Goodbye Neuchâtel, Helloooo Germany!

You can only eat so much traditional Swiss food before you and your belly start thinking, “OK, this is getting silly. If only my mom and dad were here to tell me that I am out of control and a cheese-induced high has caused me to completely lose touch with reality and maybe I need to be sent to rehab in the form of some consistently sad and bland diet, probably supplied by Great Britain…”

There are few things that can take my mind off Swiss cheese...

And just like that, mom and dad are there, offering to send you not to rehab, but to a cozy German cabin where you can reunite with them, replacing a mild cheese addiction with familial comforts and maybe some Schweinshaxe.

Classic john getting ready to say goodbye

I do want to leave, right?

I was sad to say goodbye to Martine and Patrice—they had turned a mere four days into a fantastic schmorgasboard of Swiss/German/French culture immersion, and John and I didn’t even have to do any farmwork. But let’s be honest, after three months of living amongst other peoples’ cultures, I was ready to get back to my own, if only for a few days. So it was with open arms that I greeted my parents Sunday afternoon, happy to be among people who were very much my own blood.

Goodbye Lake Neuchatel...

But before getting on that train, let’s have a final outing with the Bijons at the one and only Neuchâtel farmer’s market...

Patrice & Martine, we'll miss you!

The quaintest market in the world	just bring the whole bread oven. fine with me.
Hmm, I'll just take that pile of chanterelles right there, if you don't mind?	Since when did candied fruit and garlic not go together?
Something tells me it's mushroom season. And another something tells me I'm waaaay too excited about this.	About buying your tomatoes from a local farm...convinced yet?
overload overload overload	Colors! Salami! Olives!
Be careful with that "self-service" term	Excuse me, ma'am, could you temporarily black out while I try to steal your shirt?

Morel mushrooms...so close, yet so far...

Get down from there right now!

Hmmm, do I want to be photographed with this guy?

From there, the Bijons sent us off to Bern, walking us all the way to the train platform in the way that only friends and family will do. Arriving in Bern, we waited for our carpooling driver to scoop us up in front of a hotel. This time I used the website carpooling.co.uk, and was lucky to find Ralf, and optician from Switzerland who promptly scooped us up and proceeded to show the autobahn who was boss as he took us the two hours to Offenbourg, where my parents would pick us up and we would continue onwards to our rented cabin in the tiny tiny town of Hayingen.

Look out Germany, here come the Kaisers...

Stay tuned!