Suisse Miss Lucia (and us too): Guest Post

South Eastern France, A Driving Tour with the Coulson Family

Alrighty, so Jaime and Sarah asked us to write a guest blog from our visit. It was an amazing experience for our family to take in the sights, sounds and culinary smells of Switzerland and France! Our kids are still saying Oui and Merci in their everyday conversations.

There were so many great things we saw. We were really excited about trying different foods, wine, chocolate, and witness some amazing historic sites. We did all that, but I think the most memorable things of the trip were the stressful events that we can look back upon and laugh at. Take note, there are a few educational tidbits in here if you don’t speak French very well and plan to travel by car and subway.

First, Jaime was a Saint for driving both our families in a rented minivan. Two schools of thought were in our midst, should we follow the instructions of our GPS system (nicknamed “The Lady” by Sarah,) or wing it with the map. My conclusion after the first day of driving hairpin corners through remote villages in the Alps was that maybe the GPS companies want you to think they are indispensable by taking you on roads that only a local would know about. It was absolutely beautiful countryside, but we had to ice down Jaime’s arms upon arriving at our lodgings. Also a few glasses of wine may have been consumed that evening to calm our nerves. At the end, I don’t think we could have made it nearly as easily without, “The Lady.”

Paying tolls are stressful enough for me in the States, but in France they are on another level. Jaime had a great adage every time we had to pay: Whatever you think you will need to pay, just double it. This compounded with not knowing that our credit cards would not work, that many lanes are not manned by human beings, and that people honk when they are lined up behind silly Americans that don’t know what they are doing can be stressful. Jaime is a master at backing up and re-entering another toll line and always prepared with a big bag of euro coins!

Lastly, when a warning tone alerts you that subway doors are closing in the Lyon underground, you had better act quickly. After watching people running to get on and the rest of our party safely boarding the subway car, the doors closed quickly in front of me. Jaime and I waved at each other with knowing smiles as he and both of our families were whisked away. I wasn’t worried but took my time to confirm my route in a city I had never been to, written in a language I didn’t know. Bets were made about whether I would return to the hotel within minutes or hours. Since I have known him for over 20 years now, one thing was certain: Jaime would come looking for me and would stay out all night doing so if necessary. For the record, I was navigating the proper route when he found me and we laughed all the way home. He is an exceptional guy. Our thanks to Sarah, Lucia, and Jaime for being such good friends, gracious hosts, and excellent tour guides!

Brent, Karen, Sawyer, and Kirstyn