And a duck duck here, and a duck duck there

Sometimes I have strange hallucinations

     Like seeing a giant duck.  At least I think it was a duck.  It quacked like a duck.  But it didn't look like a duck.
     Well.....you be the judge:

     Yes, I know what you are thinking:  What the heck???

     I watched this man set up a stool, unpack his blanket and mask, put it on, and just sit there, quacking at people who went by in downtown Vevey.

     He never said a word, he just quacked.

     And if you put money in his basket, he quacked a lot and nodded thanks to you.

     It was actually quite entertaining.  Some kids stopped and touched his beak, while others just waltzed by like he didn't exist.

     Julia and I went to lunch at a restaurant called Charlie's down on the lake shore.  It is the only restaurant directly on the shore....been there for years.  

     I had my favorite meal here:  butter fried perch and fries, with a salad.

     Jackie and I used to go to Yvoirre in France for lunch and I would order that at La Pirate, and was never disappointed.  Today's was good, but I miss the Yvoirre trips.

     And Emily and John, notice the weather is very sunny.  Following Monday's dreary day, the sun felt very nice today.

     So, Julia and I spent the day wandering the streets of old Vevey.  Jackie did not feel up to making the trip to town, so I spent money like a mad man without her.

     Lunch. Coffee. Chocolate......the francs were flying!

     I also went to the market and wandered around there for a while.  But I am posting those pictures to Facebook as an album.

     Just seems easier.

     And tomorrow I have to pack and weigh suitcases.  This could be close.  If I have time, I may take one final walk for this year.

raindrops keep falling on my head

Rainy days bum me out

     Funny, in a way.  It's raining in Rochelle, and it's raining here.
     It is a cold rain.  At least there is no wind.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny again and around 70.
     When I look out Julia's apartment, I can see five towns around the eastern end of the lake.  When a storm is coming, yellow flashing lights are turned on along the lakeside to warn boaters.  So if it starts to rain, I always check for the yellow lights.  Tonight....no lights, so that means just a regular rain.
     We went to France today.
     It's not as big a deal as it sounds.  France is across the lake.  There are a couple of large grocery stores there and Julia sometimes drives there for staples.
     We have to go through a border crossing and the Swiss guards ask if you have wine or meat.  You can bring back 15 bottles of wine, but only 2 kilos of meat per person.  Julia took us because we are three, and she got about 6 pounds of meat for her tiny freezer.
     I love to go to a wine cave just houses from Julia.  They are open for sales from 10 to 12 on Saturday.  I forgot to go Saturday.  We leave Thursday.
     As I was on my damp morning walk, I passed by and saw the lady who, along with her husband, owns the winery.  I said to her in my best possible French, Good morning.  I would like to buy some bottles of wine.  She said to follow her.
     So we went into the cave and I put my order in and told her I did not speak French.  She said in French, that I had done very well so far.
     She also told me she spoke English....which I knew, because I have talked to her before.  But she preferred I speak French to practice.
     I ordered 5 bottles of wine, and she gave me a sixth bottle. Her husband, who speaks only French, came in, we said hello, and he gave me some Chablis grapes to munch on while his wife answered the phone.
     All in all, it was a pretty cool experience.
     Anyway...time for some pictures.
     Actually, time is running short for us this trip.  Already sense the sadness.

The last time I saw little Stanzi, she was one!  Dan and I met her in 2011!

George is from California, Monica is from Switzerland.....both great people and Stanzi's parents!

Nothing like a little Big Boy. or as the French say, Big Boy

Towns are really old here. I imagine there was a lane down this town 200 years ago.  As cars became more popular, roads were needed.  But the old villages often  don't have a lot of room.  So there are small  sidewalks and narrow passages everywhere in Europe.

OOps, I did it again

I am not Mr Fix-it

     I try to fix things.  If it is really difficult, I call a professional.
     But something simple?  I should be able to handle that.
     Like sweeping out a garage and getting the spiders off the ceiling.  First thing I do, first thing, is break Julia's broom.  Shattered in pieces, all that is left is the pole.
     Prior to that, she had a kitchen sprayer/hose faucet that had limed up.  I removed it, soaked it in vinegar overnight, then replaced it.
     Now there is only one way to put it on......and I could not get it.  It's a push and twist thing.     Notches in the faucet line up with tabs in the plastic head.  Get them in line and twist, and it is back on.
     Oh no, Moen breath!  I tried and tried and tried until my trier was sore, and it would not go back on correctly.  In fact, it fell off a couple of times.
     The last time I lined up the tabs and notches, twisted and ..... miracle, it stayed on.  But there is no spray feature anymore!  And I can't get it off!!
     Today Monica and George, friends of Julia's, came for dinner.  So I vacuumed the floors.  Julia had a candle on the dining room table.... on the table..... and I knocked it off.
     Wax all over the place.
     Jackie suggested using a hair drier and paper towels, and that worked.  It took quite a while, but it worked.
     Unfortunately, the floor is a little slick.  I guess it has been waxed.
     And now for an unusual coincidence.
     Monica and George had gone to California to visit friends and relatives.  George is from California.  They took their daughter to Disneyland.
     They then flew from LA to Montreal, where they had a connecting flight from Montreal to Geneva.
     This was the early part of July.
     Emily and John went to visit Julia in early July.  They had a connecting flight from Montreal to Geneva.  But Emily and John's flight got cancelled because a bird got caught in the plane's engine.
Monica said their flight from Montreal was cancelled because a bird got caught in the plane's engine!
     Monica said there were no planes available, and they had to stay overnight...same as John and Emily!!
     Either a bird in the engine is pretty common, or Emily, John, Monica, George were all on the same flight.....they just didn't know each other at the time.
     Weird, isn't it??

day after day, alone on the hill

I had another high point in Switzerland today

     Today, Kevin and Christina, two of Julia's friends, invited me on a walk.  We went to Montreux, and went to the gorge that is just above Montreux.
     It's a rain forest!  Any second, I expected to see a t rex bound out of the woods and gobble us up!
     Ferns and moss dominated the landscape.  Of course, waterfalls abounded.
     The gorge is created by melting snow in the mountains.  It cascades down the side of the mountains, eventually ending up in Lake Geneva.  (Which isn't Lake Geneva.  To the French it's Lac Le Man and to the Swiss it is Lake Geneve.  Can be damn confusing.)
     We hiked up to almost where I went hiking Wednesday, then we took a stairway down.  It was a looooong stairway.  But Kevin felt it might be safer/easier for me because it wasn't as slippery or muddy as the path up.
     Tonight we went to The Musee, a restaurant in Montreux.  We had cheese fondue and chadaronne, or something like that.  Thin slices of beef that you cook on a hot grill placed in the center of the table.
     The highlight of the food was the cheesy potatoes, which are served like bread sticks at Olive Garden...unending and in abundance.  They were super.
     These were the nationalities of the people eating at our table...because they were all Nestle connected in some way:  France, Ukraine, England, Spain, United States, Germany.....and I think amongst all the wine I may have missed a country or two.
     Anyway, it was a great time.  Fun people, good food, great wine.
     I am a little tired now, so I will end this with some photos.
     Peace and love to all.

This is Julia's old apartment building....the one in the middle with huge gabels

Lake boat coming into Chillon

Cooking our meat at the table

Meat plus fondue....great combination. 

Did I have any wine???

Sunset.....

it was a turn down day....nothing on my mind

I didn't do much, but I had fun today

     I did sweep out Julia's garage.
     Now, that may seem pretty mundane, but the garage has lots of little spiders.  On the ceiling, on the walls, in the door.  So I swept the ceiling, and the walls, and the floor.
     I also brought up some wood.  Julia has a wood burning fireplace and last year I got to stack her year's supply of wood.  But because it was such a mild winter, she hardly used any.  So I brought some up to stack on her balcony.
     We also went shopping at the Manor.  The Manor is a huge store, and has everything:  toys, cameras, clothing, gifts, souvenirs, cosmetics, watch repair .....and a large food store.
     We wandered the aisles looking for lasagna stuff for dinner Sunday.
     Now folks, we are not sure about some things.  Jackie uses a large cottage cheese size helping of ricotta for lasagna....but is that 12 ounces or a pound?  And how does that translate to kilos?  We ended up with a demi kilo, which is a about a pound.  And the only lasagna noodles were the precooked one.  How do you precook lasagna noodles?
     There were fruits there that I had never seen, along with several types of eggplant and some weird looking tomatoes.
     There is a fresh meat section, a seafood section, cheese section..... everything you want food wise.
     We also went for cake at Craig and Yvonne's.  They have two of the most amazing little girls... Penny Jane and Lilly.
     I learned Penny Jane has a loose tooth, Lilly has lost 5 teeth, all about school and that my French is pretty funny.
     That is another aspect of life over here that may be hard to grasp.
     Yvonne is from Germany, Craig from England via Australia.  Their girls can speak English, German, and French...trilingual by the age of 6!  I can't even say, "My name is Terry" and these two little ones are flowing from one language to another without thinking about it.
     Again, amazing.
     Anyway, time for some pictures.

Sea food counter at the Manor

Octopus, anyone?

A lot of wine is made here....and sold here, not exported

A visit with Craig and Yvonne

the youngest

Julia is a bad influence

Guess who had Let it Go on their phone, and guess who loves Frozen?

she said, "Take a Hike"

I went on a short hike today

     There is a village near here called Les Avants.  In May there is a narcissus walk through fields filled with narcissus.  (Narcissi??)
     That's May.
     It was a good two to three hour hike, although the signpost said 1 hr. 25 min.  I have learned to not pay attention to the estimated times.
     Funicular up, hike through trees and fields, then hike down to the town.  Quite a pleasant hike.  I did it today (Thursday) because tomorrow it's going to rain buckets.  And maybe even raindrops.
     I had to take a train to get there.  So I went to the funi station in Chardonne, punched in my starting point and end point, and bought a ticket.  It was 8.80 franc for a full day pass.
     I thought that was strange in its cheapness.
     I stopped at the train station in Vevey, showed my ticket to the agent, asked if it was good for Les Avants and he said yes.
     At Montreux, I got on the train, and my seat mate started a conversation with me.  She was English and we had a very nice chat.  I said to her, "I am worried I don't have the right ticket.  But I asked two people and they said OK."
     We chatted and the conductor made his appearance.
     I gave him my ticket and he asked me, "Where is the rest?"  I asked him what he meant, and he said my ticket was not valid on this line.
     In Switzerland if you are caught with an invalid or no ticket, there is a rather hefty fine.  Sometimes police are involved.  I started to sweat.
     I explained I bought it at the funi, punching in Les Avants as the destination.  I also told him I stopped at the Vevey station and the agent verified it was good for Les Avants.
     Making a long story short, he said not to worry and sold me the proper ticket so I could also get back. And my seat mate, Helen, works for Nestle....she asked my name and said she was going to e-mail my daughter.  I am not sure why, probably to tell her what a handsome young man I am!
     When I hit the Vevey funi, I again punched in the same info I did when I bought the ticket in the morning and this time it came up 21.40, which was about the same price I paid in total for the two tickets.
     Now I know not to trust those machines!
     It was a good day.  Nice hike, with lots of scenic views.  I have included some pictures here, but will do more on Facebook later.
     There was another couple hiking the same route.  I took a lot of pictures but always kept them in sight.  At one point, after the path turned, I thought I was off trail.  I may have panicked a little, because I lost sight of them.
     Al ls well that ends well, as I finally caught up to them.
     Funny, I know I could not get lost because all I had to do was keep walking down.  But it was still a little disconcerting to this flat lander.

This is the machinery that pulls the funi up in Les Avants

One lane up, one lane down and in the middle they split so the cars can pass.

I liked the moss.

These are creatures coming out of the mountain!

I swear, they were like this!

The path down had steep stairs....a lot of them!

money, money, must be sunny, in a rich man's land

It's not always roses in Switzerland

     First off, things are expensive.
     Gas is 1.80 a liter.  There are about four liters to a gallon....so that is about 7.20 a gallon.  Which explains why people drive smaller cars and use more public transportation.
     I just bought some bread, freshly baked baguette from the patisserie up the hill.....3.90.  OK, I have to admit, it was worth it.
     But housing is the killer.
     Julia lives in an apartment, pays rent, like hundreds of other Swiss people do.  She would like a house, not an apartment, but a single stand by itself house.
     She will need a minimum 200,000 franc for a down payment, because you have to put down 20 percent.  Roughly speaking, a basic house is about 1,000,000 franc.  Houses that meet all my criteria are about 1.8 million...to start.
     My criteria: a house with entry from the garage to a living space, something like a studio apartment.  Then with stairs up to a second floor with additional living space, kitchen,  2 bedrooms, living room. dining area.  And a view.
     That way when we come visit, we have a little place to stay and it might be easier for Jackie to get around.  Plus it is space for other people to stay when they visit.
     Which means, I have to win the freakin lottery when I get back to the states!!
     Anyway, I have a few pictures and comments from the last couple of days.....

Looks like garbage left on the street, but au contraire!  Recycling is huge in Switzerland.  This is compost waste.  Commune employees pick up newspapers once  every two weeks, compost material, I think also every two weeks.  All sorts of buckets and containers, with apples, banana peels, spoiled vegetables, are put out on the street for pickup

 The red dots indicate wave caves....places were wine is made and sold.  There are quite a few to choose.  By the way, Julia lives close to the 10.

      Found this interesting.  It is posted on city hall and shows the police and fire activity for July. Ambulance calls are broken down into the type...heart attacks were third highest.  Accidents were top.

This is the fallout shelter door in Julia's basement.  All the older Swiss buildings have these shelters and they are mandated in newer dwellings as well.

     A Swiss clothes drier.  This is a gas unit.  Set the temp, turn on the timer, close the doors and your clothes eventually dry.

     And no Beth, that is not my underwear.  I only wear thongs now.  Very European.

     Oh, while I was at the patisserie, I opted for a little afternoon delight...double creme!