Blogs from Nyon, South-West, Switzerland, Europe

Oh goodness, where to begin? I finished my ISP, survived my presentation, officially completed my junior year of college (scary!) and left Switzerland. The last two weeks of the program we had presentations and then had the afternoons off. Lots of exploring in Geneva and Nyon, including one last hurrah at the UN library, the Botanical Gardens (they have the coolest carousel ever!), Geneva plage, Old Town, explored Versoix and Coppet, CERN (saw the computer that first used the World Wide Web), got lost looking for a clock that then turned out to be under repair, found La Jonction (where the Rhone and the Arve rivers meet – they don’t mix because of the silt in one and not in the other so there is a very distinct line – Julia and I also found the ... read more

Le jour du depart est arrive, je ne suis pas pret, comm d hab, depart en catastrophe pour l aeroport, bien sur j oublie mon passeport, retour a la maison et je rate 2 trains, vraiment desole pour ceux qui m ont attendu. Je vous remercie d etre venu, Caro encore merci pour les cadeaux d avoir sacrifie ta pause pour moi, cochonou fera le voyage a mes cotes promis, les douaniers se sont moque de moi mais j assume. Et Tania merci infiniment pour ton aide et ta compagnie, ma tete va mieux au fait :o) Tout les autres merci egalement d avoir supporter mes plaintes ces derniers jours, mais un depart aussi long c est pas evident a gerer psychologiquement, vous aller tellement me manquer. 19h50, depart pile a l heure dans un avion ... read more

How many times has some amazing sight caused me to remark to the empty seat next to me? My imagination sometimes fills the seat with the friend who would appreciate the particular sight most. I must admit that I have grown accustom to virtual companions. The thought of having an actual person filling the empty seat causes some hesitation. I am set in my ways as a traveler. I have lots of don'ts: don't chat with people wearing uniforms, don't stand out in crowds. I get impatient when people ask strangers long complicated questions in idiomatic English. These thoughts weighed on my mind as I waited in the Geneva airport for Debra's plane from Boise to arrive. I tested her mettle right away by taking her from the Geneva airport directly to the Paléo Festival in ... read more

FRA: Notre dernière semaine en Suisse est déjà bien entamée. Les derniers préparatifs vont bon train et l'excitation augmente sérieusement. Nous profitons des derniers instants avec famille et amis avant le départ, dont vous voyez ici quelques photos. En ce début de semaine, de très bonnes nouvelles sont tombées. Charlotte a soutenu lundi avec succès son mémoire et on peut donc la considérer comme une éducatrice spécialisée diplômée ! Mardi, Oliver a réussi son dernier examen d'histoire. Pour obtenir sa licence, il lui reste à son tour à soutenir son mémoire en journalisme et communication, ce qu'il fera ce vendredi. Nous nous réjouissons vraiment de nous retrouver dans ce pays extraordinaire où tant de choses belles et mystérieuses se produisent. Certains d'entre vous ont peut-être suivi au mois de janvier l'histoire folle du plongeur Eric Nerhus, ... read more

12/10/05 - In Switzerland we said farewell to our petite cousins (distant cousins) - Jean, Beatrice, Jean-Frédéric and my Uncle Robert at a restaurant on the banks of Lake Bienne. We discovered that Swiss cuisine is not at all comparable to the French food we have grown used to. Jean- Frédéric was on his way to Lausanne to start his studies at a business college, so we all tagged along on the drive from Alsace to Lausanne. We followed Jean’s green bus through Alsace to Switzerland, via the many tunnels that finally get you to Lausanne. The Swiss don’t just put holes in their cheese; they also put them through their mountains. The many tunnels through the Alps certainly make road travel a lot faster than if you had to drive over the Alps. We left ... read more