Yesterday was my first road trip as a trainee, driving our little BMW i3 electric car about 200 kilometers from Pully and through parts of the Jura mountains north of us and back. Dad was my co-driver and instructor and we had been training every day for the past two weeks, driving around the countryside of our canton and in the Lausanne city centre. I felt ready to climb mountain roads and try to keep up with the speed of surrounding traffic for a whole day. We had charged the battery for a 300 kilometer range so none of us felt any range anxiety. Our first stop after having climbed from 450 to 1200 m altitude was The Grand Hotel in Rasse situated on a natural balcony over the Neuchâtel lake and facing the alpine range of mountains. This kind of hotel is no longer being constructed and I suppose it's difficult to maintain and fill up with the exception of this strange period when people book overnight stays to be able to eat out in their old-fashioned dining room, closed for people from outside. Their terrace was open for us to have a tea while overlooking the hazy landscape in front of us where paragliders circulated. The only person around was a macro photographer on his knees, shooting tiny spiders in the slope below us. The larch trees were still without leaves at this altitude.

Our next stop was the village of St-Sulpice some 30 km east in the innermost part of the Travers valley where the Areuse river has its source. We parked in the centre of the village and walked uphill to the source. This is where Jean-Jacques Rousseau used to come to cool down during hot summer days while living not far away during his escape from the French authorities at the end of the 18th century. Enjoy some intimate shots from our walk.

The source is a small lake with Turner like colors as you can see from the title photo of this post. In this period of scarce precipitation the first part of the Areuse is a quiet, pastoral river floating through St-Sulpice on its ways through the Travers valley to the Neuchâtel lake in Boudry.

We continued our drive eastwards to the village of Noiraigue where we met up with a relic of the past, a 1942 steam train with its cargo of train enthusiast and spectators from near and far. Obviously the Germans did not only produce bombs and canons at that time.

We walked downstream from the village along the Areuse to the canyon that you have already seen several times in past posts while enjoying the frail light green colors of the exploding buds and leaves over the foam of the cascades and the deep green moss on the trees along the water.

It was already mid afternoon and I had to meet up with the 2 A-s at the tennis court in Puidoux at 17.30. We bought some food in the nearest COOP and Dad took over the wheel for the trip back on the free-way since I'm still not allowed to drive on such roads. The tennis courts were now in the open air and we played for a couple of hours before going up to Mont Pelerin for the sun-set over the lake. Stay tuned for more adventures!!

I have been several times to the medieval city of Le Landeron close to Lake Biel and each time I have been captivated by a garden that resembles nothing else in this part of the world. It's about 150 meters long and some 30 meters wide. This afternoon I went back to Le Landeron and parked just west of the old city center. For once there was someone inside the fence surrounding the garden so I stopped by for a chat with the couple that actually are trying to put it in order after it has been abandoned by the Capucine monks some six to seven decades ago. The property was then sold to a retired couple but unfortunately the husband died and his widow has engaged the couple I met to restore the property, a huge undertaking as far as I could judge. Here are some shots I took while being guided around while listening to the history. There is even a tiny chapel on the grounds with its untouched interior. What a peaceful place!

Yes you could guess that the deceased husband had been a sailor from the sophisticated block and line that were used for his grandchildren to play with. And there were several intimate places where you could meditate or prey. Stay tuned for more!!

The 2 A-s are Antoine and Arthur, friends from high school that I meet with on a regular basis. This past Saturday they had invited me to play tennis with them. It was at least five years ago that I played last time, but like biking it came back quite rapidly. I took the opportunity to drive our car with Dad sitting beside me the 10 kilometers that separate the indoor court in Paudex from our house. Quite an adventure for someone who started to train driving a car a week earlier Our little electric BMW is actually quite easy to drive with quick acceleration and a small turning radius. Dad said he was not the least scared despite the many hairpin curves we went through on our way to Paudex.

Dad had brought his camera to do some shooting when we played. I think you agree there were really three different styles on display. First Antoine who plays like a ballet dancer, not only with his racket but also using his tongue and a particularly shrewd use of the two middle fingers on his left hand.

Arthur came dressed as a real tennis champion and spent more time in the air than on the ground. He had also worked his muscles before our session as you can see from his meticulously sculptured arms and legs.

I was certainly leaving the ballet and jumping styles to my friends. I'm still not back to my old tennis style but that will certainly not take a lot of time to recover. My old double handed backhand was still scoring points and my forehand with top spin was a killer. Stay tuned for more adventures.