Contemplations and Ruminations

So we (me and Nam) visited Gruyères (grew yehr) one day and we didn't want to come back.  Gruyères , a tiny village perched atop a hill is about two hours from Geneva and this place looks like it jumped right out of a fairy tale book.  So we get off the train and this is what greets us...  A cute little chapel in idyllic surroundings...  We keep walking and come across this...  Typical Swiss countryside with cows happily munching away... Needless to say, me and Nam were having some serious Maria moments ...  The path that leads up to Gruyères... A beautiful house on the way... The cows below...  Another small chapel on the way... And this is the small village of Gruyères... The landscape below... This girl made us some crepes for lunch... My jambon (ham) crepe... Looks like an old chapel, but now it's a workshop or something... Cute kid... Even the restroom looks cute here......

So June edition of the church magazine is out... And this is the article I wrote... Lessons in Life from a Helium Balloon This is a story I heard in church when I was about ten years old. A bunch of us were being prepped to receive First Holy Communion and during the retreat that is usually held just before the big day, a priest told us this story and since then it has always stuck with me. I remember sitting in church with my friends, when this priest walks in and starts telling us this poignant story. A man was selling his balloons at a fair and to attract the children running around, he would cut the string of a helium balloon from time to time. He let loose a red balloon first, and watched it as it soared across the skies. He then cut the string of a blue balloon and it too went soaring up and out of sight. Noting that the kids were riveted by this display he let loose another white balloon that danced and flitted out of sight too. This little marketing trick work...

Well, it was supposed to be a post about Lausanne ... but all we saw here were churches. Lausanne is a bustling city, so not much to see nature wise... maybe if we had gone towards the lake side, we would have seen vineyards and the beautiful shoreline of Lake Geneva. But we mostly strolled around the old town, which is quite a nice place...  So anyway, this is the Protestant Cathedral... With beautiful designs on the ceiling...  A mermaid carved into one end of a bench...  The altar... A ornamental covering over the pulpit... The church organ... The doors of the cathedral... I like this angel the best... Have you seen ' Happy Days ', the classic TV show? It's one of the best comedy shows ever created. How can you not love  Richie, Fonzie, Chachie, Joanie... you can see them on  the walls of this restaurant (click on the image for a larger view) Some artsy fountain right in the middle of the path that leads to the old...