We know that you have been worried about our travelers as they seem to be stuck in Switzerland. We know that you know that the trip has ended for Larry and Debbie. Joyce and Jerry are continuing the trip through Europe until early December. However, we are determined to tell the story to the end of the traveling four no matter how long it takes!
September 30th was a travel day. The group left down the winding road one last time (much to Debbie’s relief) and headed to Colmar in the Alsace region of France. It was a long road trip flawlessly mapped by Joyce as usual.
When they arrived at Colmar, almost everyone was thrilled to eat at the Chinese buffet that is in the middle of nowhere. Okay, Debbie will concede that it was a good buffet. (Must be that French cooking). There are no pictures as there was no time to snap pictures will all the running back and forth to the buffet.
When the group arrived in Colmar, the flat was in a great location in the old town part of Colmar. However, the group couldn’t find the address and were parked in the middle of the main foot-tourist flow. Joyce’s driving through the tourists was admirable from what the others could see. (Larry and Jerry were slumped down in the back and Debbie was once again on the floor of the car with her eyes closed). Joyce finally stopped and the group proceeded with the hunt on foot. Debbie somehow ended up in the middle of the street clutching a bottle of wine (She is not even a member of the wine club). Finally, Joyce went in a butcher shop with a picture of the building. The clerk came out and helped them find the building (All the while Debbie pathetically clutched the wine bottle.).
Once they found the building. They had to make it up the winding staircase with their suitcases. Debbie and Larry have a system by now but they still staggered up the stairs and both swore never to bring so much stuff again. (Elevator? What is an elevator? We don’t need no stinking elevators.)
The flat was in a great location but some of the rooms were somewhat challenging. You could stand in the windows and watch the tourists below. Debbie has been caught standing in the window waving her wine bottle of the people below. The others keep telling her to get away from the windows.
View on the drive to France
This took Debbie 5 minutes to figure out who to wash and dry her hands
After the previous day, Joyce rewarded everyone with a trip to Lake Geneva. First they visited St. Vincent, picnicked at the church, walked around the lake checking out the vendors and trying to spend all their Swiss francs before they left Switzerland. (It is rumored that someone paid $11.00 for 3 scoops).
If you remember, car directions are provided by “Ida” the mobile GPS brought from the US. There is also a GPS in the BMW, named Helga with the British accent. The group began having issues with Ida. Below is the interview with Ida.
Moderator: “Ida, is it true that you have been unresponsive and unwilling to provide directions to the group leaving them lost in Switzerland?”
Ida: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Hard hitting moderator: Is it true that they have had to reboot you on several occasions.? How do you feel about creating undue stress and being the cause of loud voices raised in the car?
Ida: “What? Who pulls out someone’s power source. It is very painful. There was stress in that car before I went silent. That Debbie sits on the edge of her seat gripping the door handle all the time. Larry and Jerry have been awake more than usual but don’t think that it my fault – they seem to be able to sleep through anything”.
It’s important to remember that medications such as free samples of viagra, there are a number of over-the-counter remedies now available. In short, sildenafil online no prescription we would exhaust ourselves. The vertebrae levitra generic cialis of the spine should be in their [proper position and structure. This herb is identified as great natural devensec.com sildenafil canada pharmacy resource of estrogen. Moderator: “So you do admit that you went silent leaving them in the lurch”.
Ida: ……………
Helga: I am available any jolly old time for help.
After talking to a hiking professional the day before, the group thought that they might step up their game. They drove up to the giant ski lift, Glacier 3000, ( costs 60 euro to ride) to begin their hike. Along the way, they stopped at a sculpture of wolves. (Debbie wants to become a professional hiker / sculptor). But back to the hike, they are going to hike up and down this time.
Let’s examine the technical aspects of this hike. It contained several phases to test our hikers resolve and skill levels.
Part one:
Name: aptly named Lake trash (We just made that up). This phase began behind the Glacier 3000 where trash is stored and finished at a lake.
Hurtles on this part of the hike contained mud, tree roots, and younger hikers passing them up.
Impact on the hikers – various stink eyes thrown and initial communication break down, some trust issues among the team members when they discovered that they could have driven to the lake.
Length of time 30 to 45 minutes
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Part Two:
Name: Cow Path
Hurtles Dodgin cows and cow patties.
Impact on the hikers – Loss of focus by Joyce as she petted the cows
Length of time 10 minutes
Part Three
Name: Rock Journey
Hurdles: Freaking rocks everywhere. Small and large rocks trying to trip the hikers as they climbed toward a lake.
Impact on the Hikers: Team cohesiveness began to break down, no communication as difficulty breathing, lots of breaks, Debbie’s most frequent phase becomes “Bloody Hell” and throwing of rocks down the hill. Extreme disappointment at size of little lake. Grumpiness sets in
Length of time: 45 to 60 minutes
Part Four
Name: Lake Walk
Hurdles- No Lake – Where is the lake?
Impact on the Hikers: Lost the trail for a while, tired of walking up hills, whining, and stink eyes thrown at whiners. Finally saw a lake in the distance.
Length of time: 45 minutes to an hour
Part Five:
Name: The turnaround – Making our way back to the original lake.
Hurdles: Not sure if the path exists, back in a smaller rock field
Impact on the Hikers: Team split with some sticking to the road and others wandering through meadows. Stink eye to new hikers who looked fresh and were laughing. Saw sheep and yelled at them. (Hikers might be delirious as Larry starts singing the Sound of Music loud enough for the others to hear him.)
Length of time: 1 hour
Joyce asked after this phase if anyone wanted to stop at the lake for a nice drink and treat. Hikers declined and stomped on to the final part.
Part Six:
Name: Race to the finish
Hurdles: Back down the beginning climb, mud, roots,
Impact on the hikers: Increased speed (Debbie ran off from the others), some hikers got their clothes dirty in the mud, euphoria feeling of survived, high 5’s all around.
Hike statistics: The hike was close to 9 miles and took 6 hours. The hikers were extremely happy to complete successfully and thankful to Joyce for inspiring them. (There was some mumbled “I am never doing that again rumored to have been heard”.)
Debbie under attack by wolf sculptures.
Glacier 3000 – $60 we did not spend
Which muddy trail to take
The upper pat to the lake
Really? We could have driven here?
One of the better looking lakes
It is difficult to understand the need for the boats
The wine club with Joyce’s help arranged a filed trip to a winery. The group met at the bus station to start the tour. They then rode the public bus to a wine field. (Kind of weird – my bus stop is the winery). Ten people got off the bus. There was the guide, observer guide, the intrepid four (that would be our group), a British couple and a German couple. Everyone spoke English so the tour was in English.
Our guide introduced herself but none of the four could understand what the guide said her name was. Let’s call her Markita. She is a professional hiker. (Larry wanted to tell Markita about his recent hiking experiences but the other three were able to convince him not to talk about it). No one is sure what a professional hiker goes but she did have a badge. (Debbie thinks that Joyce should give out hiking badges – “I survived” “I got wet” “I got lost”.
The tour walked through a vineyard where the grapes were being picked. The grapes are picked by hand. Markita showed the group how to graft grapes. Joyce kept sneaking grapes off the vine to eat.
Markita did quiz Larry about wine. (She must have known that he was a wine club president).
Markita: “What is your favorite wine”.
Larry: “Merlot”. (Answer should have been box wine).
Markita: “When do you drink wine?”
Larry: “On Special occasions, for dinner” (Answer should have been – if I find it cheap enough) He went on to say “It is one of the jobs of CBP to protect people and legitimate businesses by seizing unsafe and purchase levitra unknown substances. There is a notion among these patients that how old greyandgrey.com viagra in india they are, the higher the risk to get ED. Here are some of them; by which many of them are a blurred vision straight from the source viagra australia and being sensitive to light. It boosts energy production in cells and prevents buying viagra in spain low sperm count risk due to fatigue problems.
Markita: What was the last wine that you drank?
Larry: “It was a red wine” (Answer should have been – the 1.99 Euro special that I found in Frankfurt).
Larry soon dropped to the back of the line so he would not be quizzed any more. Our next stop was the winery. Markita introduced us to the winemaker, Alod, (actually Harold). Harold is also a wrestler. (Larry was star struck).
It became a tasting extravaganza. The first tasting was pure grape juice followed by 1 day fermented juice. The tasting continued with two white wines, a red wine and some kind of grappa and white wine mix called le douce Tecornue.
On the bus ride home, Debbie became responsible for tipping the guide. (Not sure how this happened). The German and British couples had already decided on an amount so gave the money to Debbie when they departed. (They might qualify for Les Cheap Girls). Good find by Joyce as the tour was free except for the tip.
The wine club made several purchases and felt that the day was a great success. They have since taunted the chocolate club about their successful field trip. Debbie has retreated to her room with a box of chocolate.
After the somewhat doubtful first attempt at hiking in Switzerland, the group was ready to try again. They rode the cog train up the mountain with the goal of hiking to a couple of lakes, hike along a ridge and possibly hike back to Villars. Ambitious? Optimistic? You bet! (Debbie suggests delusional).
They took plenty of pictures during the train ride. After about two minutes of hiking if that, they found the first lake. None of you would call it a lake. It looked more like a Texas cow tank. The group couldn’t get over it. They argued over whether this could really be called a lake. Take a look and see what you think. Lake or tank?
Joyce had a dream come true on this hike. She got to hike with the cows. It took her a little while to become friends and make eye contact but after a while she was talking to them and waving. The hiked past the cows and on to the so called Big Lake. They did have the option of purchasing a 49 Euro burger meal at the lake which Les Cheap Girls declined. Joyce did have to restrain Debbie from running over to the chalkboard and erasing the 49 Euro.
Next on the check off list was the ridge. However, the Swiss signs did them in again. The ridge signs disappeared. They hiked up to a cabin, meditated (another word for caught their breath) and walked back to the beginning of the trail.
After another rest break and lunch, they spotted the ridge. It was very steep. Joyce mentioned taking the train back to the bottom. (Debbie secretly did a little dance for joy). Joyce was very sad because she really wanted to go to the ridge because she heard it might have “Fantastic views”. Joyce suggested that there be a vote. Debbie and Larry were hemming and hawing until at the top of the ridge a couple appeared. The group decided to see how long it took the couple to descend. That couple came down lickety split and the worst things were that they had on street shoes, no sticks and were about 10 years older than the four. At this point, the decision was made. The group was shamed into the hike.
Jerry took off up the ridge with the other three trailing behind. Soon they lost sight of Jerry and decided to get off the steep gravel road. (Debbie did not want to fall down in front of an audience and thought falling in the grass might look somewhat planned. We can’t explain her reasoning. ) They eventually made it to the ridge but not the highest point. Debbie, Joyce and Larry decided that they were not going to the top. However, Jerry was lost.
They waited awhile and hiked half way down and then sent Larry to check the bottom. The group can’t say that they yodeled in the Alps but they can say that they yelled.
Larry: “I found Jerry”
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Larry: “That is him”
Joyce: “He doesn’t have a red shirt on”
Jerry: “Yes, I do”.
A suggestion to Joyce is to take a picture of Jerry everyday so that she will know what he is wearing. Jerry swears that he went to the very top. The other three don’t know how he slipped past them so there is a conspiracy theory that he hid behind the house halfway up. Jerry had been ready to get on the train and leave the other 3 behind. (Tip to Jerry – we are pretty sure that would have been a bad thing to do especially if they had to wait 2 more hours for the next train).
Speaking of the train, they needed to catch the 1:30 train or would have to wait for 2 more hours. Joyce and Debbie ran down the hill shouting “The Train, The Train!” (Imagine Fantasy Island the plane, the plane). It is now 1:30. They arrive at the train to hear Jerry shout “Larry is in the bathroom!”. (Debbie had visions of hiking home).
Debbie raced toward the bathroom until she saw Larry. Then she began shouting “Run, Larry, Run. The Train!” Then she whirled around with Larry in tow and they took off like bats out of hell for the train. They both jumped on the train just in time. At first, the conductor was a bit stunned by all this action but then he got a good chuckle out of the whole experience.
Who wouldn’t want to ride on a green train!
Packed train?
View from the top.
I walk so I can hike for this
This is the lake?
Yes, the small lake.
Can anyone tell us how to get to the lake?
Still a good view
Joyce and Jerry make new friends
Yep, this is the lake
The cabin by the Big Lake
What’s with the black outfit, Debbie?
More friends
It says look for the ski lift.
We hiked up here and it is not where we want to go
The first Switzerland hike was scheduled for today. They began the day with a check in with the information center just to keep them on their toes. They suggested a hike which included a village, Taveyanne. The group could sit and admire the view while sipping a warm drink. Sounds like a good idea.
The hike began with the Diablerets – Vilars – Gryon ski lift to the top. They took enough pictures at the top to send everyone a different picture for Christmas. Look how happy they look starting off. They proceeded through a meadow and down the road listening to cow bells as they walked. Coats came on and off as the group warmed up. Here is how the information desk described the path.
“It is a path but cars may drive on it. (Wouldn’t that technically be a road?) You can walk in the middle of the path and move for the cars. We do not mind if you move.” (Debbie decided that the info girl just wanted to make Joyce happy and called the road a path. She was after all the weakest link). There were some “spectacular views”.
The village, Taveyanne seemed deserted except for construction workers. They walked through the village looking for the restaurant for a warm drink. They finally stumble on the restaurant with music playing and doors open. Unfortunately, there are no people.
Larry: “Hello, is anyone here?”
Joyce: “HELLO, where are you? ” (Debbie has made a dart in visit but is afraid of being arrested. Jerry is standing outside looking around)
Restaurant Person: “We are closed. No Service today!”
Someone needs to tell the information center that they are closed and that restaurant needs to shut the doors. Now the group discovered a fundamental issue with hiking in Switzerland. There were signs but they really don’t point to anywhere. The signs suggested a general direction. Somehow the hike ended up on a bike path but on the upside, they walked by some pigs. ( Pigs don’t have to wear bells extra information for blog readers). They made there way down the bike path, to the road, finally to the foot path and back to the car. Joyce did not want to call it a hike because she did not get to sit at the restaurant and the hike was on a road. Debbie insisted on calling it a hike because it took more than a couple of hours, she walked through a field and followed signs (perhaps incorrectly).
Since it was a short day, the group wanted to share some interesting foods.
Larry has started his own line of drinks. (Larry took several pictures of his drink selections)
Joyce made her own appetizer plate with sausage, cheese and grape juice.
Tuna with tomato sauce and peas – This was accidentally purchased as a can of tuna but Larry is quite taken with it. Debbie is not.
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