August 7, 2010: St. Bernards Castle

On August 7, 2010, we visited St. Bernard’s Castle or the Chateau de Menthon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Menthon-Saint-Bernard).

YES! We have been to a Saints house! It was about 20 minutes from Annecy and so Ross and I decided that we should swing by the castle on our way to Geneva. It was another Fodor’s Choice… once again, they were right! The castle was founded by St. Bernard. He is the patron saint of travelers, skiers, mountain climbers, snowboarders, and backpackers.

His castle was amazing. It has been lived in since it was built by the same family. That means that relatives of St. Bernard have inhabited the castle since the 10th Century! It has evolved since that time and it is huge and fantastic! We loved it. The family is still dog friendly and Sullivan was allowed on the tour!

Unfortunately, Joel was not such a big fan. He was tired from seeing Annecy and driving around, so we had to leave the tour early. However, we were able to see the kitchen, the courtyards, and the church.

Ross and I would love to go back and check out the castle another time when Joel is a little “fresher!” WOW! Is all I can say about it… Just WOW!

August 7, 2010: Annecy France

August 7, 2010: Annecy France

We headed out of town on Saturday, August 7th with the baby and the dog towards the amazing town of Annecy, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annecy ). This was a GORGEOUS town that was a Fodor’s Choice city. As always, Fodor’s did not let us down! (Thanks again, Lauren!)

The city had mind boggling scenery! It had a lake surrounded by soaring, snowcapped mountains and huge parks. We walked around the city and enjoyed the lake, the medieval city, and the mountains. We had a ball! Joel and Ross rode on the carousel. Joel loved the ride, Sullivan worried about them. It was so sweet; he just whined and barked until they got off.

Annecy is trying to get a Winter Olympic Bid. Needless to say, Ross and I are pulling for it! I am also thinking that it could be fun to visit Albertville, France on another weekend trip.

August 1, 2010: Swiss Day Pics

August 1, 2010: Swiss Day

Swiss Day arrived with lots of fan fair and fireworks! It turns out that the Swiss LOVE FIREWORKS! We heard the BOOMS and BANGS for the entire weekend. It really did sound like the Germans were invading. We laughed that the Swiss have War LUST since they have not been in war since like the 1500s. Poor Sullivan was terrified. We thought he might have a heart attack… however, he pulled through.
We were able to watch the fireworks on our surrounding mountains from our balcony. It was romantic and wonderful!

On Sunday, August 1st Joel, Ross and I put on our Swiss T-shirts and headed into town. We were hoping to see parades and bands and to eat fair food. It turns out that is how America celebrates its independence. The Swiss just blow stuff up. We walked around all decked out in our Swiss garb, and we were rare birds indeed! We might have been a little overdressed, but you can’t fault us for enthusiasm. In fact, still have our American and Swiss flags hanging on our balcony.

I will just say that Joel dressed in his Swiss Flag Shirt got lots of attention. We were stopped on the road so that people could take his picture. He really is that cute!

Happy Swiss Day! God Bless America!

Photos of Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg

July 27, 2010: Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg, France

We visited a gorgeous castle with our neighbors the Michael, Noah and Joe. The castle is called Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_du_Haut-K%C5%93nigsbourg). We read about the castle in our book Basel Family Fun. The castle is located in the Alsatian region of France just outside the city of Colmar.

We threw the kids in the car and headed into France. The drive was gorgeous! The boys played and talked in the back of the car and once again cars, truck, trains and planes changed hands at record rates. Joel and Joe even “read” for a little while. We drove up the twisting, winding road towards the castle and it was then that we noticed the traffic. There were cars everywhere! It turns out that the Castle is a popular tourist destination for the French. We parked the car at the 15 minute walking walk marker. While 15 minutes is not a big deal in normal day, it is tough with three kids walking up a mountain. By the time we got to the top, it was time for a Coke and snack. (I also bought post cards, so get excited about getting some new postcards!)

The Castle was AMAZING! There were TONS of stairs and lots of gorgeous furniture. It was tough carrying Joel up all the stairs, but the views from the top of the castle was worth all the schlepping. In the future, I would love to take people back to the castle, just with Ross… I think it could be fun to have help moving Joel around!
We spent about two hours at the castle. We let the babies spend a little time playing in the courtyard. Joel was in heaven! He loved the water cistern. After two hours of schlepping the babies around the castle, it was time for lunch.

We drove from the castle to an adorable restaurant with a play ground. We walked into the restaurant with all three of the hot, hungry and tired babies. They were holding it together and were acting very happy. The restaurant was busy, but there were empty tables. There were even high chairs! (This is always a pleasant surprise in Europe!) We walked in and saw an empty table with two high chairs and we sprung on it! (That is where the problems started!) We waited and we waited and we waited! It turns out that we were wrong in sitting down. The owner of the restaurant was peeved by our actions and told the waitress NOT TO SERVE US! Yes, a nice French family who was sitting in another part of the restaurant came over to let us know that we would be waiting for at least an hour to eat. They told us that the restaurant owner told the waitress to serve us in an hour… Needless to say, we thanked the French family and left the restaurant.

By this time, we were all so hungry and cranky that I would have been happy to gnaw on some Quick Burgers and head home, but that was not in the cards. Rather, we headed into the charming French town of Ochwiller for some yummy tart flambé. Joel adored the tart flambé and he even ate ice cream. Lunch took about 2 hours, which was fun. Joel stayed awake and was rather quiet… for Joel! By the time that we left, we were all fat, happy and ready to go home!

July 26, 2010: Off to the Siky Ranch

Our neighbor Michaela and her boys Noah and Joe joined Joel and I on a trip to Siky Ranch (http://www.travelfeedback.com/FeedbackDetails.aspx?feedback_object_id=7297&nickname=sganguin&show_detail=Pictures). Siky Ranch is the only place you can see white tigers in Switzerland. You can watch the tigers up close and personal. It turns out that tigers can be contained in chain link fences about 12 feet high… interesting. It was a little nerve racking seeing the tigers up close and personal with an 18 month old who loves trying to climb chain link fences.

Joel ran around the ranch saying. “Tigers” and “roar.” I am sure that the tigers loved being roared at by a baby! The ranch had an old boat that Joel adored. He would have made Captain Pat proud with his tenacity to get aboard. Prying Joel away from the boat took time and patience and the promise of tractors.

Yes, tractors! Luckily the ranch had about 5 pedal tractors that Joel and Joe adored! They boys played on the tractors for about an hour. They were both “happy as Larry!” I wish that I brought my camera to chronicle the good times.

We ate a yummy lunch at the Siky Ranch restaurant. This was an event in its self. The number of cars on the table was mind boggling! We had three boys and at least 25 cars, trucks, trains and tractors. While I was munching on my fried ham and French fries, cars were zooming past. Joel was not happy eating due to all the fun playing that was taking place on the table. From our table we could see monkeys; this was another source of entertainment. We had lots of monkey noises coming from our boys! I did feel sorry for the people that decided to eat near us… we were like a traveling circus.

After lunch, we headed back to the car. Yes, that is right, we took one car! We had three car seats packed in the back of the Passat. Joel thought this was wonderful. He could touch Noah and he could talk to Joe. It was funny to see the boys barter their toys. By the end of the trip, Joel had acquired about 3 new cars! I see a future entrepreneur in the making! Mark Zukerberg better watch out!

July 24, 2010: Okey Dokey Play Place

Our neighbors Michaela and Tas organized an outing to Okey-Doke. It is a huge indoor playground located in Germany. Okey-Doke is like Hippo-Hop except that it is located in Germany/Switzerland which means that it is very dangerous. There are very high climbing walls that are just tall enough for Joel to get in trouble on!
Joel loved it there! His favorite was hopping on the trampoline. He was laughing so loud that people were coming from all over the park to see him. He was just tickled about getting to jump as high as he liked!

Ross and Joel had a great time driving around in the cars. They were holy terrors. It is almost impossible to keep up with the little guy once he is on a role. We also had a great time going on the slides, which I think might have been coated in butter! They were so fast! Joel thought it was a hoot, I was terrified.

Ever since going to Okey-Doke, Joel has been saying “Okey-Dokey.” When he gets excited he yells, “Okey-Dokey!!!” He says it instead of Yes. The other day we were on the tram and I asked him if he wanted some water, the answer was of course, “OKEY DOKEY.” As you can imagine, all of the people seated near us giggled. Even the Swiss laughed… no small feat!

July 19-23: Fun at the Asche Pool and the Park

So, my neighbor Tas and I have become the Basel Childbirth Trust (BCT) Reinach/Asche coordinators. Our first outing was on July 21, 2010 we went to the Asche pool. We had a great turnout. About 15 people showed up to go to the pool. The weather was stunning and we had so much fun splashing in the pool and meeting new people. Joel was adorable and was calling of the new kids that he met, "friends."
Joel has a problem. He tends to steal kids toys. The funny thing about his kleptomania is that he knows it is wrong. He takes the toys and he RUNS. He runs and laughs. We keep joking that he is great at “running like he stole it.” So begins his life of crime.

Our next BCT event is scheduled for August 18, 2010. We are headed to the very cool park known as Grun 80. I am going to take photos so we can post them on the BCT website.

Joel and I have become park regulars. We try to go to the park in the afternoons after he wakes up from his nap. He loves to play in the tunnel and slide. He is also a great sandboxer. He spends his time digging and trucking through the dirt. It is amazing how dirty the little guy can get in just a few minutes. WOW!