With one more week
until we leave Switzerland we’re rushing to wrap things up, say our goodbyes,
get together with old and new friends, try new bike routes, and take in one
last view of this beautiful country.
It’s making us uncharacteristically bold – knowing that it’s now or
never - this time and place in our lives will never be repeated. Friendships are forming quickly;
sometimes it seems not quickly enough as there isn’t enough time now left to do
all we want to do.
I’ve mentioned my good
friend Debbie in several of my posts.
I’ve known her since nursing school days (over 30 years), and even
though she’s lived in Europe now for about 25 of those years we have
miraculously managed to stay in touch.
She’s a terrific communicator - every year I’d look forward to her hand
written letters describing her Swiss adventures with her wicked sense of
humor.
When we moved to Switzerland a year ago, it was Debbie who met us at the airport, drove us to our new place, supplied us with her homemade bread and jam, cheese, orange juice and enough provisions to ease the pain of our long flight and jet lag. And throughout the year, Debbie has always been there to provide us with the insider Swiss info, tips on what to do and see, and even managed to be on duty at urgent care when I hurt my knee. And now that we’re leaving, she’s here for us again to give us a place to stay our last few days and a ride back to the airport with all of our luggage.
Even with all that
she’s done for us this past year, she was still thinking of fun adventures this
week when she planned a belated birthday adventure for me. She told me to be ready at 9am for a
girl’s day out. She drove me to
Cugy, a town that I pass regularly on my bike rides, and pulled up to ZenFish
Spa, where as we entered the main salon I saw what was on the agenda for the
morning – fish therapy! After an
initial foot preparation routine, the no-nonsense owner gave us the rundown -
put both feet slowly in the tank, and it’s ok to laugh or cry or scream, but
you can’t pull your feet quickly out of the tank or you will scare the fish
(she was quite stern on that point).
So we both plunged in, laughing hysterically from the tickling sensation
for the first few minutes, and then were fascinated to watch the fish go to work on
our feet for the next 30 minutes.
By the time we were done, our feet were aussi doux que les fesses d'un bébé*
Fish feet
Then, to continue the fun, we went to Le Deck at Le Baron Tavernier in Chexbres, for a lunch on the terrace with stunning views of Lac Léman and the French Alps. I’m back to pinching myself like I did when we first arrived – I hope I can remember this gorgeous scenery when I’m back home in California.
View from Le Deck
We woke up early Saturday morning for one last ride with the TCS group, led by Raymond, the guide from my group in Majorque. Not knowing the route, we thought this was a relatively easy 50-mile group ride somewhere in Canton Vaud. Au contraire – we headed to the mountains just south of Gruyère. We had several steep climbs to Les Paccots until the final climb to Vuipay, in the clouds next to patches of snow. At the top of the pass we were treated to a stop at the restaurant, where some of our co-riders indulged in the regional specialty of the thickest, richest macaroni and cheese you could imagine. Think throwing some macaroni in a fondue pot…
Yep...that's snow!
Pour avoir du plaisir, il faut souffrir… (no pain, no gain)
We were expertly
guided back home by our guide Raymond and a few of his friends, and were
delighted to have them come over for a beer before their ride home. Again, friendships
formed at the last minute…
*Soft as a baby’s
behind…
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