Tuesday, June 23, 2015 (Day 8)
Paris, France to Lucerne, Switzerland
Today we are going to travel via Burgundy to the Lucerne region of Switzerland. That means an early breakfast and on the bus by 8:30 for a four hour ride to the French city of Beaune.
For lunch we decided as a family to eat at Le Conty. No offense intended to our travel companions but this might have been the nicest meal we had because it was just our family and we could sit and talk in a quiet setting.
After lunch it was back in the bus for another four hours on the highway. Our original hotel was supposed to be the Loewen Lungern in downtown Lucerne. While the location would have been great, the previous EF group complained about it so much that we were moved to Campus Sursee in Sursee. This is some kind of business training complex that appeared to be part ghost town.
The good news was that because it was fairly new, it had the most modern digs we were to stay in.
The campus has a cafeteria and that is where we ate that night. After dinner, my brother-in-law Donny and I went to the gym and played some basketball. I was surprised how at my advanced age I will still able to get it up (so to speak). No photos of this are available so you will have to trust me.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 (Day 9)
Lucerne, Switzerland
We left the industrial park campus early on this day to take a tour of Lucerne. Our first stop is the carving known as The Lion Monument or the Lion of Lucerne. This is a sculpture designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen who was commissioned to commemorate the approximately 300 Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. Unfortunately, my camera was not on the right setting (operator error) so most of my pictures did not turn out from this visit so these do not do this magnificent sculpture justice.
The rest of our time in Lucerne was our own. Denice and I broke off from the herd and went our own way, wandering the city to see what we could see.
Its a bagel--but I bet you had to look twice.
Below is me and the sweetie hangin' out in Lucerne.
Things can be very old in Europe.
Denice and I went up the hill to the Museggmauer, a church up on a hill that gave us a great view of Lucerne. And when I say up, I mean up.
There is a law that insists you eat chocolate even if you are a diabetic. Yeah, there is.
The big excursion of the day was a group outing on the lake to Stansstad.
Giggle
Snort
We are going to board this vintage funicular railway car a venture 6,227 feet above sea level to enjoy
the spectacular views from the top of Stanserhorn.
At the top we had plenty of time to stroll around and enjoy the views.
How a hard working EF tour guide unwinds.
Our tour group part one
Our tour group part deux
When we return to Lucerne we had more free time so Denice and I visited an antique shop and then the St. Leodegar im Hof (Hofkirche) church.
Outside the church the courtyard is rung with an exterior mausoleum with these fascinating crypts.
When we return to Sussel that night, after dinner, five of us decided to walk into the town to see what was happening. The industrial campus we were sleeping in was about two miles from the central core of this small town but for pedestrians there was no direct access except on a weird wooden path and under the railroad tracks. We made it and we were glad we did.
We walked through a residential part of the town which had long narrow lots where everyone seemed to be growing great gardens. The town was fairly quiet and deserted but we enjoyed a chance to see how the Swiss live. Then it was back on the strange path across the railroad tracks back to our campus and into bed.
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