Switzerland / France Day 11

Can you believe I ran out of storage space for my blog???  I am back on line and ready to play catch up.
We woke up to a beautiful Monday morning.  Our driver pulled up at 9:00 and we were ready to go.  We headed to Cassis, a coastal village with breathtaking views.

 Harry with his ipad.  We are so thankful he can navagate with it. There were many times we turned to Harry for help.

 This was the sweetest village.  It look just like a postcard.  The day was perfect, no wind, sunny...it was just lovely.

 Below is a castle that we heard the Michelin family owns.  I'm sure they say thank you every time you purchase new tires.

 We were so thankful Wayne wore his yellow jacket.  It helped to spot him in the crowds plus he looks good in yellow.

 Honestly, this is a picture and not a painting, however we may have to ask Herb to paint this for us.

 Our group, minus Hal, and looking good. It's getting easier and easier to get this group together for these pictures.  Practice....Practice....Practice

 Our next stop was Marseilles.  This town has a million, bazillion people in it.  I was ready to leave.

 Now this is a cathedral !

 We had to stop by a market on the way to the villa to get our daily wine and stuff.  Next to the market was a Crazy Jerry Casino.  Love this photo!

I'm loving blogging and reliving all the great memories of this trip.

Switzerland / France Day 9 & 10

On Saturday, October 27th we traveled from Geneva to Avignon.  We had a nice breakfast at our hotel in Geneva and caught our 1st Class train to our villa in Le Thor.  We decided to have a driver on this trip.  What a luxury and one that was so awesome!  We all had the joy of being together and looking out the window at the beautiful scenery and no stress for the driver or navigator of driving in traffic, unfamiliar surroundings or bad weather.  Our driver, John Luke was wonderful.  So helpful that he knew English and French as well as the area. Our bus for the week plus the trailer for our luggage.  Smart thinking someone!

This is our villa for the week....home sweet home.

 It's funny looking back at this picture and I wish I had Harry's photo because as you see they are really bundled up well.  I read on the way over about the Mistral winds in this region.  They can reach up to 55 miles per hour and I think they did.  They began Saturday late afternoon and did not stop until Monday morning.  So thankful we decided to stay around the villa Sunday and rest, play train, read or nap.

View from the front entrance looking towards the gate.

 We spent a lot of time in the living area reading, on our ipads, napping.

 The kitchen was large enough for all of us to help with the meals.

 As customary when we arrive at the villa, we assign room numbers and draw.  Hal and I scored big time....we got the master suite and it was heavenly.

It was a long Sunday with the winds and thank goodness they ended Monday because we had a road trip.

Switzerland / France Day 8

Day 7 was a train ride from Lauterbrunned to Geneva in a nice fast 1st class train ride so really nothing to report....so onto Day 8.  For some of our group, this was the best day of the whole trip...

But in the beginning....of the day we went to visit the Reformation Wall.
This imposing structure, appropriately located in the city dubbed the "Protestant Rome," is the most impressive general monument to the Reformation there is. The giant wall (325 feet long, 30 feet high) dominates the large Parc des Bastions and centers on 15-foot-tall statues of four Geneva luminaries:

Guillaume Farel - the first to preach the Reformation in Geneva

John Calvin - leader of the Reformation movement and spiritual father of Geneva

Theodore Beza - Calvin's successor, born in Vezelay (France) and known for emphasizing Calvin's doctrine of predestination

John Knox - Scottish preacher, friend of Calvin, and founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland

We pasted by these cannons and of course the guys were drawn to them.  Boys will be Men.

 John Calvin's church.

 This is for all the pipe organ people.

 On our way to te train station we took a little tour of Old Town that was so quaint.

And now......CERN.  Just one guess who was all over this tour?

 They showed a movie in this structure about how CERN came about.  Very high tech.

 The control room.  There were bottles of champagne sitting around indicating some celebration of accomplishments and findings.

This was our first tour guides.  A very nice young man. You will have to ask Hal or Harry about details....the rest of us were along for the ride.

 I just love this picture of Hal and Harry.  They were like kids in a candy store! 

We had two tour guides and this is the other one....Again, ask Hal or Harry.

The wall of Nerds.  Hal so wants to have his picture here. We are at the CMS facility.  Can you see CMS spelled in the background.....nerds....

Going down to see some big equipment.

Too cute!

As you can see in my post...it's all about food with this group.  There was a Thai restaurant next to our hotel.  Wayne had never had Thai food.  He loved it.

 Another long interesting day in Geneva. Tomorrow we head for our villa in Le Thore, France.

Switzerland / France Day 6

Back to Murren and the hillside of the mountain.  By this time I am over paragliding so it's Liz and Wayne.  Mary and I decide to go up the hillside with them to watch.  Again....the fog.....

 Waiting...waiting...waiting...there goes Liz!

 Waiting....waiting....waiting....there goes Wayne!

 Success...Happy Birthday Liz and good job Wayne.  Look at those faces...pure joy!