Back and Home, Remembering the Trip

Mont Blanc

Julien and Camille

What a lovely week I had with my nephew and his family in France. They live just outside the village of Moisin in a rural area with several small farms and breathtaking views of the Jura mountains on one side, and the Salève mountains on the other. It was a trip long overdue. The morning after I arrived, my grand-niece, Camille, and my grand-nephew, Julien (who visited us in March), took me to the top of Salève where I was able to get a good view of the French alps and Mont Blanc. 




Later that afternoon, I took a walk through the village of Moisin to the road that is a French part of the road to Santiago in Galicia, as I mentioned last week. The road goes up to a little chapel that the pilgrims visit, although I was too tired to walk up that far. 
Here are a couple of pictures of the icon marking the road, though:

 

Notice the clam shell motif on the blue background.

 My nephew, David, had been away on a business trip when I first arrived Tuesday evening, but he returned Thursday. He works in computer technology, and Brigitte teaches English and also has a hypnotherapy business. One day we went into her office in Geneva. 

Brigitte in her office.

Both are wonderful cooks. I felt spoiled with wonderful dishes like quiche, and fondue, and salmon with a lemon bechamel sauce, and some increidible baked cheese dish called Mont d'Or, as well as beans and potaoes persillade, a treatment that basically cooks vegetables with parsley and garlic. (Sigh.)  David cooks a pretty great tomato pie, too.                            

Most of the week was really spent in catching up on news and sharing books and interests in the ways you never really can on Facebook or emails -- although I'm glad there are those ways, because one can't always bridge the miles any other way. But face to face and hugs to hugs are unbeatable. 

Nicolas singing.

David and their kids have a band (that includes other friends as well).  David plays guitar and sings. Both sons play guitar; the older son, Nicolas, and the daugher, Camille, both sing, and the younger son, Julien, pays drums. His girlfriend, Jessica, also sings, and another friend, Valentin, plays bass. Here are some pictures of them rehearsing Sunday in the basement for a gig they'll play next month:

Valentin on Bass

Camille singing.

Julien on Drums

The whole shebang.

Jessica singing.

And afterwards they gathered around the table to enjoy the pumpkin pie David baked.

Yum!

The week slipped by, listening to music, reading, talking, and eating great food. The day before I left Brigitte and I went into Geneva, and she showed me around the old town with its historical buildings before we had lunch at a cafe, sitting outdoors and people watching. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. But that afternoon, I took another walk through the village, and here are just a few pictures of this picturesque place.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to paint such lovely buildings? Trees were just turning despite the late fall and the mild temperatures. Hillsides werebursting with beautiful colors. Too soon, too soon it was over, but I came back with a treasure of memories.


On another note, Eve E. (who has a very enjoyable blog) passed the One Lovely Blog Award back to me about a week and a half ago, but I was too busy packiing and unpacking to acknowledge that. thanks Eve!