What an absolutely perfect day! We went on a 3 hour boat ride on Lake Geneva across the Lake to Montreux. We had a lovely picnic lunch on board the boat provided by our excellent guide Clare Keller (Marshall). Phillip de Brun continues to transport us in our mini-bus meeting us in Montreaux after the boat ride!

Grant was the only one brave enough to get in the 66 degree water! Gaby put her toes in and said “No!”

Once we arrived in Montreaux, we had a one hour tour of the Chillon Castle which was built in the 1200’s. The Castle was made famous when Lord Byron wrote his famous poem, Prisoner of Chillon. The dungeon in the castle is quite famous.

We learned today that all those lovely geraniums in the Chalet window boxes have a distinct purpose- and it’s not just to look pretty! Geraniums actually repel flys and since Switzerland has a huge cow population you know they also have flies! Hence the reason for geranium window boxes!

We also drove by Charlie Chaplain’s house. He is buried here. His children are trying to open his estate as a museum. Since it is in quite an exclusive area, the neighbors are worried about noise and traffic so no one is sure when it’s going to actually open. They are trying to work out the details.

We also stopped in a lovely little church in Vevey that has Roman ruins beneath it. The ruins were discovered while renovating the church and you can go downstairs to see the ruins.

The Swiss actually have GREAT wines. The hills are covered with vineyards in this lake region called The Vaud Region. The reason few people equate Switzerland and good wine is because the Swiss don’t export it. It is all consumed within the country. The Swiss love their wines and both red and white are quite good!

Congrats to the Heat! Grant stayed up to watch it on the computer!!

I’m enjoying some quiet time at the moment. Annette and Gaby have gone swimming in the hotel pool. Trey, Grant and Bill have gone to see the Olympic Museum and Duffy is packing. We leave tomorrow for Zermatt. We will see a subterranean lake in St Leonard on our way to Zermatt. I think the sweaters will be out tomorrow because we will be at a much higher altitude. Temperatures will drop about 12-14 degrees. But our weather in Lausanne couldn’t have been more perfect!!

We are in Lausanne at the Beau Ravage Hotel – one of the leading hotels in the world. It’s an amazingly beautiful place. The weather is so much warmer than it was predicted to be. I made everyone bring jackets and sweaters and they need shorts! It has been 80 degrees the first three days with the exception of our time on top of Glacier 3000 ( so named because it is at 3000 meters)!

We started off our morning with a quick drive through the beautiful region of Gstaad. We stopped at a graveyard where David Niven is buried…
We made a quick stop at a small restaurant and spotted all these cow bells hung up on the wall! Each cowbell is a different size and tone. The cows wander the summer pastures and must be milked twice a day. The bells help the farmer locate the cow by the sound. The bigger the bell, the more milk the cow produces. The biggest bells are for the best milk producers!

We saw a school called Le Rosey that we think might be the school that Bill’s sister,Mimi, went to as a little girl. We took photos but we’re not sure if it was the right school.
After touring Vilar (a small town in the Alps where Bill went to school for the 4th grade), we had a delicious lunch at a 5 star hotel where the view is just spectacular. We actually stopped at what used to be Bill’s school when he was in 4th grade. He remembered it quite well. He even saw his old room! It is no longer a school but it is rented out to groups who want to come for a holiday. After lunch we drove a short distance out of town to meet our helicopters!

We had a fantastic surprise at the helicopter meeting place. Our wonderful travel agent, Arlene Feen, surprised us with a professional photographer who came along to take photos of us on the glacier and in the helicopters!! He is making DVD’s for all of us!! What a great treat!!

Everyone loved the helicopters. We were very lucky with the weather because we were able to land on the glacier and get out and walk around. The snow was a bit “mushy” but it was cold and you knew you were on a glacier. Gaby made and threw her first tiny snowball!! It was a day of, as Gaby would say, “WOWS”!

Yesterday we made a trip to Gruyeres and visited the cheese factory where we saw them making the 25 pound wheels of Gruyere cheese! We then proceeded in the afternoon to see the Nestlé Chocolate factory. There were plenty of samples to taste!!! The ride to the chocolate factory was aboard the Golden Pass–also known as “The Chocolate Train”! It was a lovely train ride where they serve hot chocolate and chocolate filled croissants!

This afternoon we’ve had a hard rain shower and it has cooled off quite a bit. Not “shorts” weather any more! The Lake Geneva view from our hotel balcony is spectacular. Last night we had yummy pizza for dinner and tonight we’re headed to another casual dining spot recommended by our guide, Clare. It’s called The White Lion. Reviews will be posted after dinner.

Ok, The White Lion was quite good. The burgers got an A rating and the quesadilla Tapas were also excellent. We had fun watching the Euro 2012 soccer match between Portugal and the Czech Republic. Portugal and Renaldo won 1-0. It was a very good match. Now we are hoping we get a win with the Heat!!! Let’s go Heat!

Well, today the weather was a little chillier and less sun. More like the typical weather you think of for this area! Nonetheless , we had another great day.

We ventured out to Alcatraz– a must for any visitor to San Francisco. We were glad we had prepurchased our tickets because the tours were sold out for the day when we got to the pier. The audio tour of “The Rock” is exceedingly well done. I enjoyed hearing it all again and Bill enjoyed it for the first time.

After the ferry ride back, we walked Fisherman’s Wharf and had lunch at a great little seafood restaurant called Scomos. Delicious. Then we walked and stood on the inevitably long line to ride the cable car all the way up. It was cold and windy but we are still glad we did it. It was about a 45 minute wait — but shorter than when we tried this weekend! Off to an early dinner since a taxi is picking us up at 5:30am for the airport! Next blog will take place from Switzerland–June 18 departure !

Also included photos of yesterday’s tour with The Girls and the whacky race partiers . One photo was a stop at a fortune cookie factory! Fun!

What a great day we had! The weather in May is fantastic! Definitely the time to visit the Bay area. There is little fog in April and May.

Today was a wonderful whacky day in the city. It was the Bay to Breakers 7 mile race. It’s a little hard to describe. There are amazing costumes in this 50,000 + people race. There is everything from the ridiculous to the sublime! Including birthday suits ( aka nudists) running in this event! They party all day !
We had the most amazing city tour with two ladies who know this place inside out! We walked down wooden staircases that are actual streets ; went to a fortune cookie shop; had amazing sweets and a delicious Thai (California style ) lunch. If you ever get to San Francisco and want the best possible tour of the city you must absolutely go with “Sights and Bites”. CarriedAwaySf.com. They are truly awesome with the perfect tour representation of the city. They are delightful personalities filled with facts and history of this amazing place! I guarantee a fun time!! Even if you think you know the city–they will show or tell you something you didn’t know before!! Highly recommend you book these gals!!

Tonight we went to the Top of the Mark (Mark Hopkins Hotel) to view the solar eclipse. Bill figured out how to really see the solar eclipse by looking through polarized glasses from two different angles. It was awesome! Wecouls really see the ring! We had dinner just down the street from the Mark Hopkins at The Big Four Restaurant ( recommended by the Carried Away Tour Ladies). It was great. A fabulous day in the Bay Area!

We’ve arrived at the Four seasons in San Francisco, but not without a small amount of driving trauma! Poor Bill! We had an address for the hotel that was the back side of the hotel, not the main entrance. Added to that, there were numerous street closures due to construction and a street fair. The GPS went nuts and so did we! It took more than an hour to get to the hotel when we were just 2 miles away!!! Bill was threatening to abandon the rental car and take a taxi! LOL! But it all worked out eventually.

We did the little Red Fire Engine tour of San Francisco. It goes over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and back. We tried to stand in line to take the cable car down to the tour but the line was an hour wait and there wasn’t time. We’re hoping to do the cable car in the next day or two!

The kids gave me an amazing basket of goodies. It looks like I won the “Snack Lottery!”. Thank you Trey, Annette, Gaby, Grant, Duffy and Tucker!!! Awesome basket!! (already broken into!)Photo posted!

Congrats to the Preakness winners who finally got the horse right! (Wanda and Tom!).

I got a beautiful ruby bracelet from Bill for my birthday!!

Looking forward to tour of San Francisco tomorrow. Also looking forward to delayed birthday dinner with family and friends when we get home. Tonight’s a birthday dessert was a yummy Bananas Foster, but I’m still looking forward to cake!

Great day! Loved every second of my birthday! Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday– it was the best!

We’ve left the craggy windswept Cypress trees of Pebble Beach for acres of Sonoma vineyards and the kings of the forest, the majestic, “reach for the skies” Redwood trees. We saw trees today that are 1400 years old! They are truly a wonder. We also had the MOST perfect weather day!!! It was sunny and 78 degrees!! Awesome, awesome day!

We ventured to the Armstrong Redwoods Forest and then on to Bodega Bay— the place where Alfred Hitchcock filmed scenes from The Birds ! Actually, the Redwood Forest was where they filmed several scenes from the Star Wars movie “Return of the Jedi.” The camera cannot capture the magnificence and the height of these beautiful trees. It was a picture perfect day !

How much fun did I have in Carmel?! Lots! I didn’t make it down three blocks before I bought four things!! First stop was great store for unusual jackets; second, Christmas Shop; third, huge dog store(only bought one toy for Tucker) and last but not least, an adorable children’s clothing store!! Bill was very good sport! In fact, he actually found some of the items I purchased!

If you are ever in Carmel, do save time to visit the shops and galleries. Truly lovely and unique things.

We had lunch at an awesome restaurant recommended by someone who lives In Carmel. It’s called Grasings (6th and Mission). You can eat in the bar and watch tv or go for the cute dining room with linen table cloths! The soup of the day was asparagus(yummy) and the sandwich special was homemade meatloaf on freshly baked toasted focaccia bread. It was all delicious! Bill also enjoyed his turkey sandwich!! Housemade French fries were awesome! More when we arrive in Sonoma.

We are passing huge fields of artichokes (signs for deep fried artichokes) ,strawberries, apricots, cherries,Brussels sprouts…hungry yet?

After an exciting sighting ( say that three times!) of three huge whales very near shore this morning at breakfast, we set off for Carmel. After a quick drive down Ocean View Dr to the beach we took some good photos. However, my camera battery had gone bad and wouldn’t hold a charge so we changed course and headed to Monterey for a camera store. We had a successful venture (including a stop at Starbucks for Bill’s tea and my Coffee Frappacino light). We decided to do the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach since we were so close. I must say the beginning of the 17 mile drive was disappointing. The homes are old ( and though I’m sure they’re million dollar homes) they weren’t spectacular to see. BUT , the last half of the drive really picked up with scenery–both homes and ocean views! We have some great photos of the “signature cypress tree” that is the emblem for Pebble Beach. We stopped at the lodge and took a photograph of the “champion’s walk” and the 18th hole. We had a delightful lunch in the Pub. I managed to get in a little shopping! :).

The plan is to do Carmel tomorrow morning when we leave the Post Ranch Inn on our way to Sonoma! Another great weather day though we did have some patches of fog!!!

After leaving the seals, we made our way through the winding mountain road to this awesome hotel on a cliff. It’s quite spread out and you have to do a fair amount of walking ( though they say they’ll pick you up and drive you from place to place ) we are staying in the Pick Cottage ( named for a famous homesteader). I had a great massage in our room with the fireplace going and a view from the cliff through giant trees to the ocean. There is a great Bose sound system with all kinds of music but no TV. This is a getaway from everything kind of place! They have a gourmet restaurant and though we aren’t typically gourmet fans, dinner was quite good. There are great hiking trails all around. Tomorrow is our Carmel, Pebble Beach, – the famous 17 mile drive — adventure. Stay tuned.

On the 1 highway listening to California Girls, enjoying sunny day and scenery!