Brittany & Rachelle

Tacoma friends, Brittany and Rachelle, hailed from Aix-en-Provence, France, where they are spending a year studying French. With the French Alps as dramatic backdrop, they (pictured at the rear) caught a boat to Bouveret, then walked from the docks to the mini-trains.
We ate panini from a stand at Vevey's waterfront - the best food deal in town; freshly sliced beef off a roast topped with marinated peppers and eggplant, stuffed in a tasty roll, then ironed flat into a toasted sandwich - all for 8 francs! I resisted the panini craze back in the States; my own post-George Foreman grill syndrome.
I first met Rachelle's folks many years ago in Switzerland; Brittany's folks are FFTs (friends from Tacoma), but it seems we were all in the area in the early '80s? Anyway, B was scouting for her dad, Doug, who is organizing a group trip here next summer, commemorating the 500th anniversary of John Calvin - perhaps best understood as the theorist of the Reformation - whom you either really love or really hate.

At Ouchy (below Lausanne), Michael and Jack tried out their new scooters after a ride on the merry-go-round. Brittany remarked, "This is a kid's paradise."

It's a kids' parents' paradise, too.