dimanche 28 août 2011

Grandma and Grandpa Hausen in Switzerland

We visited many places around our home in Geneva during the next week.

We spent some time in the forest and fields outside of our town. I love walking over here and looking out at the mountains.
I took my Mom and Dad to Thun, a beautiful Swiss town in the German speaking side of Switzerland near Interlaken.
Jonas laughed at this sign which said "This is not a potty"

We hiked around the towns castle and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and plants.
At the chocolate museum Jaxon had a blast in the fountain.
Jonas almost died when this lamp post fell on him. We were blessed as his body rotated just enough so it fell on his arm and not on his little head just an inch away.
Janet and my Mom had fun preparing food together. Here they have a wonderful Raclette with dried beef from the Alps and smoked ham from Italy.
Jonas had to try the coco beans at the chocolate museum. He was disappointed with the taste.
Jaxon was a little more wise and just smelled them.



Cool playground at the Maison Callier, the chocolate factory
No words needed.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the chocolate museum is the chocolate room which allows you to live your childhood Willie Wonka dreams. After touring the factory you arrive in a room with unlimited amounts of all the best Swiss chocolates. It is worth the 10 franc entrance fee just to visit this room. After the visit Mom and Dad said they never wanted chocolate again, but the next day they were ready for more.

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so fun to watch the boys bond with them throughout the trip and to share so many wonderful experiences and memories together. We are already scheming for next year!

dimanche 21 août 2011

Travelling back home

The boat ride to Nice was great. The ship had a play area that the kids were in the whole time.One last look back at Bastia and Corsica.

When we got to Nice we saw this sign to Marseille which made us want to turn left. But instead we headed to Nice and beyond.




Mom and Dad took us to a nice pizza to get some pizza au feu de bois (see the wood oven below) We got four cheese pizza with mozzarella, blue cheese, goat cheese, a pizza with white cream sauce, smoked salmon and fresh tomatoes, and a pizza with grilled eggplant, fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts and more. It was so good. Thanks again Mom and Dad for possibly the best pizza I've ever had.
I love these ovens which leave the pizza with a flavor of the wood they use to cook it.

So many choices. We found a wonderful Nicoise ice cream parlor which sold 50 different flavors. The kids always love a good ice cream cone.
Jaxon showing how much he loves ice cream!
On the way back we stopped in one of our favorite medieval villages in Southern France, Eze-le- Village.
Jaxon and Jonas found little door just for kids
Jonas loved doing the bars on this persons front porch
With this last stop we drove back through Italy and through the Mont Blanc tunnel through the Alps back to Switzerland. We had an amazing time in Corsica but Grandma and Grandpa's visit was not over yet...

Corsica-Bastia

As we headed up to the tip of the island we ran into a herd of sheep which blocked the road for a while. Welcome to Corsica. We were taking pictures and the natives who were not impressed were honking at us for not running the poor guys down.
We got a campsite on the beach which was great. We slept with the calming sound of the small waves. We had a nice pasta dinner and ate a ton of olives a la provencal. Yummy. We watched the sunset over the sea and could see the lights of Bastia, the capital of the island in the distance. After the kids went to bed, Janet and I went out for a night swim in the sea and a walk on the beach.
Mom loves the beach and the sea. She and Dad enjoyed walking along the beach at dusk.

On Sunday we started on an adventure to find the one LDS chapel on the island. The Church website provided very little help as the address listed the main road of the city. We drove down that road looking for something that resembled a chapel to no avail. We tried the phone number listed over and over and when we were ready give up, Dad insisted we keep trying. Then we got through to someone who gave us directions. The chapel was behind a store and nearly impossible to find without help. When we arrived we found that there were only two members at church. They were happy to have some visitors and we all participated. Janet played piano and we all gave talks! Jaxon and Jonas hung out in the nursery and played with toys with no supervision, but had blast.

After church, Franc, one of the members invited us to his house for a wonderful meal from Cameroon. We also had an assortment of French patisseries.

You only live once...I'll take one of each please.
During our visit, Dad needed to use the restroom and was in there for a long time. We heard him fiddling with the door for a minute. We soon realized that the bathroom door in the apartment which must have been nearly 100 years old was jammed. The bathroom was the size of a stall with no air circulation and it was a hot day. I will always remember Franc asking Dad if he would like to come out and Dad's serious response in French, "Oui, j'aimerai sortir" (yes, I would like to come out).

Despite all our efforts, we could not open the door. Franc then said, "Richard, get in the shower away from the door." He started kicking the door harder and harder until finally the door broke and opened. We were all laughing the whole time.
When Dad was freed from his toilette prison his smile showed how happy he was to get out. After Dad's adventure and a great meal at Franc's, we went to walk around Bastia for a bit.


The old town was a labyrinth of narrow streets with peeling pastel colored walls.

We loved the walk around. As you can see we don't look at all like tourists and blended right in...
We loved the rough feel of Bastia which reminded us of Marseille. Who needs a dryer when you have windows?



We finished the afternoon at the old port. Nobody fell in the water...

Wait. There was Jaxon that mysteriously disappeared...

The next morning we were sad to say goodbye to Corsica after an amazing week, but the fact that our boat was scheduled to call in Nice in only a few hours lightened the blow. I found a nice Corsican pastry for Janet which she enjoyed while waiting for our delayed boat.
The drinking fountain which was a real fountain was a lot of fun and filled some time while we waited. Jaxon got a nice drink from 5 feet away. I got a nasal flush when I first decided to have a little "drink" from this thing.
A few steps back does the trick.



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