Switzerland, Paris, London, California

Our next destination was Lausanne, Switzerland where I had lived a few years before. We were going to stay with the Devereauxs, an American family I had known in YWAM. Our train climbed into the magnificent Alps, out of Italy and into Switzerland.

In Lausanne, we relaxed by Lake Geneva with the French Alps towering in the distance on the other side of the lake. I took Laura to see the picturesque Chillon Castle down the lake, one of the most visited in Europe and purported to be the inspiration behind the castle in The Little Mermaid movie. It sits right on the lake near Montreaux, a town which hosts the second largest annual jazz festival. Then we went to one of my favorite spots in the world.

Gruyere cheese is one of Switzerland’s most famous, often used in fondue. It takes its name from the town of Gruyeres which sits in a large valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. In the middle of the valley is a large hill, covered by a small medieval town, topped by a castle. We toured the cheese factory near the base of the hill then climbed through the quaint village, winding its way up to tour the castle. Then it was time for lunch.

We chose one of the restaurants on the hill overlooking the valley and ordered fondue. So there we were, in this beautiful old town, half-way up the side of the hill, in the middle of a beautiful valley, with mountains all around and a castle above, eating cheese made in the factory just below - another one of those very memorable life moments.

After Lausanne, we went to see some friends named the Mermots who used to be with Procla-Media. They had moved to a small town a little north of Lausanne by Lake Neuchatel. This couple was Swiss and unable to have children so they had adopted a girl and a boy from Chile. He was now working for a music company out of a little office within walking distance from their house.

Weather-wise, it was a pleasant time of year and their house had a picturesque courtyard where we ate our meals. I don’t typically like coffee or wine but in such an idyllic setting I had to partake in both in order to experience the full ambience. We drank coffee from bowls and Philippe would come home for extended lunches.

Lake Neuchatel lies at the base of the Jura Mountains which are not near the height of the Alps. The Mermots took us up near the top of one of the mountains to another great restaurant. It was basically a big, open farmhouse with large, long tables where you sat with a group of people. It was very rustic with no electricity but the food was fantastic. We ordered the crusty bread, toasted, with ham, Gruyere cheese and a fried egg on top. It probably wasn’t the healthiest meal but it was delicious and Laura has tried to duplicate it several times since.

Up next was Paris. I left Laura in a central place as I went off in search of the hotel. When I got back, Laura told me that while she had been sitting there, she saw someone trying to take her picture. We figured a picture of her might end up in a photo book about Americans in Paris.

The hotel I found seemed like a nice spot on a walking street. Little did I know it was in the red-light district. The next day we found another place nearby. As Laura hadn’t been to Paris yet, we had to do all the iconic destinations - Notre Dame, Champs Elysee, Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower.

To save money and confusion, we decided to just walk. And during one of those walks we had another one of our most memorable honeymoon experiences. As we walked along the Seine River from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, we came across a metal bottle cap and started kicking it and kept kicking it and kicking it and kickin’ for miles down the river. Simple and cheap and unusual entertainment in the city of lights but memorable for us nevertheless.

So far, we had taken about six weeks for the trip and had two weeks left before we had to be back in California for Carolyn’s wedding. As our train tickets were only one way, we couldn’t back track so we decided to just spend the two weeks in London. Although the trip had been great, those two weeks were the most relaxing part. 

As we had already done London, we didn’t have an agenda. There was nowhere else that we needed to think about getting to or planning for so we just chilled. As we were staying in Clapham with the Dale-Thomas’s, Battersea Park was nearby where we went boating on the lake and fed the ducks. We also spent time in central London’s fabulous Hyde Park. Then it was back to California. 

The wedding went well. Laura’s niece, Mindy loved to dance so I spent some time jamming with her at the reception. As we didn’t have jobs or bills yet, we didn’t have any rush to get back to London. Once again, the only deadline we had was tickets to another concert. This time it was for Simple Minds at Wembley Stadium. Laura’s sister, Diana was about to have her fourth daughter, Casey. So we decided to just stay with them until she was born. Casey was the first newborn I ever held.

We got back to London for the concert and now it was time to deal with real life, time to find work. We continued to stay with the Dale-Thomas’s in Clapham until we could afford a place of our own.

Post bottle cap kicking


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