Ahh! I have skipped a few weeks of updates. Week 2 is now week 5! After spending a week with the flu and then a few more non adventurous days, I now have something to write about!
Well, let's see, week three (now two weeks ago) we spent Saturday trying to find an American grocery store we heard about in the Paquis area. Little did we know that this was not only the ethnic area of Geneva but also the prostitution section as well. Oh yes, and prostitution is legal in Switzerland. They will fine you $800 for a speeding ticket and you're only suppose to use your washing machine between 10pm-6am, but you can get all the prostitutes you want! So, we found the store. Tiny little hole in the wall. Nestle chocolate chips (Nestle is a Swiss company btw, go figure) were $9.00 a bag and marshmallows were $6 a bag. So, sadly and not so sadly, I am now immune to sticker shock. $9 a bag for marshmallows, what a deal. Somethings you just can't live without.
After this adventure, we were off to explore Lausanne. Lausanne is a large city about 45 minutes north of Geneva. It is a great medieval city along Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) with one of Switzerland's largest Gothic cathedrals. The old town has cobblestone streets and the best part, no cars allowed. So, we spent a few hours exploring around Lausanne, stopped for a few Chocolate crepes and then headed back to Geneva.
On Sunday, we spent the day attempting to ski in the Jura mountain resort of Grand Massif. This resort was recommended to me by a girl I met who by the way now, has 3 broken ribs and a punctured lung from skiing at Grand Massif. Anyhow, obviously accidents happen anywhere to anyone. So, we were all set for our first real experience of skiing in wonderful Switzerland. We wanted the kids and Kevin to take lessons. We also wanted to rent helmets for the kids. We parked a good distance away, put all of our ski gear on and went off lugging 4 sets of skis and polls to the 'tele cabine' (place where you buy your lift ticket). We were then told that we needed our passports to prove the age of the kids so had to hike back to the car to grab those. By this time, it is already 2:00. We were told ski lessons were given by the Ecole du ski francais which was located somewhere downtown. Helmets were also rented in the nearby town at a number of local stores. When we asked how to get there, they asked "do you have a car" Ugh!!!!! So, we attempted to ski there. Skiing in Switzerland lesson one: rentals, lessons, are all separate from the resort. The people at the resort can't give you any information on these other services and probably can't speak English either. And the lesson we have learned in Switzerland over and over again, you are suppose to already know these things!!!!! Not sure how, you are just suppose to know! So, by 3pm, we finally get the kids in a one hour lesson (the resort closes at 4) and Kevin and I are off. Must I mention the one run we all did on the bunny slope where Kevin unlatched Alex's ski boots and never relatched them (I really don't know if he forgot or if he really thought this may be OK, hmmm.... guess I will never know). Well, so Alex starts down the hill and there goes his ski, along with his boot flying down the bunny hit with such speed that it proceeded to knock over one to many beginners. Everyone kept on asking, how in the world did the boot go with the ski??? Well, you see.....So, Kevin and I were off. Since we did not have a map nor could we find any English speaking folks who could help us, we jumped on the first gondola we could find and proceeded to climb high up this enormous mountain for the next 10 minutes (at record speeds). It was beautiful but we were scared to death and all we could think about was how far we were from our kids and how long would it take us to get down this mountain! At this point, we had less than a half hour! So, we found ourselves skiing down the only way that we thought took us home. That required us taking some blue slopes as well as some red (which we later discovered is only a stage before black). Since Kevin has never had a lesson and has only skied two times in his life (in Mansfield Ohio), this was an adventure he did not enjoy. Although he was doing great, 1/2 way down the mountain and few hard falls later, Kevin took the gondola back up and then back down the mountain. I simply met him at the bottom. The best part of the day was the cafe we found at the bottom of the mountain. A few drinks and few bites later, we were good to go. Kevin kept saying that lesser marriages may not have made it that day and I completely agree. It was intense. So, we are going to attempt this again (at a different resort this time) this coming Sunday. Luckily, I already have lessons for all three boys scheduled. Hopefully we will have a much more positive experience this time around! I have attached a picture of the highlight of the day, the cold beers and poor Auston, sounds asleep at the table!
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