Anyways, I digress. This past weekend was a blessed 3-day weekend and our lovely friend and former flatmate came to visit! She came for the Caves Ouvert weekend here. What is Caves Ouvert, you ask? Well it's this very clever event where you pay $15 for a wine glass, and then wander through the vineyards, tasting the wines from many different wineries. After you pay for the glass, everything is free (unless you want some food, but I ate a sandwich in preparation!) I had fond memories of my last Caves Ouverts a few years ago, with sunshine, good company and great wines. Admittedly, I was a bit enthusiastic last time, and perhaps (cough) had a bit too much wine. This time I was determined to take it slow, and to drink a lot of water.
It was a gorgeous day on Saturday, the lake sparkling and the heat shimmering down like a thick wool blanket. We got our first taste at the winery right near the train station. Then we decided to take the free shuttle up the gigantic hill to get some beautiful views and more wine. Unfortunately, it wasn't as well organized as I remembered. The shuttle took ages to arrive and when it finally came, didn't go in the direction anyone wanted. Half an hour later, we finally ended up in a winery. The hosts were gracious, and after a few glasses at the first place, it was time to move on. The question was, move on to where? We wandered the little town of Chebrexs for a bit, and decided that we couldn't find anything. So we bought a bottle thinking we'd be walking 3-4km down the hill. After 10ish minutes of ambling around, we found a beautiful sight - another winery! We decided to camp out here; we had shade, good wine and nice company. We had made reservation in Lausanne for dinner, so around 6 we headed out to the train station in the little town and hopped a train home (no driving!) then had some delicious pizza. Despite the bad organization and quite a bit of walking, it was a wonderful day.
Caves Ouverts was followed by another wonderful day, BBQing by the lake. The weather was another perfect day, we couldn't have asked for anything better. Unfortunately, the rest of Lausanne also thought it was the perfect day to go to the lake. We got there early enough to find a nice place in the shade but were joined shortly after by a family with no concept of personal space. Then more families arrived, blasting their (terrible) music, kicking balls at our BBQ (knocking off our meat!) walking on our blankets, knocking over our wine... I have to say, it's the first time I wanted to leave the lakeside early. And leave we did, as Cam had a plane to catch. We hiked it up the hill, shiny with sweat and only then realizing how bright red we were (with SPF 50 on!!!).
Above is the lake, full of scummy grossness.... I didn't go in!
The super busy lake-side. Everyone in Lausanne was out to have a BBQ!
Do you see the blanket 6 inches from ours, just behind and to the left? What ever happened to personal space? Geez!
Cam cooking our delicious meat! We didn't have tongs or anything similar, so we used plastic forks that had a tendency to melt. Oh year, and pretty much all the meat on the BBQ had rolled on the floor at one point or another. We just popped the pieces back on the fire - eating a little dirt is good for building an immune system, right?
Failed selfie - sorry Catarina!
Back home, and we are not ready to let Cam go. If we hug her tighter, will she just get stuck here? I wish!!
Having friends and family come and visit is one of the nicest feelings. I have found that the people I love bring the most joy to my life. Okay, that and travel. And really good food. And a book that I can't put down. But having the people I love come to me to spend time together, now that is something special! What makes you happy? Do you take the time out in your life to enjoy a piece of that happiness every week?
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