A Well Kept Man

We also drove up to La Gruyère to check out their castle, as well as have lunch at the only open restaurant on Sunday (McDonald's...fountain Coke always tastes sooooooo good). The castle wasn't as spectacular as some of the others we have visited, although at this point of the adventure most of the things we see tend to rank much lower than they should due to Europe fatigue (it's not that we don't think things are cool or unique anymore, it's just that after a while everything starts to look the same...our visitors on the other hand loved the experience...). We drove up into the Pre-Alps to give our guests a sense of how much it has snowed this winter, and then spent the afternoon along the lake visiting a food museum and wishing for the sun to make an appearance. The weekend seemed to pass by quickly, which speaks to the fun we experienced with each other. The last adventure took us back to Lausanne where I surprised everyone with a trip to a zoo in the city with farm animals...none of us really knew what to expect but the highlight was seeing the baby pigs causing all kinds of trouble. I didn't realize pigs could get so hairy (I thought they were dogs from a distance, perhaps you can tell why). Nevertheless, it is always nice to have visitors but sadly our time here is fading and our last few visitors arrive in the middle of next month.

2008 saw our friends, Andy & Kim, Andy & Bethany (different Andy), and Katie & Tom come for a visit.  As a result of these visits, I plan to institute a strict luggage lifting policy in 2009.  If you plan on visiting, please keep in mind that I am a feeble housekeeper and am unable to lift any piece of luggage weighing more than 25 kg (that's like 400 pounds).  Also, the chambermaid would appreciate a reduction in the efforts to set up said chambermaid with friends of yours from work.  While I normally welcome such attention, I'm just not in a position for a relationship right now.

As I look forward to 2009, I hope to welcome more visitors to Chez Seeber (Swiss Alps).  Mark's dad, Alli's family (cousin, cousin-in-law, dad, dad's significant other, sister, sister's German significant other), and possibly Mark's cousin (you know who you are....Joel!) have all indicated a desire to visit.  Some have concrete plans, while others appear to be caught up in Hope-and-Change Fever and as of yet haven't purchased tickets to visit (maybe once the fever subsides).  Just to be safe if you plan on a making a visit, the week after Easter (April 13-23) and the week of March 12-22  have already been claimed by travelers (dad trips).

The breadwinner also has a few trips planned to the United States; the first trip scheduled for January 30 - February 8;  the second trip is scheduled for April 5 - 11.  So unless you plan to hang out with Mark or the chambermaid, days or weeks that don't conflict with the aforementioned are recommended.  

I would also like to report that both Mark and Alli's French are rapidly improving, with Mark being capable of complete sentences in French (his daily homework includes writing paragraphs in French without using translate.google.com) and Alli asking "Qu'est qui c'est?" to everything in the lunch line until she learns enough vocabulary words to move onto more complicated things (although to be fair she also knows how to introduce herself and provide her passport information to a border guard, skills that Mark would have appreciated when he was detained last week).  Mark's pronunciation of words still sounds more Spanish than French (a constant nit by Georges), and Alli's main hindrance is her comfort using what she knows.

Thanks to all for continuing to visit A Well Kept Man, Mark appreciates the contact with the non-French speaking world as it makes him feel connected to his beloved homeland.