Saying Goodbye

Our last day of Switzerland was set aside for packing and cleaning. First we all needed one more outing. So after one last bath,
we headed to a new park that Mike and Katherine had found the night before. It was beautiful and warm, and most importantly (to me) it was right on the water.

Ellie just likes to play in the dirt

Katherine wanted a picture with her "antlers"

On the way home I took a few pictures of St. Prex.

Elementary School

Wouldn't it be fun to live in one of these buildings?

After our last little outing (besides a trip to the grocery store for LOTS of chocolate), it was time to get down to business. We spent the rest of the day packing and cleaning. Packing to come home wasn't too hard - it was just a matter of fitting everything we had into our suitcases. Mike and I finished cleaning after the girls went to bed.

Thursday morning we woke up early to catch the 6:40 bus. We BARELY made it. Other than the sprint to the bus, the trip home was relatively uneventful. I was very sad to leave our little town. I cried on the train ride to Geneva. Our second flight was 11 hours, but thankfully we had the bulkhead so that the girls could have some space to move and wiggle. My wonderful sister-in-law, Becky, picked us up from the O'Hare airport. Sadly, Katherine got car sick and threw up twice. In our family throwing up in the car is slightly traumatic, but if anything gets on a "blankie" it becomes VERY traumatic. Luckily Katherine had her cousin Hope to distract her. It was nice to finally crawl into our cozy beds after our 20 hour trip home.

Ouchy

Chateau d'Ouchy

After our trip to Evian-les-Bains we spent some time near the pier in Ouchy (the southern area of Lausanne). There was yet another awesome playground. Katherine had fun climbing up all of the different ways to get to the big, steep slide. Ellie mostly just played around the bottom of the structure. Mike and I have decided that the slides in Switzerland are much steeper than those in the USA. Katherine kept trying to climb up the slides, but they were too steep. I guess the Swiss have figured out that slides should be made just for sliding, not climbing!

After walking around the Ouchy fountains, we stopped for strawberry ice cream and a Nutella crepe. That ice cream was the best ice cream I have ever had. I'm sad that we didn't discover that booth earlier in the trip because we would have made several visits.

Taking the Boat to France, on Purpose

Cool statue on the Ouchy pier

View of Lausanne

On our last Tuesday I took the girls across Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) to Evian-les-Bains, France. I had planned on making several journeys across the lake to various towns, but the schedule was sparse. In the summer there are many boats that cross the lake, however there are limited times in cold weather. It only took about 45 minutes to cross.. I wanted to sit outside in the sun, but Katherine is not a fan of wind. Oh well.

On the ferry - Swiss flag

On the ferry - French flag

This little town was wonderful. We walked up to the main little shopping street and wandered around. I found "my" store here, and bought some capris and a skirt. I could have bought nearly everything in there if money were no issue. I mentioned to the owner that I loved her store, and her reply was "Thank you. It is unique." I think it would fit in beautifully in Madison.

I wanted to find the fountain where people can fill up water bottles with Evian water for free, but I didn't want to miss our ferry back. Instead we walked up and down the lakeside.

The girls eating their rolls with Nutella - a trip staple

Our ferry

On the way back we got hot chocolate, muffins and chips. I remember getting a Snickers and hot chocolate (I burned my tongue drinking it) on the ferry to Alcatraz when I was little, so I thought this may be a fun memory. Mike said I probably only remember the hot chocolate because I burned my tongue. He is probably right. Also on the way back, a woman spoke to me in French for what seemed like an eternity. I had told her I only speak English, and very little French, but she carried on anyway. I was proud of myself for understanding a great deal of what she said. She told me it is good to live in different cultures while kids are young, because they can pick up the language so easily. Her Mom spoke 5 languages because of moving around when she was little. I explained to her that we were only visiting for a month, but that I agreed with what she was saying.