rollers just have to be pulled up in order to loosen the strollers. I’m sure this is something that every Swiss child knows, but to us, it seemed so complex! Now, any Swiss who walks down the street can see where the clueless Americans live – in the apartment with the bent rollers and shutters flapping around!

Despite the little complexities of living in a new country, Switzerland is gorgeous. We took a stroll down to the nearby town of Morges and walked along a promenade next to Lake Geneva, where you could see all the boats coming into the harbor. Anna Claire discovered that ducks and geese live in Switzerland too. Our little town of Lonay is surrounded by vineyards and cornfields – not the most productive use of the hilly countryside – but certainly picturesque. On Monday we drove up a steep pass to Mont Tendre. (Yes, Rob was exploring potential bike routes.) After driving through the fog below we caught a breathtaking view across Lake de Joux of Mont Blanc. What a sight!

The view from our apartment!