Sunday, October 29, 2006
Road Trip To X: Return To Zurich
On our way back from Aix en Provence, we stopped in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was lovely, but we were tired and needed to get back to Zurich to pack.
Road Trip To X: We Made It!
After five hours of driving we arrived in Aix en Provence.
The sun was low in the sky and the light was amazing. Just when we thought it couldn't get any prettier, the light would change and we found ourselves ooohing and ahhing ...
We awoke early the next day (thanks, Chase) and went exploring. Following a cup of cappuccino (which to my surprise was one shot espresso, two cups fresh whipped cream), we took in the sights. We spent three days there - drinking loads of coffee, eating loads of pastries - ah, France. Following are some sights (unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the gorge fabrics).
Mmmm, the candy shops...
Mmmmm, the cookies...
Yummy mushrooms ...
Amazing selection of fresh produce...
Aix's most prominent fountain (one of many) ...
A lovely old church...
Picturesque alleys...
One of our favorite cafes...
Dinners in cozy restaurants...
At the end of our stay, we asked the owner of a local formagerie to recommend one of his favorite restaurants. He pointed us to a hole in the wall called Cafe Charlotte, where we enjoyed a most amazing caramel pork dish. I begged for the recipe and was provided a list of ingredients (here I must give special thanks to Jacqueline and Gaston for translation!).
When things finally settle down, I'll try it out myself. If it's a success, I'll post it for the rest of you!
The sun was low in the sky and the light was amazing. Just when we thought it couldn't get any prettier, the light would change and we found ourselves ooohing and ahhing ...
We awoke early the next day (thanks, Chase) and went exploring. Following a cup of cappuccino (which to my surprise was one shot espresso, two cups fresh whipped cream), we took in the sights. We spent three days there - drinking loads of coffee, eating loads of pastries - ah, France. Following are some sights (unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the gorge fabrics).
Mmmm, the candy shops...
Mmmmm, the cookies...
Yummy mushrooms ...
Amazing selection of fresh produce...
Aix's most prominent fountain (one of many) ...
A lovely old church...
Picturesque alleys...
One of our favorite cafes...
Dinners in cozy restaurants...
At the end of our stay, we asked the owner of a local formagerie to recommend one of his favorite restaurants. He pointed us to a hole in the wall called Cafe Charlotte, where we enjoyed a most amazing caramel pork dish. I begged for the recipe and was provided a list of ingredients (here I must give special thanks to Jacqueline and Gaston for translation!).
When things finally settle down, I'll try it out myself. If it's a success, I'll post it for the rest of you!
Road Trip To X: First Stop Geneva
It suddenly hit us that we only had two weeks left in Europe. So we decided we needed to go, well, somewhere.
Then the Chinese Embassy confiscated Brian's passport, so our options became somewhat limited (we had to drive, rather than fly). We agreed a drive to Aix en Provence would be a perfect, provided we could actually get into France without a passport. Crossing our fingers we would be able to make it across the French border, we set off ...
To make the drive to Aix en Provence a little more manageable, we stopped over for a night in Geneva (very cool city, but not as lovely as Zurich - and yes I am a little biased).
We stayed in what can only be dubbed the most "Swisstastic" hotel ever ...
To make the most of our short stay, we decided to slip into the UN ...
As the front was heavily guarded, we slipped in through the back entrance ...
But first we had to talk security into giving us a badge (we told them Chase was a diplomat and they bought it!)...
After that, it was smooth sailing ...
While Chase did a lovely job of showing us around, we decided to join a tour ... to learn how it all works (for those of you interested in being a tour guide, you must know three - of the five - official UN languages and pass both a written and oral exam).
After a great tour, we stopped for a moment at the Red Cross Museum, only to find out they were closing soon, so we headed back to the hotel...
As an aside, for those interested, just up the street was WHO ...
After a nice dinner out, we fell into bed - only to wake up to major road trip (and yet another mountain pass) the next day ...
Then the Chinese Embassy confiscated Brian's passport, so our options became somewhat limited (we had to drive, rather than fly). We agreed a drive to Aix en Provence would be a perfect, provided we could actually get into France without a passport. Crossing our fingers we would be able to make it across the French border, we set off ...
To make the drive to Aix en Provence a little more manageable, we stopped over for a night in Geneva (very cool city, but not as lovely as Zurich - and yes I am a little biased).
We stayed in what can only be dubbed the most "Swisstastic" hotel ever ...
To make the most of our short stay, we decided to slip into the UN ...
As the front was heavily guarded, we slipped in through the back entrance ...
But first we had to talk security into giving us a badge (we told them Chase was a diplomat and they bought it!)...
After that, it was smooth sailing ...
While Chase did a lovely job of showing us around, we decided to join a tour ... to learn how it all works (for those of you interested in being a tour guide, you must know three - of the five - official UN languages and pass both a written and oral exam).
After a great tour, we stopped for a moment at the Red Cross Museum, only to find out they were closing soon, so we headed back to the hotel...
As an aside, for those interested, just up the street was WHO ...
After a nice dinner out, we fell into bed - only to wake up to major road trip (and yet another mountain pass) the next day ...
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