So finally, after almost 7 years of being together and equally as long talking about going to Paris together, Justin and I are finally making it a reality. And I hope, I REALLY hope, that I can completely change his mind about Paris. I know he was nonplussed with it when he went during college. Granted, he was really enjoying London and his time in Paris wasn’t even a FULL day, plus he didn’t get to go with me… So, yes, I am hoping he has a better time and enjoys it more this go-round.

One of his coworkers was awesome enough to give him a guidebook to Paris for his birthday, which I have been poring over. I had no idea, for instance, that Paris was founded in 250 BC by Celtic fishermen. I did know that the original settlement of Paris was on the Île de la Cité (thanks to Val!). I didn’t know that there was a ‘ring road’ (Boulevard Périphérique) which set the unofficial boundaries of the city… and on it goes. :)

Needless to say, I am enthusiastically anticipating our vacation. We’re going to be spending part of the trip in Paris and part of the trip with BigP in Zweissimen. I am so looking forward to seeing BigP and spending time in Switzerland in the summer which will be entirely new to me. :)

Here is a starter list for things to see:

Site Seeing

• La Defense – I’ve never been to this monument, just glimpsed it from atop the Arch Du Triomphe. Might be cool to take an elevator up and stroll around this completely different, business district.
• Sacre-Coeur/Montmartre
• Pompidou Center – because I oh-so-love modern art… :/
• Musee D’Orsay
• Louvre
• Eiffel Tour
• some haute cuisine establishment to dine (TBD)
• tour of champagne?
• Versailles?
• Pere Lachaise
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery
  • http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.php?lang=en
• Catacombs

We stopped and got some groceries then came back to Big P’s. I took a nap before we went to dinner at Appaloosa.  It’s a TexMex restaurant and was actually better than lots of places in NY.  I got a chicken enchilada that was primarily cheese – and you know how well the Swiss do cheese.  :)  Val! and I also had a margarita each and they were fantastic – but super tiny for $12 (or $18?) Swiss Francs.  Once again, Big P and Roger refused to let us help with the bill.  It’s really sweet of them.  I told them they would live like Kings in America.  My enchilada (1!!!), for instance, was somewhere between $20-$30.  Crazy town.

We got back to Big P’s and talked about music and listened to different songs/watched videos til nearly 4 AM.  It was so much fun! :) We also talked about our family names and how they’ve changed and where his family originally came from (somewhere in the French speaking area of France).

Today we’re going to Interlaken to be tourists, then sledding with Big P and Roger.  The wind is too strong for skiing (35 M/hr).  More updates to come!

Update: Sledding may be nixed because it is too wet (raining this morning), so we shall see! Tourist time :)

We stopped at a chocolate factory, but it was closed.  Our luck improved quickly, though, as we went to a cheese factory in GRUYERE where they make GRUYERE!!! It was open and Roger bought tours for all of us – super rad!  We learned a lot about how cheese is made.  For instance, cow’s stomach is added to milk to induce coagulation.  I am so going to love sharing that fact with vegetarians.  MUAHAHA!  We also learned that a wheel of cheese weighs about 77 lbs and spends 29 hours inside a salt bath (20% salt to water) before being stored to age.  Once stored, it has to be brushed regularly with a salt water mixture.  We actually saw machines automating this process.  Very interesting!!!  Then Big P and his brother picked out some chocolate to purchase and we got to sample it.  Callister (or something similar) is the name of the manufacturer.  I believe it’s the same company as Nestle.  Tasty stuff! Val! still holds that Lindt is better.  This may require a direct taste comparison!

We continued on to a small, touristy village.  It was beautiful and set atop a mountain that afforded gorgeous views.  Then again, right out Big P’s windows are some amazingly stunning views that we Americans would surely pay millions for.  In this village was none other than the H. R. Giger Museum, where Val! and I were headed 5 yrs ago during our Golden Pass debacle. hahaha  Big P actually came to the museum a couple of years after we met because he was curious about what we were so interested in.  Well, anyone that’s familiar with Giger at all knows he worked on Alien and Species.  They also know he was an absolute pervert, including all sorts of orifices, penetration, and profane positions in his artwork.  I typically find it annoying, but after room after room of the gigantic pieces, I felt a little turned on myself.  Where is a sexy robotic alien when you need one?  Sheesh.  I bought a couple of postcards of one painting that caught my eye – one I intend Justin and I to keep and the other is for Mike (since he loves Giger).

We hit the Giger cafe/bar next door upon exiting the museum.  It is all decked out in Alien/Giger decor.  Very cool.  And yes, we took lots of pics of everything, even though neither of our cameras seem to want to hold on to a charge.  At the cafe, we had coffee and tried one of their local specialties – meringue… they are crunchy.  We call them meringue kisses in the states.  I know this because I have baked them before, but I think they are rarely made or served. In Switzerland they are served with thick cream that isn’t sweet at all. It definitely doesn’t need to be given the sweetness of the meringue.  In short, it is really good together!

On our way back toward Big P’s place, we stopped at this small fondue restaurant on the side of  a mountain that is in the French speaking area of Switzerland (as is Gruyere).  Roger knows the daughter of the owners’ because they play in a band together.  It’s a brass band.  Roger plays percussion and is absolutely passionate about it. Both Big P and Roger are such interesting and nice fellows. The fondue was delicious. (They only eat it with bread, for the most part, and that’s how we had it tonight.) We also had a carafe of house white wine to share amongst us.  Roger ordered a small bit of Schnapps and said it is customary to sometimes dip your bread in the Schnapps then in the fondue.  Val! and I both tried it, but it was overwhelming for us!  At some point, Roger snuck off and paid for our dinner, which was SO nice.  Switzerland is a pricey country, especially when it comes to fondue!  Now they DEFINITELY have to come to America (read: Texas) so we can take them out!

We drove to Gstaad and saw a huge Christmas tree decorated with beautiful white lights and a “Palace” hotel. Apparently Gstaad is really famous for being a place celebrities go (Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, etc.).  Switzerland has strict rules about how your houses can look and how you can decorate.  Big P told us that houses were only allowed to have white lights that outlined the trip of the house… or something.  Roger dropped us off at Big P’s and bid farewell.  We already made plans to try a “Tex Mex” restaurant in a nearby town on Monday night. :)

Val! and I showed Big P some San Antonio pix and talked about the different ways you can order food and drinks in Switzerland vs the USA.Big P has to work at 7:30 so he went to bed around midnight.  Shortly thereafter, Val! was preparing for bed and I got her some Nyquil pills but couldn’t tear them open. She said she would handle it and went into the kitchen.  I didn’t pay much attention, but she evidently tried to cut the packet open with a knife and ended up cutting her finger pretty badly. I heard her gasp and then put her finger under the water start saying, “No. This is bad. This is bad.”  It reminded me of when I fell and hurt my leg at Kaaterskill Falls  and knew right away it was bad and would require stitches

I had to wake up Big P while Val! ran to the bathroom to try to stop the bleeding. After helping Val! put jeans on, Big P drove us to the hospital where Val! had to get 3 stitches in her finger.  The hospital was dark inside so Big P picked up a phone on the wall. A nurse quickly came and let us in, turning on lights as she went.  After checking Val!’s blood pressure and other vitals, she looked at the wound and called the doctor. The cut was deep and you could see the yucky fat stuff like i had on my leg.  It was scary, but the doctor was a nice young lady that spoke English. She also listened to Val!’s lungs and said her bronchitis is gone!!!! yay!!! She told Val she would try to give her a good deal on the ER visit because Val doesn’t have insurance. She also gave her some pain meds for free.

Now we are back at Big P’s and both he and Val! are in bed.  I am on my way to join them!  Good night! :)