As they say, breaking up is hard to do. But one thing that’s worse than losing your significant other is losing your significant other in Paris. Thankfully, after checking my email at the airport and getting the correct airline, and therefore the correct Terminal, I found a very relived Kathy and all was well.
We then embarked on a whirlwind tour of Paris, where I introduced her to one of my favorite places and foods on the planet. Paul’s and their Tart Citron (lemon tart). We’ve also stopped for Croissants and Pain au Chocolates (like a croissant, but with chocolate inside. Don’t even bother trying to imagine how good it would taste, until you get to Paris. Our feeble minds can’t come close to it’s buttery, chocolate-y goodness.)
Brief Rant: Outside of their pastries, I can’t stand most French food. I think their meals are over-complicated and nothing on their menus are even remotely interesting to me. Paris was where I learned about the deliciousness of Indian food. And I think that’s more ironic than anything Alanis Morissette had to talk about.
Right as we got to the Eiffel Tower, it rained, so we went to the hotel and crashed. Next morning, more croissants, pain au chcolates, and Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the forethought for a corkscrew, so our Picnic had to wait.
We then did some train hopping and after changing my mind about 3 times we planted ourselves in the peaceful city of Portonson, 9km from Mont St. Michel. Due to some amazing luck, we found a small house in a camping grounds with a petting zoo, heated pool, wireless internet and a porch facing the sunset for an inexplicably low price. All this, and a bottle opener! So, we had our picnic while watching the sun set over the French countryside. C’est magnifique! After sunset, more rain.
The next morning we set off for Mont St. Michel au velo (on bikes). It was a superb journey that ended with sheep and the beautiful “island”. We explored it for a while and then decided to join the rest of the Frenchies and walk onto the sand during the low tide. We had a lot of fun getting our feet dirty in the quicksand. And then, more rain.
Another Brief Rant: The French take off for everything. They seem to love not working as much as their wine. The abbey of Mont. St. Michel was closed because the 1st of May is a bank holiday. To put it in perspective, the devout Catholic country takes off for May Day, originally a Pagan Holiday.
We then jumped off to Switzerland and as many times as I’ve been here, I always see something completely new. This time we spent some time in one of Europe’s largest Transport museums, were you got to explore the entire place on scooters. We then migrated to the land I plan to retire and die at, Interlaken, Switzerland. We went to the top of Schliterhorn, where there was a revolving restaurant featured in 007’s “Her Majesty’s Service”. We then came to some of the most amazing waterfalls I’ve ever witnessed. They’re glacial waterfalls that etched themselves through the caves of a mountain.
At night, there was a beautiful fireworks show that had something to do with the economy. It’s good to be Swiss. They seem to have it all. The beautiful landscapes, people, waterfalls, and the chocolate. Oh dear lord, the chocolate.
May 5th, on a train from Lausanne to Paris