Bonjour! It's the end of Day 3 in la Suisse and we are doing well. (Especially now, after Elias has finally fallen asleep. Boy, the kid has stamina.)Now, for a rundown on the events of the last 2 days. Yesterday, we had ambitions of exploring the area a bit by car, but as it turned out we were enjoying just settling into our new home and exploring the yard that we didn't make it out until after dinner for a short drive. Franklin and Lili (the turtles) and Ginger (the cat) are proving to be good playmates for Lucia. She carries on long conversations with each of them, which probably do nothing for the animals but greatly entertain us. The tire swing and hammock in the backyard have also been a highlight for both of the kiddies. So has the little round outdoor pool. Here's a shot of Elias and Lucia bonding in the hammock.
As some of you may know, Elias has traditionally been a 5:30AM riser back at home. Well, his clock is all messed up which means evenings have been torture but we've been getting lots of sleep in the mornings. This morning we were up at around 10:30AM, had our breakfast of bread, cheese, yogurt, and espresso and then ventured out onto the roadways (for the second time) to go get some groceries. First stop was a farm up on Mont Pelerin, about 5 minutes away, where you can purchase fresh produce and leave the payment in a little metal box. (That means no change back, so either you overpay and come back for more later or you underpay and come back later with more money. Very quaint.) The farm is on this very narrow little road winding through the countryside and on the way there, you can see cows on the side of the road and hear all their bells ringing. It's absolutely beautiful. Even the smell of the cow poo has a charming quality about it. 
After the farm, we descended the mountain into Vevey, the closest town (although it seems like there are hundreds of "villages" outside of town, with imperceptable borders) to continue grocery shopping and to go see the lake. I (Curtis) am quickly getting the hang of driving here, with the two big differences from North American driving being roundabouts (once you're in, you have priority and must signal to leave the roundabout,
even if you're going straight) and intersection priority (the person on the right always has priority, regardless of when they got to the intersection).
Grocery shopping in Vevey wasn't much different than shopping back home, with the exception of all the packaging they use for their fruits and veggies and the much larger selection of bread. After we had gathered our food for the week, we wandered down to the lake to a "kids" beach that had been recommended to us. The water was nice, but I'm sure the urine:water ratio was on the high side. It's the coliforms that will get ya, so I guess it's alright. At least we can say we had a dunk in Lac Leman.
Lucia and I finished the day off with a "hike" up the hill from where we are. I had hoped to make it to the top of Mont Pelerin (about 200 m above us), but a flock of sheep and their clanging bells distracted Lucia and she had to go find them. We found ourselves marching down a narrow little ribbon of road meandering to who-knows-where with sheep on our right and a wheat field on our left and beyond that, the lake and the mountains. Stunning. Lucia, always one for having pictures taken of her, was a little annoyed that I was so distracted by the countryside.
I've taken way more pictures than I'm posting here, but hopefully what's here will tell a good part of our story. Switzerland is God's country. I'm guessing already that it's going to be hard to leave.
