An ancient church and the Super Bowl of Soccer - now we're talking European

June 29, 2008

We went to church this morning, and then we had a great lunch of pasta and really tender beef seasoned with some kind of Italian herbs and rolled into a ho-ho shape before they’re cooked.

After lunch, we drove up to a little village and visited an old church that’s construction began in the 6th century AD. We went with Franco and Emily’s family and another American family who is living in Switzerland. It was really cool because the acoustics in the old church are amazing and the kids all sang I Am a Child of God in the nave of the church. There were a few other people visiting the church, and they just sat and listened. It was a pretty neat experience.

The kids played with Franco’s kids this evening and we just visited with Franco for a while. Then Memo and watched the final game of the Europe Cup. Memo is an avid soccer fan, and he has been following the whole tournament (it takes place every four years and is staggered two years apart from the World Cup). He even has a bracket he fills outs like many people do for March Madness. So I’ve been watching the games with him when I’ve been here, and he explains to me some of the nuances of soccer (or futball) that I wasn’t aware of. Spain beat Germany 1-0 in the final, but I didn’t think it was as exciting as some of the other games we had watched. It was fun, but I definitely think they need to create a flopping rule for soccer.

Just more R & R

June 28, 2008

We had planned to go to the Chateau de Chillion today, but when we woke up, Becky wasn’t feeling very well (just a stomach bug that lasted about a day). So we just hung out and played at Maria and Memo’s house. Franco and his family and Noemi and her family came over this afternoon so the kids were able to go swimming and play with other kids.

This evening the kids wanted to play petanque again; this was the third day in a row we’ve played a little. It funny because at first they wanted to be on my team, but now they fight to be on Memo’s team. Needless to say, I haven’t won a game since we’ve been here. But after the kids were done, Memo gave me a lesson on some of the strategies of the game. I think I’m starting to catch on a little better. I guess we’ll have to build a petanque court at our house.

Go jump in a lake!

June 27, 2008

We had a fun day today. It was a lazy morning, but Zac seemed to be a little grumpy. I think he’s getting a little homesick for friends, grandma, etc.

In the afternoon, we visited a park called Juraparc – no, not Jurastic Park; no T-Rexes in Switzerland. It’s a kind of zoo where animals are in semi-captivity. They have a large area on the side of a mountain where the animals can roam fairly free but people can still see them from a raised observation platform. We saw several wolves and about five bears, and in other areas, they also had billy goats and American buffalo. They also had a visiting elephant show so we saw a couple of elephants too. At the park, there was also a fun play area for the kids with a zip line and extra long slide that was built onto the side of the mountain so the kids enjoyed themselves.

Then we went to the Lac du Joux; it’s a high mountain lake in the Jura Mountains. Our friends told us that it is the largest lake in Switzerland that freezes over enough in the winter for people to go ice skating on it. There are also several ski resorts in the little mountain valley so I guess it’s a fairly popular destination in the winter. Of course, Zac, Mr. Sensory Boy, jumped right into the lake at one of the summer swimming areas. I think that it did him some good as he had a great time, and that has seemed to carry over because his mood has been better. Alex gradually made her way in too, and Katie and I put our feet in. Becky, Maria and Memo stayed away from the cold mountain water (although it wasn’t really that bad).

An old game and a new baby

June 26, 2008

This morning we taught the kids how to play petanque (similar to bocce balls, but you play with metal balls on a court of pea gravel). Memo used to play quite a bit when he was younger, but I think he only pulls the weeds in the court when he has visitors now. Still, he whipped me, and then with Alex on his team and Zac on mine, they beat us even worse. I don’t think the kids really understand the rules, but they had fun anyway.

This afternoon Noemi and baby Dania came home from the hospital so we drove over to Yverdon to visit the city and lake a little and to see the new baby. Everyone is doing well, and the baby is way cute. Katie wanted to hold the baby the whole time so whenever anyone else held the baby, Katie sat on their lap and held Dania with them.

I just realized that I haven’t gotten any new pictures of Fabio because I usually take pictures when we go out someplace, and we hung out with him mostly at the house. In real time, he’s already left for France, but I’ll get some pictures of him at the wedding.

Pete does his Charles Barkley impersonation

June 25, 2008

Just a day to rest and relax. We stayed around the house today, and everyone seemed fine with that. Memo and Maria put in a three foot portable pool while we were away, and the kids had a great time playing in that with some of the grandkids that came over in the afternoon.

The big projects for Becky and I today was getting caught up with laundry and cleaning out the car. Becky did most of the car, and I took charge of laundry. Maria’s machine is very good and energy efficient, but it takes nearly two hours to do a load, and it’s not a high capacity washer. Also, there is no dryer so clothes have to be hung up to dry either outside or in the basement depending on the weather. With the amount of dirty clothes we had after our ten-day road trip, the laundry was an all-day affair.

This evening Fabio and I went to play basketball with some of his friends. He used to play quite a bit when he was younger (just with friends though), and this was kind of a last time before he gets married get-together. You have to realize though that I am a wrestler, and the only thing in basketball that I’m good at is fouling. We had fun though, and it got me some exercise so I can’t complain.

We missed Disneyland, and we're okay with it.

June 24, 2008

Not a lot of excitement. We talked to the kids and decided not to go to Euro Disney today. We were all pretty tired and ready to get back to a real home in Switzerland; we figured we had also spent enough money since the dollar is pretty weak in Europe right now. Alex who has endless energy was the only one who voted to go to Euro Disney, but even she didn’t seem too disappointed when we decided not to go.

So we slept in a little, took a while to get everything packed into the car, and then hit the road back to Switzerland. We made it back to our friends house at about 7 pm, and I think the whole family was happy to be here. Fabio, who works all over the world for his job, arrived in Switzerland yesterday so we were able to see him. We hadn’t seen him for close to eight years, and it was good to catch up with him. He’s a little stressed with all the wedding stuff, but I’m trying to convince him to relax.

Of course, Maria had a wonderful dinner for everybody, and it was nice for the kids to be able to run around and play again.

Ils sont fous, ces Americains!

With all of the historical mumbo jumbo that we’ve been doing, we wanted to do something for the kids. We were debating between Euro Disney and a more French-based theme park called Parc Asterix. Because we cut out a couple of other things that we thought about doing (due to kid interest and fatigue) we decided that we might try to do a day at each. We decided to start with Parc Asterix as it would be a totally new experience for the kids.

For anyone unfamiliar with the popular French comic books of Asterix and Obelix, they are the two heroes of the last village in all of ancient Gaulle that hasn’t been conquered by the Romans. The local druid has concocted a magic potion that gives the villagers super-human strength, and he dishes it out to the local Gaulois every time that the Romans attack. Their catch phrase is: “Ils sont fous, ces Romains!” (They’re crazy, these Romans) – or some variation thereof. Asterix is the clever little one, and Obelix is the good-natured oafish one who fell into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby and has been left permanently stronger than an average mortal. The books are written on multiple levels so they appeal to both children and adults.

Anyway, the park was pretty cool, and the kids enjoyed it. Alex was a little disappointed because there were fairly long lines for the big roller coasters, but the kids’ rides had short waits because the French schools don’t get out until the end of June. The theme and atmosphere of the park is very cool, and the rides were so-so. Zac, of course, now loves Asterix and Obelix, and he is the proud owner of an action figure of each of these heroic characters (yes, Grandma Kit did give the kids money to spend however they want on the trip – Thanks, Grandma). It was fun, but again, not a place that I feel like I would need to go back to again.

The park closed at six since it was a weekday, and we didn’t want to fight traffic back into Paris. Becky wanted to visit the city of Chauny where her mom, dad and sisters had lived when her dad was in the Air Force. Her older sister Dee was even born there (something that I give her a hard time about every time that her “countrymen” do something that annoys us regular American folk). Of course, you have to realize that Dee is a blue-blooded American and has never been to France since she’s been old enough to change her own underwear. She loves it though when I give her a hard time so I do it for her benefit.

I have to admit that I was a little annoyed at first because I was tired from ten days of travel and Becky had underestimated how far away the city was from where we started out. But by the time we got there I agreed that it was a good decision. The kids were excited to see where Grandma Kit had lived before Mommy was born, and we were even able to call Kit from the little town. It turned out to be a good side-trip, and we got back to our hotel about time for everyone to go to bed.