Thursday, April 12, 2012

France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland - in One Day...

Last view of our street in Nice, France
 Yesterday began in Nice, France where we saw this sight on the street where we loaded our van after 10 days there.  We faced a long day of travel and would stop for the night in Zurich, Switzerland - 13 hours later.

Our hotel for the night did not have wifi working plus we arrived so late in the evening that this blog didn't get an update yesterday.

This post will share the highlights of yesterday through photos and narrative.

We drove in lovely sunshine and in drenching downpours but there was beauty all around us and we enjoyed the journey.

God has created so much diversity in the landscape and humans have created ways to garden, farm and live with the variety provided by a loving creator.  It is splendor showcased.
Drove out of town, climbed high hills and came to a road which took us to an overlook where we gazed upon...
 MONACO...
The country made famous by Prince Ranier and Princess Grace Kelly...
More Monaco...
More Monaco...

More Monaco...

More Monaco...
More Monaco...

More Monaco...
Good-bye little country of beauty and mystery....
We continued our drive and entered Italy.  We drove past much scenic beauty of hillsides of terraced commercial and non commercial gardens of flowers, fruits and vegetables...  No photos of those - rain was now falling and photographs out the window aren't so great.  Headed to Milano where a good friend of James and Shara lives.  She is Italian but was working in Moscow, Russia when they lived there.  They visit her often as travel takes them to Europe.  Her third child was born 10 days after Constantine so the boys had their first meeting as we stopped for lunch with 
Alessandra and Jaccapoe (spelling mine).

A little friction at times...

Hospitality in abundance at this home...
Both boys love strawberries and prefer hands over spoons...
Cozzie eats with his spoon in his left hand but often goes for speed over gentility.

Elegant facade across the street from their apartment...
After lunch we headed in more rain to the border with Switzerland.  Good-bye Italy...
Drove into Switzerland to find Lake Lugano as our welcome.   This same lake welcomed my husband and me in 1970 after we spent a long weekend in Italy the quarter we were students in Strasbourg, France with 20 other seminary students from Trinity Divinity School in Deerfield, IL.
Lake Lugano welcomed us to Switzerland yesterday...

Spectacular mountain views...
Clouds, snow and beauty....

Finally the long drive gets a break for some play...
Family at play in the chilly heights of Switzerland...

Grandma Lee gets to play also...
A sweet moment during the long drive happens when Cozzie opens a gift from Grandma Lee...
I am so awed by mountain scenes...

Wonder what the price of real estate is in this neighborhood....
Lake Lucerne as the sun is setting...  and I am dreaming...
We had a lovely drive except perhaps for the 2 hour delay as we crept along with backed up traffic due to the closure of one direction in a mountain tunnel.  We never discovered why.  Someone shrugged and said, "That's Switzerland!"

So that's a report of our long travel day yesterday which touched 4 countries.

We spent the night in Zurich as this morning at 11 AM we picked up Earl, the drummer who arrived on a flight from Berlin where he lives.  He is a long time friend of Shara's whom she met while she was in college in Denton, TX.  He will be the drummer for the Swiss shows over the next few days.

We drove for an hour to Basel where there will be a show tonight.  We are in our hotel here right now.  Cozzie is napping,  Mama and Papa are in the room next to him and I am in the lobby using my computer.

They have load in at 4PM so I am headed to the room to cover Cozzie while they head to the venue.

Psalm 46: 1-3
 1 God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

1 comment:

Marge B. said...

Breath-taking pictures! I think I may have spotted 'Heidi' in one of those mountain scenes!?

What a very loong drive you made. Sounds strange when you say you traveled through 4 countries in one day. I can't imagine Cozzie surviving so many hours in the van. He must be a real trooper. Perhaps he's growing up thinking that's a 'normal' day, at times.

Thanks for your faithfulness in sharing your trip. Loving it!

Love, Marge