Smurf houses; E. & S. Larson at the United Nations; Reformers Calvin, Ferel, Beze & Knox


Fountain in Neuchatel; the marche (market) in Ferney; E. Doyle getting a haircut.

JUNE 19, 2010 SATURDAY

Today began much like yesterday, overcast and looking a little like rain and rather cool. We all were ready by 8:00 to begin our day’s adventures. The first place we had on our list today was the United Nations Complex. We couldn’t go in, but we took pictures of the long street lined with all the flags of the member nations. It was an impressive sight. We also took photos of the gigantic wooden chair across the road from the entrance that had one of its legs blown off. It is to commemorate wounded soldiers who’ve had legs lost to land mines in wars. In the background was a fountain similar to the one in Bern, only covering more area. Water shoots up into the air through holes on the surface of the plaza with varying degrees of force. From there we wound through the streets and got as close as we could to the “Reformers Wall” which has statues of important reformers. A lot of them are there, some we’d never heard of, but some important ones are missing including Martin Luther and Zwingli. The main one on the wall is John Calvin. From there we went back to the apartment to make a pit stop and park the car so we could walk to the “Marche” which is the big street market not far from the Doyles apartment. On our way back to the apartment we visited the Smurf Village which is a neighborhood built with whimsically constructed and painted apartment buildings that remind people of the Smurf characters.

We’ve read many times in the Doyle’s blog about how exciting and wonderful it is to walk through the marche and see all of the different foods, produce and stuff that’s for sale. We got to experience it for ourselves. It was all we thought it would be and it was hard not to buy things, but we mostly resisted because we can’t take much home with us. The cinnamon candy coated roasted almonds got me finally and Diana bought a long fat cheese/ham bread stick. We got to taste goat cheese (delicious), fudge, and melons, but finally we left and went back to the apartment to have lunch. Diana and Sister Doyle, who also bought a bread stick, heated them up in the microwave for their lunch while Elder Doyle and I had spaghetti. Everyone enjoyed their lunch.

This time, when we left the apartment, we made double sure we had everything because we weren’t coming back. We drove the hour and half along Lake Geneva to Neuchatel and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the sites there. We found the medieval prison and Elder Doyle and I climbed the steep wooden stairs to the top where one had a magnificent view over the city. It cost 2.00sfr. to get through the gate, but when E. Doyle put his money in, it didn’t register the .50 piece. We didn’t have any more change, so he was able to climb over the gate and got in anyway. From the top we saw Sisters Doyle and Larson sitting in the court yard of the church we were going to visit next. We took their pictures and then went back down and joined them. The church was built by the reformer, Guillaume Farel.

We paid for two hours of parking and the time was running out, but we had just time to stop in McDonalds for a late afternoon snack. For me it was the usual disappointment, but the others seemed to enjoy their meal. By the time we were through, the two hours of parking time had expired so we hurried to the parking lot. As we approached we saw two police officers helping a couple of people in the parking lot and hoped they hadn’t ticketed our car. Fines are pretty stiff here in Switzerland. Our worries were for nought; no ticket on the window.

Our next worry was to find the train station in time to catch the 4:27 train to Zurich and we only had about twenty minutes to do it in. We drove back towards where we thought we’d seen the SBB sign (train station), but it didn’t look like the right one. A young man happened by on the sidewalk and Elder Doyle quickly drove up beside him and asked directions. Fortunately, he knew where it was and gave us fairly good directions. We drove the way he told us and we started seeing signs which we followed. We took a wrong turn and instead of going in to the train station, we ended up on a road that ran parallel to it. We saw a sign pointing to a tunnel leading under the road toward the station, so Elder Doyle stopped the car. We got our stuff, told our hosts goodbye and went through the tunnel hoping it would take us to the right spot. Everything worked out as it should have and we even had a couple of minutes to spare before the train arrived. We hopped on and the rest is history. Three and a half hours later we were in our own apartment safe and sound.

We were so rushed right at the end that we didn’t have the time to properly thank the Doyles for being such wonderful hosts. They were gracious enough to let us come, provided us with a place to stay, even taking two mattresses off their bed for us to use, and acted as our tour guides for the three days we were there. We had a wonderful time and saw many of the best places in that part of the country. We can’t thank them enough. We wish they would reciprocate and come up north and visit us before we are released.

To finish off the evening we sent text messages to Jasmin Hunziker and the DiPaolos inviting them to come to Church tomorrow. Madeleine called and talked to us for awhile, too. Now it’s time to put our missionary faces back on and get to work.

Day 3: Today, Saturday, we were up before 6 again and ready to leave the apartment by 8. Denny asked Robert to cut his hair around his ears. We have some shears from the mission home garage. The cut was really perfect. Denny was grateful! We made sure Larsons had everything with them so no matter what we did, we could get them to the train for home without having to waste time returning to our place. Our first stop was to the mission home to leave the gift purchase with Sister Murdock…we left it on the office side because of the early hour!

Next stop was at the United Nations complex for photos of the flags and standing beside the sign. Saturday at this early hour is a great time to be out and about. There was little traffic and many areas for parking. Next we wanted to see the Reformers’ Wall and giant chess boards. What a surprise to get close and come against blockages and security guards everywhere! Denny drove up close enough to ask a young guard why the blockades and was told that it is for the Music Festival, “La Fête de la Musique.” He said we’d need to go a long way around to find a place to park and to walk into the park.

Denny did a masterful job finding underground parking near the Vieille Ville. We walked up into and through the Old City, then down and into the Park. The chess pieces were all locked away in the storage bins on the site because of the expected crowds for the music festival in the late afternoon and evening. There were hundreds of tents set up throughout the area to house eating establishments and musical groups. The theaters were also going to feature a continual program of musical entertainment. We made our way over to the Reformers’ Wall and took our time reading the chiseled messages. It was pretty at that early hour. There was the beginning of excitement in the air as people began coming to their places to prepare for the day’s events.

I took a picture of a newspaper headline, stating that tourists are disappointed by the lack of flowers in the world-famous Flower Clock!!! Hallelujah!!! I’ve been complaining ever since the day we took Kevin and Nathaniel to see it and found it looking like a weed patch in celebration of the “Year of Bio-diversity.”

We took a different way back through the Vieille Ville to our car and then drove to the Smurf apartment complex to take a few pictures of the whimsical buildings. It was about 11:00, so we drove to our place and parked the car, made a pit stop and walked up into the Ferney open marché. It was crowded with locals and tourists alike. If we had unlimited packing capabilities, we’d probably buy something each time we visit, but we refrained once again. Robert did buy some candied almonds and Diana and I bought a mini-baguette of cheese & lardon bread. When we returned to the apartment, it was just 12:30. We had a lunch of sorts—spaghetti for the men, cheese bread and drink for the ladies.

Next stop was to Neuchâtel. It was a good hour and a half north of Geneva. We found parking for a maximum time of 2 hours, then walked into the Vieille Ville—pedestrian-only quarter. They were also celebrating a Festival of Music here, too. There were a few musicians and groups of musicians performing and hoping for a some financial donations from passersby. One ingenious activity set up was a tube slide for children—like a 50’ water slide, but without water. With each ticket purchased, the child received a carpet piece to carry up the hill to the top of the slide to slide down on. There was a continual line of children, waiting his/her turn.

We four trudged upward and onward until Robert located the ancient prison tower. The men had to pool their Swiss coins to pay for their 2-franc entrance fee. There was no one there to take their money—it was automated. They didn’t have enough for the two of us ladies, and we were not disappointed having to miss the additional stairs to climb. (The machine didn’t take one of our coins, so we didn’t have enough to get in! I climbed over the gate and we made our way up) We said we’d meet them by the old church and château. We were able to take a picture of them when they arrived at the top, and they took our picture from above. They could see across the city of Neuchâtel from that highest point of the city!

After a few photos, the four of us headed back through the festival crowds, stopping for a half hour at the local McDonald’s. We needed a drink and fries and added a burger just for fun. The place was hopping. We calculated our time and realized we needed to hurry to get to our car before the two hours were up. The men ran ahead and got there “just in time!” There was a guy checking each timed parked car, too.

Robert had the train times listed (4:27 and 5:24). We just needed to find the train station! We asked a young man who directed us back to where we had been parked and then up the hill! Oh, we weren’t thinking of going upward! We found the gare and let the Larsons out of the car to walk quickly to the building. We figured they had about 10 minutes and sincerely hoped they made that first train! Our farewells were given in haste, but we all knew that the others had had a fun time and that we’d see each other soon in Sandy, not to mention our continued daily blogs to keep us apprised of each other between now then! The Larsons’ release date is August 5.

Mary Kaye and Diana came down the path to meet Robert and me at the Chillon photo spot. On our way to Gruyeres, we stopped at the fence and the cows came running to meet us! Robert accidentally touched the electric wire and got quit a shock!

---