Je ne sais pas.

Bonjour everyone, I apologize for the  longer than expected absence, but I have had a very busy past few days. The weekend was spent with Barbara's birthday on Friday night, when we went to a very beautiful restaurant overlooking Lake Geneva then she proceeded to have lots of fun dancing while Tara and I read at home. Saturday, although we were supposed to attend a street fair in Geneva, dates were mixed up and we ended up simply hanging out with a few of Barbara's close friends that (thankfully) had children Tara's age. Sunday was a day spent at home, where we all intermittently read and talked and ate. Tara then had school holiday on Monday, when we had the unfortunate luck of it pouring rain for most of the day which meant a trip into Nyon was out of the question so we again spent the day at home or on long walks around Begnins.
The following photos were from our trip to Geneva on Saturday.

One of many beautiful countrysides on the way to Geneva... I just wish it had better light.

I have been very fortunate to end up in a village I never dreamed could still exist. While every town and city has its poor-spirited citizens, the people of Begnins are incredibly friendly and it's simply unheard-of to pass someone on the street without saying, "Bonjour." Begnins is also home to some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen, which no modern architect could ever replicate.

Enough about Begnins, the following photos and text are all about my day in Nyon yesterday (which also happened to be the most stressful days of my life, someone send me to a spa please!).

First photo of the day.

Since my day in Nyon was incredibly stressful after this point, I would just like to say: if you aren't jealous of my current location, you are absolutely nuts.

Good night, everyone :)

Bonsoir

Just one thing to share tonight, since today was fairly uneventful and just continued with the normal routine, a song I have fallen in love with. Andrew Bird just may have taken my obsession with Bright Eyes away...

Have a nice day everyone :)

Un, Deux, Trois

Hello everyone, it's beautiful weather today in Begnins. The day began with the usual routine of getting Tara up, fed, and ready for school. After taking her to the bus stop, I returned home to begin my second day of housework. So far, everything has been quite easy. I ironed yesterday and, because I was very bored, dusted, swept, and cleaned the bathrooms today. I'm sure Barbara will be excited to hear that her au pair has a tendency to clean when there is nothing else to do.

I'm beginning to look into places to travel in Europe, since I am literally in the center. I hope to begin in London (to see a Chelsea FC game), and eventually visit Barcelona, Vienna, Nice, Lyon, Paris, Berlin, Mykonos, Florence, and Rome along with many cities in Switzerland and the famous castle Neuschwanstein in Germany. For now, I am simply exploring Begnins and it's surrounding cities. 


After cleaning, picking up Tara for lunch, then bringing her back to the bus stop, I went to Luke's to see his studio. He is truly talented and gave just as much praise to my photography as I did to his paintings. Luke and I walked all through a vineyard and I took more photos for you all to see. 

An interesting wall decoration at Luke's house.

Luke's studio

 Finally, I picked up Tara from school and, after learning from Luke that Barbara's birthday is tomorrow, convinced Tara that we should do a "photoshoot" and make her mom a poster for her birthday. Now we are simply hanging out; she is watching television while I am blogging.

Au revoir. :)

Gland (Glohn)

Today will be a short post. Tara gets out of school early on Wednesday, so I spent my morning ironing, talking to friends, and running errands. I finally got shampoo and conditioner so I can stop using Barbara's, which is only shampoo and simply doesn't work when you have as much hair as I do. After my errands, I ran into Luke and we stopped at a restaurant to have a lemonade soda; it is an all natural drink, that tastes absolutely delicious. Then, Tara and I returned home to have a quick lunch, and rushed to catch the bus to Gland for her music lesson; she is taking a class in music theory on Wednesday. During her lesson, I got in some quality camera time and the pictures below are the result. As we waited for the bus to take us back to Begnins, Tara and I played "J'espionne avec mon petit oeil," or "I spy", which was very fun. Now, we are simply relaxing and waiting for Barbara to return home.

Hope everyone has a lovely Wednesday. :)

Mon Dieu

Bonjour from Begnins, Vaud, Switzerland! 

I'm beginning to settle in already, after a few moments of homesickness I have stopped dwelling upon sadness and taken a deep breath in to calm my nerves. You will soon see that there is no contest: I am in the most beautiful country in the world. Begnins has had perfect weather everyday (minus the thunderstorm that delayed my flight's arrival on Sunday night); it is a crisp 24 degress Celsius, which is 75 degrees Fahrenheit for all my friends and family back in the states. However, I can see that autumn is quickly on its way. The trees in a forest nearby are starting to turn red and yellow, and it makes me puff with pride that somehow I managed to snag an incredible opportunity in such a beautiful place. Now, without further ado, my first two days in Suisse.  

The photo you'll see below is of a view that simply took my breath away. Everyday, I walk Tara to her bus at 7:45am, and this is the gorgeous view I am greeted with. With a tremendous thanks to my Uncle Kevin, who lent me a lens for my new (to me) Nikon D80, I have managed to capture just a snippet of it for you all to see. I must say though, the picture does not do it justice. Sweeping views of grapevines, forests, Lake Geneva, and the Swiss Alps are now a part of my daily routine. If you aren't jealous already you should be ;).

The view from my new home.

A photo with Mont Blanc in the backgroud; it is the tallest peak in Europe.

This is an adorable windchime I found in the backyard, with Alps in the background.

Now for the people, beginning first with my tour guide. Monday, Barbara began work and, thus, was far too busy to show me around the village and explain my routine with Tara. Her good friend Luke, who happens to be a very good watercolor artist, led me through town and helped the dogs acclimate to my presence. As many of you know, I don't have the greatest history with dogs so I was wary of what might happen; I am happy to say that both Kidjo (Key-joe) and Callan have warmed up to me quickly and keep me company now (there will be pictures of them in future posts). 

So Monday morning went much like this: woke up at 7am with about 4 hours of sleep under my belt, dressed and had the normal breakfast of honey on toast, was introduced to Luke as Barbara swept out the door, and then Luke and I proceeded to walk Tara to the bus stop as I tried to decipher English through his thick French accent. After dropping off Tara, Luke and I walked around town and he showed me where everything was: bakery, cafes, grocery store, butcher (gag), and so on. We then had lunch with Tara, as it is customary for children in Switzerland to come home for lunch, and Luke took me to see his home. "Home" is putting it loosely as he lives in a castle built in the 1830s; it was truly beautiful. We picked up Tara from her bus stop at 3 and made our way home to play, hang out, and wait for Barbara to return from work.

I am very glad to have met Luke as he is just as much of a joker as I am, so our day's adventure was quite fun despite the difficulties we had communicating.

Luke making one of many silly faces at Tara.

Below is a portrait of Tara. Her and her mother look absolutely nothing alike, so I must assume she looks like her dad. He is currently in the Republic of Congo, since he is a doctor for the Red Cross, and I will meet him sometime in October. Tara is quite energetic and stubborn at times, but has a charm about her that just makes you want to give her a hug. She is simply obsessed with my iPod and Kindle, since technology doesn't progress quite as fast here, and that gets quite obnoxious when I'm trying to communicate with people back home; I guess I cannot expect any less from an 8 year old who is an only child. We get along quite well already and I hope things will only improve as she gets more comfortable around me. She and her mother are very close, so I think things become harder for Tara when her mother is working so much. Hopefully, my presence becomes comforting to her in the future so she is not so listless about her mom's return.

Tara smiling in the backyard.

Barbara is another enigma entirely. She is Australian, but I have heard her speak French, English, and Spanish (which I considered quite impressive since friends of mine back in the states have a joking prejudice about Australians not being nearly as smart as New Zealanders). She has a very kind and considerate heart, and I'm glad I chose her home to stay in. Above all, she cares so much for Tara and makes it quite clear. Their family is a good one, and I'm honored I get to be a part of it in the upcoming months.

Although back home in Riverside it is about 1:30pm, it's around 10:30pm here; so I must try to get rid of the rest of my jet-lag in the hopes that I can explore and take more photos tomorrow.  I leave you with an artistic photo I took of a paint set, hope you enjoy it.

Au Revoir :)

Bonjour, Suisse

After one of the most unpleasant flights of all time (try no sleep on a 10+ hour flight), I have finally arrived. I received the grand tour of the house thanks to Tara, who has the most adorable French accent, and a grand tour of the city courtesy of Barbara's friend Luke. I'm in the city of Begnins (pronounced behn-yon for those like me who think that things should sound as they're spelled).
This will be a short one, since I'm running on only 5 hours of sleep in the past 36-48 hours. I have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to French, but I'm ready to learn and travel as much as possible. I miss everyone so much and will be in contact via skype as soon as I purchase a converter.