Waiting

We had a few days to ourselves after Pam and Geoff left and before our next visitors arrived so we decided on a small excursion to Switzerland. We planned to visit Zurich for a few days – just because we could!

On the 1^st of September we boarded a train at the Belfort – Montbeliard TGV station  and a few hours later we were in Zurich. We had an apartment booked for two nights in a renovated hotel in the old part of town which we used as a base while we explored.

The city is on the northern tip of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland, The old town, grouped on either side of the Limmat river is crossed by picturesque lanes that reflect its medieval history. The modern town is a major centre of global banking. The city exudes wealth  its residents appear very affluent. We hardly fitted to this prototype but although we found the city expensive and the weather off-putting, it was well worth the visit.

 

Zurich is also famous for its watches and clocks. And no matter where you look, you will see a clock.

The town has a strong history going back before Roman times These statues depict important figures from the 15^th century.

We took a day tour of the city and its surrounds in a coach. The trip included crossing the lake south east of the town on a ferry and a cable car ride on the Felsenegg mountain cable car.

We had coffee at the restaurant and admired the view of the lake and surrounds.

Back to Montbeliard as we had some more visitors arriving. Rachael and Josh with their two children, Mabel and Hugo were to spend a few days with us as part of their visit to France. They were met by Marg at the Belfort – Montbeliard TGV station and very quickly they were at home on Matilda.

We took a small cruise on the canal to give them taste of our lifestyle before they continued on their way.

Hugo amazed us all by showing a real ability to correctly steer Matilda.

Rach and Josh are vignerons from the Perth Hills and the family left us to travel to Lyon and Bordeaux, further following their interests in the wine industry.

Before the arrival of our next visitors, Ali and John, Peter found this wonderful example of a council worker’s artistic skills while Margaret, this statue of  Georges Cuvier, the famous palaeontologist who was born here in Montbeliard in 1769

We are waiting again, there will be more to tell so we will keep in touch.