From Escargot to Atoms

The most beautiful time of day is between 8 and 9 pm. The sun is low in the western sky looking like it is coming directly sideways from Geneva. It hits the snow capped Alps with a light so bright the mountain tops dazzle.  Awesome!

Rainbow over Lake Geneva

Sunday night was family dinner at Jed & Helga's and we saw another amazing sight. It was a late-in-the-day  double rainbow starting in the center of Lake Geneva and ending in the clouds above the mountains. It was a visual treat and a stunning ending to a very pleasant Mother's Day. 

Earlier we took a train to St. Leonard. Helga had made reservations at the upscale Cafe de la Gare several weeks ago and we were all prepared to have a gourmet splurge. It was an especially well manicured and cared for building only steps from the train station. Our group consisted of six adults, the usual four plus Zoe and Marcelle, the kids au pair, and the two kids who were hungry and tired after noon by the time we arrived and we had the hour and a half train ride.

Inside the restaurant there were white tablecloths, silver settings, and at least three crystal glasses at each place setting. I thought of the kids at a table like that. Hummm? The servers wore black dresses with heels. While I was contemplating this beautiful scene, Helga was chattering with the Madame in charge. They could not find our reservation! Helga explained that she called several weeks ago and left her phone number. She negotiated and argued but to no avail. They were booked solid, after all it was Mother's Day, and they had no record of our party in their book. Madame was firm.

Discouraged, we left. Jed insisted that we get back on the train for only one stop in the return direction and get off in the town of Sion, which we did. I did not think we would find anyplace that would accommodate a group as large as ours on this Sunday, but kept quiet on the subject. As we walked from the train to the pedestrian shopping street there were several little indoor/outdoor cafes. We stopped at the first one that looked possible.  It was a very modest place compared to the place we expected to have lunch, but they graciously set us up outdoors in plastic chairs with the Mother's Day menu. 

The pedestrian street of our Mother's Day Lunch
Helga & Auke

We were starving by this time and would have been grateful for anything, but the menu which included such things as escargots, canard aux pommes, perch from the lake, warm chocolate lava cake or tarte aux pommes with vanilla ice cream was great. The Prosecco flowed, and the kids were able to run around outdoors while we ate. I secretely think the Cafe de la Gare bumped us when they noticed we had two small children and they had more reservations than they could manage anyway. But it worked out for the best as things usually do. We were all happy and sated by meal's end. And we did not have to pay a hefty breakage fee for all the glasses ruined at the Cafe de la Gare. The final part of the day was a walk up the steep vineyards past the nunnery of the Sisters of Silence. The sun was shining and Auke fell asleep in the backpack.

The vineyard hikers, Zoë, Helga, Jed, Auke

Zoe & Steve went to CERN in Geneva today. It's the European center for nuclear physics research. CERN is the largest particle hadron collider in the world where they intend to replicate the Big Bang and learn about the origins of the universe. I had been there in our earlier trip here in March so I met them after the tour. We lunched in Geneva at a great little Indian restaurant called Gandhi and ended the day with a tour of the United Nations buildings. The tour was fascinating and the docent was well informed. We saw several very impressive meeting rooms dedicated to human rights issues. We hope for progress.

Tern in Vineyard

Zoë in front of Nations Unies in Geneva