Lutry est très belle

We have spent the last few days in Lutry, Switzerland, a "suburb" of Lausanne. It's on Lac Leman and it feels a bit like Lake Geneva. Super cute and expensive. For being old buildings they are really well kept up. Our hotel is contemporary and plush. The streets are narrow and cobblestone.


Our first night here we ate at a restaurant right around the corner and ordered the nightly Menu which was a salad and a mixed shish kabob skewer with coucous. It was delicious. We were the only ones in the whole place.

Yesterday we hiked in the Alps. We took this cute cog-driven train up into the mountains where we picked up the trail. We hiked for a couple hours in the rain and got great views. This picture is when we were on our way back down and were waiting out the rain under a carport.

We've spent a lot of time on trains and in train stations. This guy at one station got my attention because he has a baguette sticking out of his backpack. We've actually seen baguettes in all kinds of strange places. I think their motto is "don't leave home without your baguette. "

Where are we?

Turns out that the espresso in Paris is just as delicious as advertised. Thanks to whoever gave us the advice to order at the bar -that's definitely the way to go. It is both cheaper and you get to hang out in the locals. Yum.

We climbed to the Sacre Coeur and got one of the best views in Paris. So far we have not actually been inside any tourist attractions, we just walk around them. The crowds are big and we don't like waiting in lines.

From the top of the hill, I did a double take thinking this was the Capitol.

Joyeux pâques

Joyeux Pâques!
Yesterday was Easter. We took the opportunity to celebrate the resurrection of Christ at Notre Dame de Paris. It was a very interesting experience. We went to the "international" mass, which basically just meant that most of the attendees were tourists, and they read one reading in English. The rest of the service was in French. So I understood a little bit, but not a lot of what they were saying. But either way, it was neat to experience another culture on Easter. The organ was incredible. A stone cathedral is really the best place to hear the organ. After church, we found a small cafe to have a sandwich. The French definition of sandwich is slightly different than our own. We had one with tomato and mozzarella and one with camembert and lettuce. Both were served on foot long baguettes. From there, we went to the Eiffel Tower. We decided we didn't want to wait in line for hours and pay 9 euros for the privilege of climbing hundreds of steps. And. The line for the elevator was even longer. So we just enjoyed a sunny day in the shadow of the tower. At the end of the day, we had dinner at a delightful little brasserie. It was called the restaurant duchesse. The owner was also the only waitress. She ran around constantly, in dire need of help. As far as we could tell, she piled all the dishes in the sink and shoved the glassware down a hole. the dinner was delicious. I had escargots and pork tenderloin and Emily had smoked salmon and duck breast. It was a delightful evening and a delicious dinner.

Paris in the springtime

Here are some pictures from the tip over and our first day in belle Paris.

The first is us waiting for our plane in MSN. The second is a picture of the Paris opera, just a few blocks from our hotel.

Paris!

After some flights cancellations, weather delays. and a rebooking, we made it to Paris without major incident. The metro system is something else. The train from CDG was beyond packed, but Adam navigated the 4th different train routes successfully and got us to our hotel by the Opera. We took a little nap and then spent the afternoon walking around and eating crepes and macarons. Yum! Pictures to come.

Spring in Wisconsin

We fly to Paris tomorrow and it will be at least 70 degrees there. :) The past few days haven't been very spring-like in Wisconsin so I'm not too sad to leave. Here's a picture of my crocuses a few weeks ago (they are now either finished blooming or all munched by the bunnies). I planted daffodils last fall and those are a few inches tall (i imagine we'll miss them blooming). My tulips are almost ready to bloom, but we'll miss those too. Now if only the snow would melt off the garden we planted last Sunday!