coupe de cheveux

Aude has been growing her hair out for awhile so she can donate it to children who have cancer. Tonight she cut off 25 cm (10 inches) and two years ago she donated TWICE that length! 50 cm! 20 inches! WOW!!!

These are what the hairs look like!

Here Diane is holding the pony tail:

Tres chic. Tres belle. Tres jolie.

faire du bowling

Aude hit the barricade. HAHAHH.

Alexandra got several strikes...

Gaston (Alexandra's dad) not so pleased with his bowling:

Arnaud and his leg:

Look at Clemence's limbs!!!!

Mimi (Alexandra's mom) picking a ball:

Diane anxiously waiting:

Look at my perfect form!

About a Boy

This book by About a Boy was delightful. I wish I knew a Marcus (the boy) in real life. In the movie the character of Will is played by Hugh Grant. I don't know why but I can't stand him. Maybe because it seems like he plays the same character. Maybe it's because he has a stupid face. I dunno, but for some reason I can't watch him act. Sorry Hugh.

Gryon

Today I hiked to Gryon, another small mountain town with older chalets. This is my favorite part of the mountain range:

The town below:

Another town in the distance:

So many chalets scattered everywhere!

I walked along this bridge:

And saw this creepy/cool cemetery:

médaille

This is clearly a really classy photo of Diane and her golden medal she received from her ski instructor. Bravo Diane, bravo.

swiss army knives

By the end of my trip I will own a legit swiss army knife, probably this one:

Rory, if I had an extra 84 swiss francs I would buy this for you. It's the thought that counts, right? heaaaaa!

High Fidelity.

This book is a riot! I've never seen the film and I'm so happy I read the book first. It's quite comical and I highly recommend it. It's written by an English author so there are heaps of British English words that I find amusing. Read it.

neige!!!

The tree on the right looks Seussical to me:

It snowed so much last night!

Everything was white!!!!!

This is me, in Swiss snow, circa 1983....

I think a storm is coming...

Mimi

This is Mimi. She is 70 years old. She is the grandmother of the girls, Alexandra's mother. She is amazing. I want to be just like her when I get old. More details to follow soon.

l'ascensor

l'ascensor = elevator

In this case it is referring to a brilliant card game.

Here were my opponents:

a blurry Diane....

...and a doppleganger of my older half-brothers.

swiss windowsill

swiss windowsills.

this just about kills me, it's so precious.

swiss cheese

I chatted it up with the Cheese Man the second day of my arrival. Of course. I love cheese. Have I mentioned how nice Swiss people are? My goodness, they shower you with greetings, farewells and compliments. For example:

-Hello

-Hello, Good morning! Goodday! Are you enjoying the day?

-Yes, yes thank you

-Oh nice, what can I help you with?

-Oh, some cheese please.

.......(then we dicuss cheese)

-Thank you

-Oh thank you, have a wonderful afternoon, enjoy your cheese, enjoy the snow, enjoy the evening. Goodbye, see you again soon, bye bye. Take care now, okay bye bye.

Literally, no exaggeration. It's so great.

Also, they speak slower, so it's easy to understand them. The girls make fun of them for it, sort of like this:

France French: Bonjour, comment ca va?

Swiss French: Bonnnnnnjouuuur, cooommmment ca vaaaaa?

I love it.

Also, they say some numbers differently, which works in my favor, so that's brilliant.

There is the Cheese Man!

Bretaye

This is where I ate lunch with the family today:

This was our view:

Col de Bretaye is the last stop of the train.

Skiers:

I am currently making a stop-animation film! Stay tuned folks, it's going to magical, I promise.

The Moon is Down.

I just finished The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, it was recommend by Lauren and I want to thank her for this brilliant recommendation. It is a simple story but there is a lot of subtle symbolism. If you are looking for a quick read, I recommend it.

Col de Soud

After we had lunch at this restaurant I hiked down the mountain. It should have taken 45 minutes but it took my almost an hour and a half because a) I'm not so skilled at walking in snow boots in the snow and b) I stopped to take photos every 5 seconds.

The skiers go through that underground tunnel:

The beginning of the hike:

The trail:

skiers! (that word looks so wrong to me)

This is a lovely little house thing. It's completely open, so it's like a shack. Well no, not a shack. It's a house that only has walls. Well actually, it only has three walls and a roof. In the spring/summer people picnic here.

This is the view from the hut thing:

There is another town off in the distance but I don't know which town it is.

Beautiful Villars:

Chalets are sprinkled everywhere:

This is my favorite part of the mountain range:

I don't think anyone was home which was good because I was basically in their 'front yard' for a good 10 minutes...

This is what a typical Swiss chalet looks like:

The town:

Snowy rooftops:

icicles!!!

Here are the traintracks:

The train is only 2-3 cars long:

This screams Christmas:

VIVE LA SUISSE!

I will.