French Speaking Switzerland, complete with a real French linguist

We met Joe's cousin, Therese, in Geneva to spend the Ascension holiday & weekend together. We packed in a lot of French speaking Switzerland in a short period of time, so hold onto your hats, you'll need them, it was a cold & rainy ride. We breezed through Geneva, climbed around in St. Pierre's and toured Mason Tavel, the oldest standing residence in the city. Geneva was nicer than I was expecting. Many Zuricher's (myself included) think that Zurich is clearly better & therefore, write Geneva off completely. However, it certainly was worth the visit & I'm glad we finally stopped in, it's been close to 2 years in Switzerland, so it's about time we toured the other major Swiss city. Then, we took off for Montreux & Chateau de Chillon. The castle was almost too much. It felt like every room in the place was open to public viewing. It is impeccably preserved & set on a stunning spot along Lake Leman. We enjoyed the tour immensely despite the incessant barking dog & a trio of obnoxious American girls who thought it cute to lean out of windows into the inner courtyard yoddeling & generally being horrific. I had half a mind to give them a piece of mine, but held back when I saw them helping an old lady. Still. 'They gave America a baaddd name.'

After the castle we caught the boat back to Montreux, collected our belongings & were off to our destination for the night, Vevey. It's a stunning, colorful little town which we'd head back to visit anytime. There was a large Saturday morning farmers market which Therese negotiated with all the flair of a legitimate Frenchwoman. Basically, she made sure we were kitted out with all the treats we desired by speaking to the people, in French! We had goat cheese quiche, coca (some yummysoftsugaryflatbread goodness), lettuces for our dinner that evening, some papaya encrusted goat cheese, caramels, homemade strawberry pineapple jam --- oh the flavors of the non-German world, what novelty! We strolled the town a bit more, then packed up & headed out to Lausanne, Joe's home away from home in the French speaking world. I don't have so many positive things to say about Lausanne, I had a bad first impression of the place & now can only see the negatives. Perhaps Joe or Therese can tell you about the positives as I can't see past the gyspy beggars & crummy transport system.

After we wrapped up Lausanne, we caught the train home to Zurich. We had a quick look about, grabbed a drink at Conditorie Schober, had a nice home-cooked meal which everyone pitched in to make fabulous, then headed out for a quick drink in Aelpli. Turned out to be quite the energetic show. Therese got part of the madness on video on my camera, so I'll be sure to share later.

Sunday was certainly the gloomiest weather day of the bunch, but we headed out to Lucerne nonetheless to check out one of the many military bunkers which is located along Lake Lucerne. First, we took an hour ride on the nicest public transport boat I have ever seen to the town where the bunker was located. We ate our lunch & enjoyed the views, then found our way to the phenomenally interesting bunker. It was cold & damp inside, but slightly warmer than the outside world. We were treated to an audioguide which debuted 'the most annoying girl ever to grace an audio-guide & Uri, the man who was supposed to be explaining the bunker to her.' Many times we couldn't resist exclaiming out loud some insanely annoying statement she'd just uttered. Even now, the thought of her voice is searing my inner ear drums. Then, we breezed through the rest of Lucerne & were home in time for another home cooked dinner & a night on the couch to enjoy a few episodes of 'It's Always Sunny.'

It was great to have Therese around for the weekend. We scratched a few items off our 'Swiss to-see list' & enjoyed getting to know our cousin better. We're hoping for many happy returns for her to the continent & to her new home away from home in Limoges, France.