A cheesy little outing

We did a session of school this morning and then decided to visit the local cheese factory/museum. There was something for everyone, and we had a great time! (I'm pretty sure that between the chocolate and the cheese, someone is going to have to roll me out of Switzerland!)

Tete de Moine cheese museum and factory in Bellelay

Clay, of course, found a statue, which he promptly named "Peacock."

Old school cheese making equipment
(Or the largest fondue pot that ever existed!)

Coloring pages and Dot-to-Dots were a big hit with the younger guys.

The Cheese Cellar

Tete de Moine means "Monk's Head" and was so named
because it was originally produced by monks,
and the shaving technique brought to mind a monk's tonsure.
The specialized cheese knife is called a girolle,
and produces lovely little cheese rosettes when you spin it around.
We may have been just as happy with that as the the cheese!

Our silly food lover and his gigantic cheese rosette.

There was a huge stable associated with the place,
and our horse lover made some new friends. 

The Passage of Time

Day before yesterday, we left Vex, Switzerland in the midst of some pretty intense fog and headed to St. Imier, Switzerland, via Chamonix, France (home of the very first winter Olympics), with a goal of seeing Mont Blanc (the highest peak in Europe). When we got to Chamonix, we found the clouds hanging too low for us to see the actual peak of Mont Blanc, but the surrounding mountains were beautiful, with their lovely blankets of snow and multitudes of fantastic waterfalls produced by the melting snow and ice. We stopped briefly at a grocery store to pick up a few things for lunch, before pointing the car back in the direction of Switzerland. We were limited in our purchasing power, since we had forgotten about the difference in currency between Switzerland and France, so we ended up having to make another, larger grocery stop once we were back in Switzerland. We passed through the beautiful city of Geneva at the Swiss border, before finally making it to our quaint little farmhouse near St. Imier, which was quite a feat, given the dense fog and living roadblock made up of a herd of milk cows, each outfitted with its own charming little cow bell.

Yesterday was my birthday, so, by my decree, we had a slow morning, followed by an afternoon outing. The kids gave me lovely homemade gifts, including paper airplanes, cards, a quesadilla lunch, and a necklace. We visited The International Clock Museum in the afternoon, which seemed appropriate given the natural propensity of people to contemplate the passage of time on occasions like birthdays. Marking the passage of time is now and has always been important to humans. The seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years of a person's life matter, and we need to be conscious of their passing and how they are being used.

After a coffee break, we left the museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds and headed over to Neuchatel, where we visited a chocolate shop (because one of my birthday goals was to eat Swiss chocolate), did a little more shopping in the cute and lively town center, and then drove over to the lake to play at the neat playground (because happy children equals happy birthday mom) and eat dinner, which included two kinds of fondue (because my other birthday goal was to eat Swiss cheese). Since we were without Internet at our house yesterday, I was also able to check in with Facebook and email while we were out and was grateful to see so many sweet birthday wishes. I am greatly loved and am so thankful for the people I get to share my life with that make the passing of time such a blessing.

Thick Alpine Fog
(This is the view from our balcony in Vex.
A clear view can be seen in my Sweet Switzerland post, if you want to compare.)

Mont Blanc snow and runoff
(The peak rises up with the clouds to the left.)

They don't call it "Mont Blanc" (White Mountain) for nothing!

High Five, Lake Geneva!

Our sweet little farm house near St. Imier

Clay gave me this rainbow for my birthday.

Max's birthday masterpiece

I received this beautiful plane from Weston.

Ruth made quesadillas for my birthday lunch.

Ruth also provided me with this beautiful necklace. 

Marking time at the International Clock Museum.

Happy kids = Happy Mom

Dinner at Lake Neuchatel

Cheesy fondue

Birthday Bonbon
(Clearly, I only thought of taking a picture after I cut into it!)

Sweet Switzerland

We left Zurich early-ish and set out to explore a swath of Switzerland, with our two main objectives being to see The Matterhorn and to arrive at our new accommodation. We accomplished both goals and had a wonderful day. I am here to tell you that there is not one unpretty place in Switzerland. Every inch is just absolutely beautiful! We had decided that we would see The Matterhorn from the little car-free town of Zermatt, and on our way there, we were obligated to take a train ferry, which was a new and thrilling experience for all of us. Then, we had to park our car Tasch (the town just before you get to Zermatt) and got tickled thinking about how it takes a whole town full of cars to support the car-less town next to it. From there, we took another train to Zermatt, which is really very charming and a whole lot of fun. We saw The Matterhorn, sampled Swiss cheese and beer at the food festival, and visited several of the shops, including the Lindt chocolate store, which was a huge hit with everyone.

When we left Zermatt, we headed to a ski town called Vex, where we will stay for the next few days. Of course, it isn't ski season right now, but the little town is quite lovely and the views from our apartment are stunning. The first thing we noticed when we arrived is that the town is having some sort of wood carving festival, where artisans from all over the world are working on and displaying their life size creations. Some of the pieces have been done with chainsaws and some with chisels, but they are all beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the artists work, as well as looking at all the amazing sculptures. The other thing that was immensely popular with our group was the really nice playground and sport court within easy walking distance of our apartment.

Switzerland, you're killing me with your gorgeousness!

We drove through the town of St. Niklaus today
and got a kick out of being greeted by the jolly man himself.

Getting on the train ferry

The Matterhorn

Everyone's favorite stop!

Clay was very proud of his little Swiss flag toothpick,
which his cheese sample was served on.

Just when you thought Switzerland couldn't get more beautiful!

Home, Swiss Home

The view from our balcony

It may not be ski season, but that doesn't mean there isn't any snow.

This artist was doing his carving with chisels.
He told us that the piece was more or less finished
(but never REALLY finished!)
and that he had been working on it for five days.

An art form a statue lover can definitely get behind!
(This one was carved with a chainsaw.)

Playground Perfection

Four Countries in One Day

We woke up in Austria, had lunch in Germany, stopped for a snack in Liechtenstein, and finally arrived in Switzerland this evening. (According to our travel map on the right, our arrival here puts us in the double-digits for percentages of countries visited, which is very exciting for us!) I know many who get tired just thinking about that much movement, but, for us, it is thrilling and truly enjoyable. We passed the time in the car enthralled in the story of The Swiss Family Robinson and in the beautiful scenery encompassing us on every side. When we passed through Bavaria, we had the opportunity to see three different castles, including Neuschwanstein, which is the inspiration for Disney's iconic castle. We also took in lakes and mountains and flowers in abundance. It was a treat for the eyes and for the soul. We will be in Switzerland for the next ten days, and we are looking forward to soaking it all up.

Castle #1--Neuschwanstein

Castle #2

Outer wall of Castle #3

Lunch stop in Oy-Mittelberg, Germany
(This fountain was the closest thing we saw to a statue.)

Breathtaking views out the car windows

Gorgeous!

Snack stop in Liechtenstein--just to say we went there