Welcome to Switzerland!

Switzerland is not a new country for us. When we were flying Montreal to Bucharest in November 2016, we had a five hour layover at Zurich airport so we took the train into Zurich for a couple of hours. But while we have officially been to Switzerland before, we haven't really seen much of it.

And we weren't expecting to visit with the motorhome at this time of year, but here we are!

It was a nice drive, except for one thing. 

We got up early and had almost an hours drive done when traffic came to a stop. A complete stop. We saw some cars getting out of line and turning around, but the alternate options to get to where we wanted to go weren't ideal. And, we had our house with us, so we figured we would just sit and wait and have some breakfast. 

And that was fine, but it was two hours and forty five minutes before traffic starting moving again! It turns out there had been an accident and a heavy truck was involved and it spilled diesel fuel all over the road, and the cleanup took quite a lot of time.

On the road in France.

Scenery along the way.

A French Chateau.

We would have stopped to have a better look, but we were almost three hours behind schedule!

Once again, we took the back roads.

Typical village in France.

Interesting steeple on this church.

Beautiful countryside.

Another chateau.

There are quite a few lakes near the Switzerland border.

The border into Switzerland.

Switzerland is part of the Schengen zone, but it is not part of the European Union (EU). The border guys were outside watching every vehicle pass through, but they saw our German license plates and just waved us through.

Into Switzerland.

Mountains in the distance!

The sun actually came out for a while.

Yesterday's drive.

We found Katja and Yves's new apartment and got Max parked up in the visitors parking. They spent two full years traveling in their van, and will now settle down in this apartment for a year or so and go back to work. They feel a little strange with a washer and dryer and dishwasher and all the modern amenities, after living in their van for so long.

And, they also bought themselves a little car. There was still some daylight hours left, so we all hopped in the little car and they showed us some of the area.

We knew we would love Switzerland!

They took us up to the castle at Gruyeres.

You might recognize the name Gruyeres. Yes, this is the area where the famous cheese comes from. 

Walking up to the castle.

Up at the castle is the medieval area.

Such a pretty area.

Yves, Katja, Ruth, and Kevin.

It's kind of an odd location, but up in the medieval area is the HR Giger Museum. In 1980, HR Giger, a Swiss artist, won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects for his participation in the film "Alien".

There is also an Alien Bar. We popped in to have a beer, but it was too busy to get a table.

The Alien Bar.

Back at the apartment, Yves and Katja made us a typical Swiss dinner... cheese fondue!

Making cheese fondue.

Dinner is served.

Dessert!

Thick rich cream, merengue, and homemade ice cream.

This morning, we are hopping in the car again for another tour of the area.

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Nice deal on this Rechargeable Stroller Fan.

And in Canada...

Apple Watch Series 7.