Signs, Cheese and Freddie Mercury

I had shut the drapes and went to sleep without turning on the alarm (for once) so Coby called me at 10:30 to see if I was still coming down to go touring. We were headed off to Gruyeres, but armed a bit better than last weekend as we had ENGLISH directions on an ENGLISH map printed the day before in the office. Not that the German directions were not beautiful -- but these made the trip slightly more efficient. We headed out each of us in our normal roles. Me -- sensible driver, staying within 20% of the speed limit. Coby -- navigator and principle iPod DJ.

A special note on music -- when we hit Germany we play "99 Der Luftballoons", France -- "Lady Marmalade". We are waiting for someone on Coby's playlist to write one for Switzerland

We hit a bit of construction and I must say something about the artistry of the European standard signage. The construction sign doesn't simply imply that there is a bit of work going on -- it actually is a black and white drawing of a man with a shovel moving a bit of dirt from one larger pile to a smaller pile, and you can even see a rock that is rolling away. (This is slightly more than I need to watch as I am trying to navigate narrow and forced lane changes. ) There is also a couple of different signs for crosswalks. My favorite one is blue with a white drawing of a grandfather walking a little girl (I assume Heidi) across the street with love and affection. The other is two kids (one boy, one girl) racing from school, books and bags in hand.

Gruyeres was pretty cool. It is a castle surrounded by a little Medieval village that you can walk through. We parked at the bottom of a hill and walked up the steps through a pasture full of massive cows. (One made me nervous as he kept looking at me and licking his lips. I am not sure what cows exactly eat here, but I am hoping I don't fall into the dinner category). Each cow had a bell that was kind of tuned to be in the same key. I am normally one for "More Cow Bell!" but after a short bit here, I was ready to yell "Freeze" to the entire herd in a desperate attempt to slow the din.

We went through the castle and gardens -- very cool. We then ate at a cafe in order to grab some of the local cheese. Coby had eaten breakfast (one of the benefits of getting up in the a.m.) and was going to skip it -- but couldn't resist some good fondue. It was really good and creamy, and incredibly filling. Very nice.

We headed out, driving through mountains and vineyards, to a couple of other towns that had been recommended -- took some pictures of castles and stuff -- and ended up in Montreaux. We parked in a mall and walked along the lake. There was a festival (that promptly closed at 5) and lots of people were out walking and eating ice cream. I stopped to take a picture of Freddie Mercury who had recorded his last couple of albums there.

We returned to Geneva and took the night off. Coby watched movies in his room and I flipped my three English channels, read a bit, left a "Good Night" message for Nicole, and went to sleep.