Near Chatel St Denis, Vaud - SWITZERLAND
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This morning we awoke covered in a blanket of snow and from my perch upon the bench-top I peeped out the window to find a little swiss girl walking what seemed to be a small dog totally covered in snow. Its little muzzle was struggling to stay out of the snow and into the fresh air. Outside the road had been cleared, but we still had to dig our way out of the campsite. After a quick breakfast and pack up we found ourselves covered in snow from the car. My fingers nearly dropped off clearing ice off the front of the car. We set off without a hitch and began the hour long drive along the freeway covered in mushy snow. Ten kilometres out of Geneva the drivers-side windscreen wiper made a sweeping manoeuvre and rolled itself right off the car. Dave was forced to drive with it flapping in the breeze. Dirty snow covered his screen and we were forced to pul over adding another 10 minutes to the journey. It was 10 minutes we didn't have!! At 10:25am we raced into downtown Geneva, stopped the car and ran into the post office, passports in hand to pick up a surprise package from my grandmother. We returned to the car in a ground-breaking 10 minutes and whisked Peter off to Geneva Airport. Like winners of the game of life a parking space was immediately available, doors flew open, bags were waving about the air in a frenzy that Geneva had never seen before. We got to the SAS counter to find that Peter's confirmed ticket had been wait-listed in typical unfathomable travel fashion. Although the lady at check-in said that there was 99% chance of him getting on the flight. I thought that it was because we checked him in so late, but she gave no reason. We then ran over to departures and in a flash of lightning I gave Peter a hug, kiss and said my goodbyes. Before he walked through we said that we'd wait till the plane took off and would make sure he was on it before leaving. Then in a teardrop I watched him walk away until he was in sight no longer. The plane was delayed for an hour and a half and from the observation deck in pouring rain I forced Dave to watch the plane taxi out. In a few seconds it roared down the runway and in the time it takes to blink an eye we watched it lift off the ground. In a frenzy of movement I waved both my arms and marvelled like always at the ingenuity of air travel and how amazing to think that he was sitting in 10 tonnes of metal hurtling into the lower atmosphere. Nothing thrills me more!! We returned to the car by two and in exactly the same place that we'd parked a week ago. For some reason it seemed that we were going to return to home and then to work tomorrow, like you always do when you see friends off at the airport. What lay in front was way more exciting for we could go anywhere. For three hours we parked by Lake Geneva throwing around different ideas. The cold temperatures of the van warmed our thoughts towards staying with a Servas host for two days to finally work out a plan. By 5pm Dave had found a British couple residing in France, who lived three hours away from Geneva in the farming province of Ain. Although Janet told us that they would guide us to their farmhouse from the local village as the country lanes are like a maze. It sounded like just the place to spend a cosy two days and what better way to cheer me up. We took the motorway in the pouring rain and then a few country roads to avoid the high tolls and by 8pm we pulled into the little stone cottage village of Sermoyer. After a quick phone call Jim came to pick us up and in the darkness we followed him through the mud and into his huge renovated farmhouse. The warmth of their wood-fired oven and smiles welcomed us into their home and out of the cold. They were a very friendly couple, both artists with a great vision on life. The table was set in country style and we were ushered to take a seat. They had both spent three hours cooking and served us a delicious three course meal of soup, French casserole and home made apple pie. To quench our thirst Jim pulled out some of the local drop which tasted like a dream and we spent the rest of the evening in deep conversation, having so much in common. We retired to the sitting room after coffee and fell asleep in a very comfortable bed dreaming of the journey ahead. |