Anita and Liberty visit

March has been a month of house guests. Today I find myself in a big house all by myself (ok, with two kids but both are sleeping) and am feeling a bit lonely so have decided to relive it all via the SCR.

In early March, about two weeks after Rhys came home from the hospital, Anita and Liberty came for a few days on the tail end of a trip through Europe. Old friends from university, I wasn't worried about entertaining with a two week old - they could even cook for themselves if necessary...right ladies?!? And indeed they were a great help, holding Rhys while i busied myself with this or that. By the end, Auntie Anita decided kids weren't so bad after all.

Auntie Liberty and Rhys: inseparable.

Auntie Anita the convert

The first day took us to Gruyeres on a daytrip. It was a gorgeous sunny day, very warm in the sunshine. I sat in the park in the sun and nursed Rhys while the girls took in the Gruyeres castle. We then hit up the Alien Cafe for a drink - I had a lovely local blanche...wish I could remember the name of the beer.

Alien Cafe again - this time for a drink.

We stocked up on cheesy Swiss souvenirs...literally. I bought a fondue 'rechaud' and some wine glasses that look like shot glasses (I thought they were shot glasses but was corrected by the sales lady) with traditional Swiss 'decoupage' patterns on them. Of course, we also stocked up on Gruyeres double cream and meringues with that evenings dessert in mind. On the way home we had to stop at the Tristan chocolatier...fantastic chocolate. I managed to get us lost but the GPS steered us right again, despite leading us through some cow paths and farmers fields (well, they WERE roads I guess). We finished off a great day with a raclette at home, complete with dill pickles and pickled onions (which also accompanied my breakfasts at the hospital if I didn't mention this before...yum?) and of course the meringue/double cream/berries dessert. Not exactly low calorie.

Happy ladies at Tristan Chocolatier

Day two, we took Sam down to the old part of Geneva and left Rhys with Daddy. We fed the swans and ducks - well, Sam did - and then did a little tour of medieval Geneva. We didn't stop at Dior, Chanel, Gucci or Christian Louboutin, unfortunately, but we did pause for a coffee in the old square. Sam was more interested in playing in the water fountain but we were able to bribe him with cheese strings and smarties and in return we had time to enjoy a bit of a break. Almost like life before kids! Almost....

Sam, with cheese strings

Deciding which expensive coffee to order

The weather on the last day of their visit ended up being so nice that we couldn't resist another daytrip, this time to Annecy. I was a bit nervous as we were crossing the border into France, and I still hadn't received Rhys' birth certificate. As I cross over the border nearly every day, and have only been stopped once (and didn't have to show a passport), I figured the odds were low. Besides, what would they do? Confiscate the baby? They wouldn't...would they? Luckily, we didn't find out.

It was Sunday, and we tried to get to Annecy in time to hit the market but we failed. Instead, we saw lots of people walking around with fresh produce and flowers we couldn't buy, but we made up for it by taking a long, leisurely lunch on a sunny terrace. Rhys obligingly slept through most of it, and I was able to enjoy a delicious croque monsieur (soooooo gooooood) and just soak up the atmosphere. We strolled about afterwards, admiring the crocuses in bloom, but it being Sunday most of the shops were closed. Not the Gelato shop, though, and we finished off our visit with some yummy treats. I prefer the fruity flavours over the chocolate and they had the most divine pink grapefruit. I'll definitely go back for more.

Annecy, the Venice of France

Rhys napping among the crocuses

We concluded the visit with a delicious cheese fondue at Cafe du Soleil. Who doesn't love bits of bread dipped in molten cheese mixed with wine? with little dill pickles and pickled onions of course.

Hope Anita and Liberty come back again before we go home. We had a great time.