Summer Solstice, Feux de la Saint-Jean

 On June 21, summer solstice, is celebrated with music festivals that take place in cities and villages all over France. We happen to be in Paris that day, and throughout the city various venues were being set up for music performances that evening. Unfortunately, we left for home before we could experience one note of music. But you can be sure that I am making a note on next year's calendar of, "events not to miss."

Out to dinner near the Eiffel Tower

On June 24, Feux de la Saint-Jean (bonfires of St. John) is celebrated by the burning of huge bonfires throughout France. It is a tradition dating back 3000 years in Europe and was originally celebrated on June 21, in honor of the sun. The date changed over the years when Christianity became France's official religion. You can learn more about it here.




We were invited by our American/French friends to a small town near Vittel to witness this event. The wooden owl took several weeks to build by the town people, and stood taller than the trees as you can see. Fireworks exploded in the sky and food and drink stands were available, a DJ was playing music to dance to. We left about midnight and the party was still going strong.

George and I have been wondering if building a fire in the backyard is prohibited - campfires for camping or backyard fires are not part of the French culture, however the French love to barbecue. 

I can just hear it now if we attempted to build a fire in our yard...our neighbor says - call the fire department--there's a fire next door...oh, wait that's those crazy ass Americans doing something with marshmallows and sausages!! How do you say crazy ass in French, just so I know?

This fire on Saturday could be our only one for a long, long time.

Horse Races

The racetrack in Vittel hosts many horse racing events throughout the summer and into the fall and these events are in full swing right now. On Saturday we watched horses compete in a race that I can only describe as a cross country race on horseback. Riders gallop full tilt down hills, around hedgerows, through water, over ditches and bridges, through paths in the forest, and over unbelievable high and wide jumps. The jumps are solid construction (no bars to knock off and fall to the ground) where, if a horse ran into them, it could be very dangerous for the horse and rider.

Competitors from numerous European countries participated in this cross country event and also a second jumping event inside a horse ring. Our French friends told us that some horses and riders participating will go on to the 2012 Olympics. 

I have to admit that the cross country races was more exciting than the event in the ring, and we cringed often during the race thinking, how is that horse going to make it over THAT jump!

Switzerland June, 2012

This past week, I got a chance to return to Switzerland-George had meetings in Montreux. When we were last there in February I was guessing that the summer time would be magnificent with snow capped mountains in the distant and all the greenery just waiting to explode, I wasn't disappointed. Right now Montreux is gearing up for the big Montreux Jazz Festival at the end of June, so there are flowers blooming in every place possible, repainting, and general sprucing up.

Early in the week there was downpours of rain, so I journeyed myself (with a little help from my American friend) to Bern, Switzerland by train. I was only there for several hours, but Bern is an easy city to navigate due in-part to the Aare River that wraps around the Old Town allowing you to keep your bearings. It was a good choice on a rainy day because there are approximately 4 miles of arcades in the Old Town offering covered shopping and site seeing.

Bern was founded in 1191 and legend has it that the brown bear was the first animal hunted and  caught by the Duke who was funding the building of the city. The city mascot, therefore, is the brown bear and several brown bears live in what is called the "bear pit" within the city. The name "bear pit" doesn't denote a pleasant vision in my mind and so I had to see this. But really it is a designated area along the river where the bears live, much like a zoo environment. I always feel sorry for animals in zoos and my feelings didn't change much for these bears either.

One thing about Bern is that it is a German speaking city, I left a French speaking city and traveled 1.5 hours to a German speaking city all in the same country.

Later in the week my American friend and I took the "chocolate train" out of Montreux to the Gruyeres cheese factory and Cailler chocolate factory (Cailler is a Nestle brand).  As you can see from the picture the train on the inside is a blast from the past. It was a picturesque ride on a beautiful, sunny day.

Just down the road from the cheese factory is the town of Gruyeres and it is the cutest little town ever. It has to be the smallest town so far that I have visited. There's a small castle there, artisan shops and touristy shops (of course), several nice restaurants and hotels. I had my first Swiss fondue served with potatoes and bread for dipping. I've been told that wine is a necessity when eating fondue--but hey, no problem here. But in actuality the wine helps with digestion, water supposedly hinders it with all the cheese (no details needed here). Pickles and pearl onions were provided too, but if any of you know my aversion for pickles, my American friend had them all to herself.

One very odd thing about the town of Gruyeres is the H R Giger museum. H R Giger is the Swiss surrealist artist who created the Alien movie life forms. It looked really out of place in the quaint town of Gruyeres.

Across from the museum is a bar that also depicts the Alien theme.

I am beginning to see how important cows are to the economy not only in France, but in Switzerland too, mostly for cheese and yogurt making. But you might find it surprising that I cannot always find fresh milk in the grocery store. The French don't drink milk quite like us Americans.

It appears to me that for many people, cows are a way of life, and for many in the US, this is also true. But since moving to France and living in the country, I am more aware of the cows and lamb in the fields. In Switzerland, you could see many cows grazing high in the meadow pastures. I'm not sure how they get the milk down to where it is needed, but it looks challenging for sure. And they stay up high all summer grazing on the fresh green grass, flowers and herbs. That's what gives the cheese its distinct flavor.

If anyone is wondering if I heard yodeling or tried yodeling while on my excursion, the answer is no. But the most pleasant sounds are the cow and lamb bells. Different size bells, obviously produce different ring tones, and as these animals move, you can hear the gentle clanging of the varying tone of the bells, one after another. I think I could listen to that all day.

Here's a link to more photos:

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt