Putting the re in lax

This morning we rose early because of our child alarm named Tess who seemed extremely hungry at 7am. So while the boys slept and I fed Tess, Econ Man seized the opportunity for a run. He ran on a lakeside path into St-Prex, the small medieval town we are staying near. When he returned an hour later I had coaxed Tess back to sleep and he handed me a bag of two croissants from a patisserie in St-Prex. So we sat in the sunroom of the apartment in which we are staying, and had wonderful strong coffee and what had to be the best almond and chocolate croissants I've EVER eaten. It's kind of known the world over that the very best bakers are Swiss. Why, you ask? It's because in Switzerland part of their educational system requires apprenticeships. After a baking apprenticeship of three years with a master baker, a Swiss student is himself a master. And I have to say that after today's croissant, I absolutely believe it.

After our mini-morning date over cafe et croissants, we leisurely woke our children, and decided that we should share our epiphanic experience with them. So we took the same path into St-Prex, past the boat docks and beautiful homes. Past the stone school and into the pretty little village.

On our way we passed one of many open, running fountains. I used this opportunity to elucidate what Declan had learned in homeschooling a few months ago about medieval villages--that they all had water fountains/wells where people drew water because their was no indoor plumbing. We also discussed that, during the black plague of the middle ages in Europe, people (even people in Switzerland!) believed the Jews were poisoning the wells. As a result too many innocent Jews were blamed and killed out of ignorance. In essence, wells weren't poisoned. Rats carried fleas into towns and cities and villages where the fleas bit humans and spread the bubonic plague. Anyway, this picturesque village was around even then. And quite probably this town fountain, as well.


So we had round two of croissants amande (that's French for almond) and were feeling quite contented and feeling rather relaxed. Truly relaxed. Like we were on vacation. We walked back to our apartment anticipating a great swim, and maybe more relaxation. It was truly a laid back day. And getting Econ Man to truly relax is like peeling back layers of an onion--finally you find what you are looking for.


And in that vein, today we spoke about the woes of technology--the double edged sword of how it improves and disadvantages our lives. Econ Man hadn't checked his emails since leaving Vegas which means he has so many emails in his inbox he mind as well just erase all emails and start at ground zero. He'll never really catch up. Technology provides us with instant gratification, but also instant immediate headaches. What if you get behind. Catching up is overwhelming. Just unplug? It's nice having Econ Mans full attention and having absolutely NO idea whats going on in the world around us. It feels a lot like a mini vacation in the middle of a trip (and there IS a difference between a vacation and a trip).








Alas our evening was a bit more harried. Econ Man's older sister arrived from the states, and she showed up with the bride to be at our home around 4 pm. We rushed around to get ready and headed to La Pulcinella--a picturesque little Italian restaurant in Rolle--for my sister-in-law's rehearsal dinner. It was a great time of sharing. Our boys had a great time. It rained, and we prayed it would run dry by the wedding tomorrow morning at 9 am. There were toasts and it was just lovely. Exhausted and anticipating the wedding in the AM. More tomorrow...





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Location:Lake Geneva