Good Company

Last Saturday, we said goodbye to our friends, Sally and Don Plumb, who had spent a week with us here in Neuchâtel. With Sally retiring from teaching in June, she and Don had planned a trip to Europe to celebrate this new stage of her life, as well as her birthday. They made their way here after a week in Paris - so easy to do by train.

It was lovely having friends from home here with us. They were wonderful guests (cooking dinners for us while we lounged), and we aimed to be good hosts. Living in Switzerland is so new to us that we were eager to share our lives with others and to recommend some of our favourite spots.

Sally and I at the Hotel du Peyrou

After we met the Plumbs at the train station, we first stowed their luggage in my classroom across the road, before taking them on a walking tour of the town. Bob is well oriented to Neuchâtel, having spent many hours exploring its nooks and crannies, so he led the way. We took our time in the downtown area, stopping for drinks at Les Brasseurs and eventually sharing a delicious dinner at the Cardinal. We had visited both establishments with our colleagues over the past month and we expected that Sally and Don would enjoy these places as much as we had. They did!

At Les Brasseurs

On Sunday morning, we headed to Bern for a day trip. For us, the Swiss capital was well worth visiting again. (We had traveled here in early August with our son and his girlfriend.) We were very fortunate that day. The weather forecast was for thunderstorms, but, even though there were often threatening clouds looming overhead, there was no rain for the greater part of the day. When the skies did open, we were safely dry in the Kunstmuseum, an impressive art gallery, featuring works by some of the great masters, as well as the best Swiss artists. Ferdinand Hodler is extremely well regarded here; we will continue to look for his paintings as we visit other galleries in the country.

Looking like tourists in Bern.

Looking up at the famous Bern clock.

On the bridge in Bern

Hodler's Disappointed Souls in the Kunstmuseum

On Monday, a school holiday, Sally and Don joined the school community, staff and students, on a hike to the top of the Creux du Van and for fondue afterwards. Again, I was very pleased to share my work world with them while they thoroughly enjoyed meeting the students and the other teachers. They told us later that they were thrilled to be part of this day - that they would not have experienced anything like it as tourists. This served as a reminder of how unique an experience I am having, where opportunities are often made available to me that I would not otherwise have.

The beginning of our hike, with Jen.

We made it to the top!

Fondue after the hike

With me back to work on Tuesday, the Plumbs decided to spend the next three days commuting to other Swiss cities by train. On our recommendation, they chose a day in Geneva, and two days in Lucerne, where they stayed overnight. We were pleased to hear that they enjoyed both places immensely, as we had.

Sally at the castle

On their last day in town - Friday, Sally and Don climbed up to the castle here in Neuchâtel and visited the collegial church nearby. These are sites that Bob and I have yet to visit, and so it was their turn to recommend attractions to us. I managed to join them in the afternoon at the local Art and History Museum, where the famous automatons stood idle that day. Instead, we were enthralled by a video presentation of how they were created. I look forward to returning soon to see these ancient robots in action.

Sally and I at the Art and History Museum in Neuchâtel

Our final dinner together included seven of my colleagues as well. We made a reservation at a local Thai restaurant, Thrace de Soie, which served delicious food, by the way. Then a group of us headed downtown to experience the famous "Fête des Vendanges". This annual festival is a major local event, and will feature in my next blog post. We had to see what went on first hand, and once we did, we were quite content to head home for the night.

At La Fête des Vendanges

Early the next morning, the Plumbs were on their way home to Toronto. We hope they enjoyed their time here as much as we enjoyed their company. A bientôt, nos amis.