Susan & Mark

Susan, my 'Irish twin' sister, and 'beau-frere' Mark Marquess arrived on Dec 17th to smooth the transition into 'en Suisse' living. Susan has a personal history with living in Switzerland. Susan attended and graduated from Leysin American School ("LAS"). Susan was a significant source of family support during my sophmore and junior years at the Villa. Susan is steadfastly sweet, thoughtful, caring, ever well prepared, and a curious seasoned traveler.

We embarked on a grand Swiss tour -- places Susan wanted to revisit and new places to explore. First on the list to revisit -- Vevey and Montreux. Both are located on Lac Leman, east of Lausanne. Vevey is world headquaters of Nestle (milk chocolate was invented here in the late 1800s) and was the long term home to Chalie Chaplin. In Winter sunlight, a walk along the waterfront yeilded stunning views of the French Alps...and a Fork!

From Vevey, it is a short train ride to Montreux..historically famous for the Chateau de Chillon, grand hotels of the Belle Epoque era and in recent decades for its mulitple annual music festivals. We walked the lakefront Christmas market, refreshed over a leisurely lunch and opted for a bus ride to Chateau de Chillion. Starting with the Romans, Chillon was a strategically important defense and control point for access from the Burgundy plain to the St. Bernard pass in the Alps. The Savoy dukes controled the chateau through various interregional and religious wars starting in the 12th century. Lord Byron memorialized the chateau in the famous poem: Prisoner of Chillon.

Less famous though of personal significance, Chateau Chillon was the venue of Susan's senior prom at LAS. I also attended as I was then dating one of Susan's LAS classmates.

The second day of our grand tour took us to Bern and Fribourg. Bern is the capital of Switzerland and is located in the German speaking part of the country. Fribourg is the seat of Catholicism in Switzerland and is located in the French speaking part of the country.These two cities are about 20 miles apart.

Alighting from our train, I was instantly awed by the sweeping post modern architectual roof and support spans of the Bern Bahnhof shed. Exiting the Bern Banhof, I was perplexed; it no longer fronted the historic Bahnhof Platz. The station had been relocated since I was last in Bern in 2011 to visit the Paul Klee Museum.

Reoriented, we strolled toward the river. The historic center of Bern is situated on a thumb shaped penninsula, defined by a graceful horseshoe curvature the Aare River. The mid 1850's Swiss Parliament building overlooks the sweep of the Aare out to the mountains of the Bernese Overland with the Swiss National Bank located at its hip on the facing plaza. Our stroll continued well into historic, medieval built Bern -- arcaded sandstone buildings, fountains and clock towers.

From Bern to Fribourg, another medieval Swiss city and my home for 4 years at Villa St. Jean International School. Mark and Susan indulged a walk up Avenue de Perolles to the former campus of the Villa. More changes were well evident since I was last there in 2011. The College St. Croix is expanding into our former playing fields, removing another vestige of the Villa's 1903 campus. Gallia, our classroom building remains in use and well preserved by the College St. Croix.

From the former Villa St. Jean campus, we backtracked and walked down to the "Basse-Ville", the lower medieval origin of the city on the Sarine River, including a stop at the Cathederal of St. Nicholas ( classic gothic design, built between 1290 nd 1490) . A quick bus ride back up to 'le gare' and an express train to Lausanne, we back early evening after a long day.

Day 3, it seriously rained. Susan and Mark opted to explore the Flon district of Lausanne and I took a time out to continue to settle in at my apartment.

Day 4, the sun returned. We headed to Leysin, Susan's home for 2 years while attending LAS. Leysin is a small, sunny mountain side resort village at 4,100 ft above sea level. Leysin was originally known for multiple sanatoriums for curing TB. Access to Leysin is either via a circuitous mountain road or a 'cog' train from the valley town of Aigle, elevation @ 1,300 ft above sea level. We opted for the cog train..a highly modernized version compared to the wooden, single car cog that transported us up the mountain side in the mid 1960s.

Susan had not been in Leysin since graduating from LAS in 1965. In the intervening

54 years, the village had radically changed. After a disoriented several hours we were informed that the entire village had been 'relocated' in the mid 1970's when the new cog line was installed. Nevertheless, we able able to located the original LAS building (classrooms and dorms). It is still in active use as part of the expanded LAS campus.

Susan's reunion with her past was emotional. We both continue to muse on -- why our parents thought boarding schools were the appropriate approach for our high school education. Only through the long lens of time, do we agree that it was a valuable life experience.

Day 5, another dreary, rain drenched day. We decided it was unsuitable for day tripping. So we stayed in Lausanne and ventured to the Olympic Museum. Mark is an Olympian (1988 Seoul - coach Gold Metal - Baseball). I greatly admire and respect Mark. His athletic acheivements are legendary (head coach and director of the Stanford Cardinal Baseball program for 41 years); he is dignified, has an easy sense of humor, is highly competitive without bravado, and is faithful to his core principles of fair play and personal conduct.

The Olympic Museum reflects Mark's elevating spirit of sports.

Day 6, a possible break in the rain, so Mark and Susan day tripped to Genvea for shopping and sightseeing. I stayed in Lausanne to complete some essential 'getting settled' items: a trip to the SwissCom store to purchase a SIM card and an interim phone plan, a trip to a nearby laundary service to establish wash/dry service, and a trip up to the Flon District for final Christmas shopping.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Fine French dining on Christmas Eve at Restaurant Hotel de la Paix, Christmas Day 'petit dejeuner' at the Hotel Carlton, Mass at 11 AM and Christmas dinner at Le Mirabeau.

C'est tout. Susan and Mark departed this morning, leaving me deeply grateful for their support and encouragement in this 'en Suisse' adventure.