Ma mere est en Suisse!

Mommy is here! So far we've just dinked around Switzerland a bit and tomorrow (!!) we'll be taking the TGV (really fast French train) to Paris. Later in the week we'll take the chunnel (tunnel under the English Channel) to London. Here's what my mom says are the 10 best things she's seen and done so far in La Suisse, followed by some pics.

10. Stopping by Nathan's appartment and meeting him and his Irish friend Paul. Shy Paul had to leave the room to laugh as we were rolling on the floor in hysterics. Irishmen are funny. Americans are loud.

9. Eating at Hermine's house as Jessica does every Friday.

8. Taking a walk from Jessica's house that includes amazing vistas of the lake and vineyards.

7. Eating Swiss chocolate. (Jean-Pierre bought us the most special chocolate in town! Apparently the guy made chocolate for former US presidents.) The food in general, especially the cheese, is wonderful.

6. Swiss toilet paper. ??? So she says "I love Swiss toilet paper. It's not dusty. They try to make ours so soft that there's just this plume that goes everywhere." OK. I must be a really lame host if that's the best she can come up with. Or maybe TP is just really important in my mom's life. I'm not gonna ask. (Comment from mom: OK this tp thing has gotten completely out of hand--now she won't let me retract it!) Moving on...

5. Meeting Jean Pierre, a man who delights in fixing dinner for us.

4. Shooting pool with Nathan and Paul.

3. Speaking English with Annelies and hearing her delightful New Zealand accent.

2. The lovely 2 hour boat ride from Neuchatel to Morat. It was a warm and sunny day. It was disappointing however that the mountains weren't visible. (OK, so mom says there was no disappointment, but that's just because she doesn't know what she's missing)

1. Visiting the town of Morat.

Also among her favorite things, but falling at #452 is climbing the stairs (at least 5000) to the castle in Neuchatel.

#453 Greeting people with 3 kisses on the cheek instead of a hug. (Mom's comment on church choir practice: the whole choir has to greet each other with kisses before they can sing one single song!)