Weather Or Not... A Double Blog

This first part was written last week but I didn't get around to sending it.

House in our Hood with Kitty, kitty window, kitty ramp,
kitty stairs, ramp & ladder (not visible) to ground.

I changed my clothes three times by 9 am. today. The forecast was for sunny and around 80° with thunderstorms late in the afternoon. We decided last night that we would take a 2 hourish hike in our neighborhood in the morning to catch the best weather.

It seemed cool outside so I dressed in typical TSR hiking clothes, long pants, lightweight, breathable hiking shirt.  By the time we finished breakfast it was raining, hard. That was it for the hike. I had too much to do today. I am cooking and freezing dinners for Jed and the family for the time we will be in Ireland. Helga will be in Brazil for part of that time and Jed asked for help.

So I changed again to jeans and walked the mile to the supermarket in a light rain. By the time I returned at 10:30 the sun was shining and it was warm and muggy. I ripped off the jeans and went to short pants and short sleeves.

Earlier, when it was still raining, we invited Marcella to bring the kids up here after day care. I was racking my brain to think of things we could do indoors in our little apartment. I had a few things up my sleeve from the old days of elementary school teaching, but by mid morning it was obvious we would be outdoors today.


We met Marcella and the boys at the Pully train station and rode 20 minutes to the town of Cully where there is a playground Tern & Auke had not been to before. Cully is a small town east along the lake that has a big playground and a big music festival in a tent next to the playground.

Tern with Auke Wearing Anita's Backpack

It was noisy from a rehearsal and steamy and hot so after trying out all the play things Cully had to offer we walked down to the lake hoping for cooler air. We found some great shade under a huge sycamore tree with a sign saying it was planted in 1798. There was more play value running around that tree than in the playground.

Home by 5 pm and by 7 pm we had a raging lightening and thunderstorm. The wind was so fierce I thought I would lose all the buds on my tomato plants. I pushed them closer to the house for protection. The wind roared, the rain poured and it was over in 20 minutes.

I think everyday how different our lives are here. We spend a lot of time together. We live in a small, furnished  apartment, with a poorly equipped kitchen. This is the first time in 25 years that we have shared a bathroom sink. We don't speak the native language but we are learning to get by. We are doing homework. We see the grand boys whenever we want to. We do not have our own washer, or any clothes dryer, or a TV or a car. We take a lot of busses and some trains, and we walk everywhere we can. We don't have friends.

Anita Buckling Tern into Anita's Backpack

We don't have a schedule of people to see or places to go. We don't have things we must do but we are always busy. Each day and each week is different. This week we bought and replaced the broken light fixture over Jed and Helga's dining table. We spent an afternoon at the playground with our petit-fils (grandsons). Yesterday our upstairs neighbor invited us for coffee. This weekend we have our first invitations to dinner. 

Steve's bicycling buddy, Jerome, and his wife Aline, both in their 20's have invited us to dinner Friday evening. I haven't met them yet, but I am told they speak English as well as we speak French. Hopefully, the food will fill in the gaps. Then we are invited to Arjan and Ivan's house for dinner on Saturday evening. We met these wonderful guys here several years ago through Helga & Jed. They came to visit us at TSR during their west coast tour two years ago. Then on Sunday evening Marcella's parents will be here visiting her so we will all have dinner together. On Monday we are invited to lunch in Thonon. We will meet Mitchell Newdelman. Mitchell is the brother of Barry who is a new Portland friend. This is our first social weekend and it feels good.

I miss people, my people, my friends. I miss the sense of place and belonging that one has at home with friends in the community. It's all part of this new life, exciting, challenging, somewhat disturbing, anything but boring. After 10 weeks here it is feeling more like home away from home. Is this expat retirement? 

Post Script:
I am summarizing the weekend above while on the ferry from Thonon back to Lausanne.

Friday evening: The dinner with the 20 somethings went very well. Jerome & Aline seemed genuinely interested in spending time with us. Aline spoke perfect English, Jerome spoke English much better than we speak French. Aline is a great cook, loves chocolate and rhubarb. We had a lot in common. Steve and Jerome talked about biking. Being with young people just starting out is refreshing.

Saturday evening: Dinner with Arjan & Ivan is always a pleasure.  Arjan went to business school with Helga. Ivan had his own restaurant. Dinner was beautiful & delicious. Their home is a contemporary wonder and the little boys got to swim in their pool.

Sunday evening : Meeting Marcelle's parents was lovely. They are as sweet as she is. Jed & Helga pulled off a great dinner.

Small Sample of Cheeses at Thonon Cheese Shop

Monday morning: After the ferry to Thonon-Les-Bains across the lake in France, Mitchell met us at the funiculare in Haute-Thonon and wisked us through town stopping for un cafe, then the farmers market, a cheese shop  run by one of three national treasure cheese makers in France, and la boulangerie. Then he took us home to his spectacular apartment on the top 2 floors of a circa 1970 apartment building. It could have been a Peter Sellers movie set. It was a duplex penthouse with a dynamite view, of the lake, Lausanne, the Alps, and the city from  the wrap around deck. The swimming pool is outside on the top floor.

Filling a bottle of Thonon Water, same as Evian,
at Free Public Fountain

Mitchell  is a man of many talents. He has had impressive positions in business and government, and he is an excellent host who can whip together a lunch of risotto, salad, cheese and fruit with wines to match. He is filled with joie de vivre. We had a fine day.
It is nice to connect with new people and reconnect with old friends. 

Wednesday we are off to Ireland. I will try to post from there.

Fondly & appreciatively,

Anita