My Conquest

{Wednesday, September 3}

It's my last day, so we're now trying to cram in every little thing possible. Because of the kids {first, unable to stay home alone and now needing to be fed lunch and picked up from school}, we didn't get to venture too far, like to Zurich or Bern, but I feel quite fulfilled and satisfied with my time in Switzerland. Today, we will attempt to find a watch, go see Sophie's goats, join Carole for her theatre class at the conservatory, and eat pizza all together. It may not sound ambitious, but knowing this family, it is.

Yesterday, after a nice lunch, Isabella decided to take me to Le Moléson {"Mo-lay-son"; Shin, if you got your postcard, that's what the picture is of}. Having seen this postcard and pictures, I thought "Cool, more cows. Alright." We hopped in Virgil's car and drove to Moléson-Village, which seems to have very few buildings...besides one labeled "Funiculaire", which sits on the side of a mountain. Isabella had pointed out a Funiculaire in Fribourg. It looked like this.

Sure. Let's go. Let's take the Funiculaire up a mountain. The guy at the counter asked if we wanted an aller-retour {round-trip ticket}. "Euh...j'espère que oui!" {"I certainly hope so!"} I joked with nervous laughter {the ticket itself was very cute; it even says ":-) Bonne journée! :-)" {"Have a good day!"}. Le Moléson, Isabella explained, is where people come to ski {hence the potential need for a one-way ticket only. Quite a relief}. We took our seats on the little tram, which faced backwards, because I really needed to be reminded of how far off the ground I was going to be. It wasn't too bad, though, I think because I concentrated on the side windows rather than the very large, very transparent front window.

We arrived at a place called "Plan-Francey", which got me wondering where exactly "Le Moléson" itself was. Hmm. Probably just a general term for the whole area. I stepped off the tram and had a look around. The scenery wasn't bad - nice view of the towns below, sloping fields of grass, car on thin black cables leading to very high precipice...oh.

Oh.

Oh.

I think I found Le Moléson.

Isabella grabbed my wrist and urged me to hurry toward the cable car {and what seemed to be my imminent death}. I can't believe people actually pay money to do this. I reluctantly stepped in and held on to the pole in the center for dear life. There was a redhead with her husband who looked just as nervous as I was, and we exchanged nervous glances - an international language if ever there was one. The best part was when the car got to the support beam, where it changes angles witha large clank; Mme Redhead's and my eyes got about ten times wider.

We reached the top. I stepped out of the swinging car and onto the platform, a metal grate with large, hexagonal holes. How sadistic. I tried to be as light on my feet as possible - as if it would have made a difference - and took a look around. Incredible. I was at a loss for words {in French, anyway}, so I'll supply the view, and you can fill in the blanks.

Look, Grandpa, they have a weather station! It measures rain, sunlight, temperature, wind speed, and lots more; very cool.

There are also hiking trails all over, for the more intrepid visitors {and those who don't have to leave to pick up the kids at school}. But we did get to spend some time sitting on a bench, enjoying the view, and chatting; Isabella told me about fromage d'alpage {alpine cheese}, which comes from the cows that graze on the sides of the mountain, and is apparently really strong and salty. They bring the cows up in June, and back down in September; cows can't walk down stairs, but they can apparently walk down mountains. She also told me that she has a degree in engineering, which increases my respect for her that much more. We ran to catch the Téléphérique {cable car} as it went back down, but decided to stop for a minute in Plan-Francey to check out the view, forgetting that the Funiculaire was about to leave. thus it was that we missed our passage down and were stuck in the middle of the mountain for another 20 minutes until the next one came. We sat down, watched the cows, talked...when we heard the tram arrive, we laughed and said that we'd better hurry, so as not to miss it again. We paused to look at map, pointing out Le Pâquier and Gruyères and Moléson-Village, the second tram in a row to which we therefore missed. Yes, again. Really. But we did make the third tram and arrive home, late though we were, safe and sound.

All in all, a nice and {mostly} successful trip.