My Vacation in Detail

So, as you all know, I just had a week off of school. Another week off of school, I should say, since we have a really really hugely ridiculous amount of breaks here. But I'm not complaining!

Saturday, the first day of vacation, we all piled into the car after lunch and drove about two hours to Valais, a canton in the southwest of Switzerland. Valais means "valley", and that's a very fitting name. The canton comprises of the big east-west Rhône valley with smaller north-south valleys branching off of it.. Loèche-les-Bains (or Leukerbad in German, which they speak there), the town where I went, is in one of these. It's sort of a weird place, geographically, because the valley isn't that big, so it's quite obvious that you're wedged between two sets of mountains. I think it would be pretty claustrophobic to live there, because everything seems so isolated, but it was nice visiting. Valais is the canton that the Swiss part of the Matterhorn is in, but we didn't go see it.

Here's a map taken from Google Maps that shows how we had to go to get to Valais. Take a look at the scale- the valley is only maybe 3 or 4 miles across at the widest.



After taking a mountainous road that kept climbing for maybe twenty minutes, we got to Loèche in the late afternoon where we unloaded our bags from the car into the studio apartment we were staying in. We went to get a café with Bérnard and Béatrice before they left again (they were just dropping us off, not staying) and then we went to the Migros to get provisions.

On Sunday it was snowy and the visibility was bad, so Nicolas and Andréanne decided not to go skiing/snowboarding. I should mention that in the town there was a huge, huge amount of snow everywhere. I guess that's what happens up in the mountains, but I really wasn't expecting to see anything that trumps Minnesota snow accumulation. Anyway, we went to Burgerbad, which advertises itself as "the largest alpine thermal spa in Europe." I find this confusing, because to be alpine it has to be in the alps, and the alps are exclusively in Europe, so couldn't they call it "the largest alpine thermal spa in the world"? In any case, the baths were really nice, but crowded. There were lots of Italians that drive over to Loèche for the weekend or the day and then leave again. It was fun and relaxing though.

On Monday Nicolas and Andréanne went skiing in the afternoon.. I thoroughly explored the town, took a few photos, and worked on some homework. In the evening we went out to a pizzeria, and then when we got home we watched the movie Persepolis. I also just finished reading the series. It was cool because now I can watch it without subtitles.. and it's funnier in French, too.

Tuesday was my last full day at Loèche, so I took the télésiège (gondola) up to the ski area with Nicolas and Andréanne around noon. It was the perfect day to do that too, because even though it was windy it was also really sunny with not much fog. As soon as we got off at the top we went to eat in the restaurant, and then afterward Nicolas and Andréanne took off to enjoy the runs. I walked around a bit and took some nice pictures and then took the télésiège back down to Loèche. Afterward I wanted to do this walk on a shoveled walking path that Béatrice told me about. It is a 45 minute walk with a little café at the end, and maybe some nice photo opportunities, I'm not sure. I started my walk but it was so terribly windy (I could hardly walk) and cold that I abandoned and went back to the studio. In the afternoon we went to the bus station and bought my one-way ticket back home for the next day.

These are the pictures I took at Loèche and on the way home. I suggest you click here to look at the bigger versions:



On Wednesday I packed all my bags and caught the bus around 11:30.. to get back home I had to take a bus, and then a train, and then switch trains in Lausanne, and then wait, and then take another bus, but luckily there were no problems. As long as you're in the right place at the right time, Swiss public transport is easy. On the train I sat across from this Australian couple (at least I think they were Australian), which was really funny. It took me like an hour of sitting across from them and sort of listening, but not really, to realize that they were speaking English and not German! I'm so used to the Swiss that English-speakers surprise me a bit now. Anyway, after around three hours of travelling (including waiting) I got home.. I unpacked my bags and repacked them to go to my friend Margaux's house. Around seven Béatrice drove me over there.

When I got to her house, Margaux's mom and eleven-year-old sister Tania were there too. We sat around and talked for a bit.. they were pretty curious about me, since they had heard about me from Margaux and almost became my host family (they were the second family that said I could live with them when I had to change families.) They have three dogs, two of which are her dad, Eugène's, hunting dogs that live outside. The other is named Kiruna (named after a town in Sweden), a black lab that they kept as a puppy before she became a seeing-eye dog. After awhile she herself became blind so they took her back. It was fun having a dog (especially a lab) around for a few days. Margaux's mom is bilingual since she always spoke German with her family growing up, but they moved to the French region of the country when she was little, so she did all of her school in French. She mostly speaks German at home to help her kids become bilingual (it definitely gives them an advantage in school, and later an advantage in the workplace, to speak German well in this German-dominated country), but of course since I was there they mostly spoke French.

Wednesday evening we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.. after that Margaux's dad came home. He is the director of a fromagerie (cheese shop) so his job is to buy and sell cheeses. He brought home around five kinds of cheese for everyone to try, and I tried all of them with a glass of wine (which I like now.) Some were better than others.

On Thursday morning we got up around nine to go to IKEA, which is a little bit past Lausanne. It was super weird going to IKEA.. I mean, if you think about it, it's probably one of the only places that (besides the language) is the same in Minnesota as in Switzerland. Even McDonald's differs between countries, but not IKEA! Same blue building, same children's play area, same furniture, same Swedish foods in the store and cafeteria. The only difference I noticed was that in addition to everything IKEA sells in the USA, here they also sell really basic clothes, soap, shampoo, lotion, backpacks, and suitcases (though there's not much variety.) We did a tour of the IKEA showroom and then went to eat in the cafeteria, where of course I ordered the meatballs with lingonberry sauce. Just like at home! Though, sadly, they replaced the boiled potatoes with french fries. You would think they would have potatoes in Switzerland and french fries in the US, but it isn't so.. After driving home from IKEA we (Margaux, her mom, her sister, Kiruna, and I) walked from her house to Romont, then around the town. In the evening we watched the movie Ocean's Thirteen.

The next day, everyone woke up a bit early. We got our bags packed, and around eleven we took two cars (with the dog, skis, bags, five people, and snowshoes it was necessary) to Lac Noir, a town centered around a lake (that's why the town's name means Black Lake) in the western part of the canton. Actually, they speak German there, so the name they use is Schwarzsee. There is a chalet that we stayed in that one of Margaux's uncles owns, but lots of different friends and family go to stay at. Friday afternoon Tania, Margaux, and I went sledding in one of the empty fields (presumably for cows or sheep in the summer, since it was fenced off) next to the chalet where there was a big giant hill. It was definitely the prettiest sledding experience I've ever had since we were pretty high up and could see the whole town and opposing mountains. We sledded for around two or three hours. I have to say, it was one of the best experiences I've had yet on exchange.

For dinner we had fondue, which I now know how to make perfectly since Margaux's dad showed me exactly how it's done. Afterward we went to this ice palace (palace is an exaggeration, but that's what the makers called it) that some local person makes every year. For those of you that have seen it, think that one farmer in Clearwater with his Christmas light displays every year, but times it by five and make it ice structures instead. It was pretty kitsch (they use that word lots here too), but funny. We had some good laughs.

Here's the pictures I took there and at the chalet. Click here for the bigger version:



On Saturday, before lunch, Margaux, Tania, and Eugène went skiing. Irène, Margaux's mom, went for a long walk with the dog. I stayed home and did some necessary studying. We ate lunch around two, after everyone got back. After lunch we decided to go sledding again for a few hours, which was just as amusing the second time.

On Sunday we ate breakfast, then afterward went to take a walk on the Lac Noir. It was nice except that it was really sunny and the snow was bright so our eyes hurt. After walking across the lake (it's small) and then doubling back alongside it we stopped at a café to get something to drink. We went back to the chalet for lunch, where one of Eugène's brothers (who owns the chalet), his wife, and his two kids met up with us. We ate a fondue chinois with deer meat (from hunting) and then a cake that the brother brought with (he is a baker.) We got all of our bags together, and then around five, Margaux, Irène, Kiruna, and I left the chalet in the first car. They dropped me off at home where I unpacked everything and got ready to go to school this morning....

Which I will describe in the next post, since my fingers are starting to hurt.