First Three days in Switzerland

We are in Lausanne at the Beau Ravage Hotel - one of the leading hotels in the world. It's an amazingly beautiful place. The weather is so much warmer than it was predicted to be. I made everyone bring jackets and sweaters and they need shorts! It has been 80 degrees the first three days with the exception of our time on top of Glacier 3000 ( so named because it is at 3000 meters)!

We started off our morning with a quick drive through the beautiful region of Gstaad. We stopped at a graveyard where David Niven is buried...
We made a quick stop at a small restaurant and spotted all these cow bells hung up on the wall! Each cowbell is a different size and tone. The cows wander the summer pastures and must be milked twice a day. The bells help the farmer locate the cow by the sound. The bigger the bell, the more milk the cow produces. The biggest bells are for the best milk producers!

We saw a school called Le Rosey that we think might be the school that Bill's sister,Mimi, went to as a little girl. We took photos but we're not sure if it was the right school.
After touring Vilar (a small town in the Alps where Bill went to school for the 4th grade), we had a delicious lunch at a 5 star hotel where the view is just spectacular. We actually stopped at what used to be Bill's school when he was in 4th grade. He remembered it quite well. He even saw his old room! It is no longer a school but it is rented out to groups who want to come for a holiday. After lunch we drove a short distance out of town to meet our helicopters!

We had a fantastic surprise at the helicopter meeting place. Our wonderful travel agent, Arlene Feen, surprised us with a professional photographer who came along to take photos of us on the glacier and in the helicopters!! He is making DVD's for all of us!! What a great treat!!

Everyone loved the helicopters. We were very lucky with the weather because we were able to land on the glacier and get out and walk around. The snow was a bit "mushy" but it was cold and you knew you were on a glacier. Gaby made and threw her first tiny snowball!! It was a day of, as Gaby would say, "WOWS"!

Yesterday we made a trip to Gruyeres and visited the cheese factory where we saw them making the 25 pound wheels of Gruyere cheese! We then proceeded in the afternoon to see the Nestlé Chocolate factory. There were plenty of samples to taste!!! The ride to the chocolate factory was aboard the Golden Pass--also known as "The Chocolate Train"! It was a lovely train ride where they serve hot chocolate and chocolate filled croissants!

This afternoon we've had a hard rain shower and it has cooled off quite a bit. Not "shorts" weather any more! The Lake Geneva view from our hotel balcony is spectacular. Last night we had yummy pizza for dinner and tonight we're headed to another casual dining spot recommended by our guide, Clare. It's called The White Lion. Reviews will be posted after dinner.

Ok, The White Lion was quite good. The burgers got an A rating and the quesadilla Tapas were also excellent. We had fun watching the Euro 2012 soccer match between Portugal and the Czech Republic. Portugal and Renaldo won 1-0. It was a very good match. Now we are hoping we get a win with the Heat!!! Let's go Heat!