A trip to the Collection De L'Art Brut

Last week we spent a few hours at Lausanne's Collection De L'Art Brut, which is a museum that houses works of art created by society's outsiders. These artists are untrained and mostly do not adhere to conventional practices for making their art, they create merely to create. So cool, right!  In the 1940's a french man, Jean Dubuffet began collecting art from prisoners, people in mental institutions, and from people who merely just chose not to conform to the artistic circles of the day. 

Today, there are hundreds of pieces situated on four floors and the show that we saw focused on architecture. We saw everything from children's drawings of colorful flat houses, to models and floorpans of structures throughout time. I was particularly captivated by a drawing of famous structures throughout the world. It was really fun to watch Quinn's reaction to the framed children's drawings, I could almost see a little light come on inside his head when he realized that the art hanging this big museum was made by little people!

As we climbed the stairs to each new floor the kids were really truly giddy about what they were seeing. Naturally, Anna wanted to touch everything so we had to keep a bit of a firm hand on her, but as always she is quick to follow Quinn's lead and both kids spent some serious time playing "I Spy" with a couple of three dimensional works made entirely of painted shells. On a side note,  I could kiss whoever made up that I Spy game, it has seriously saved us so many times!

While this museum was the perfect space and content for Kevin and my tastes, I think the after party at the playground next door was the most fun for the kids. They had a blast on the play structures while the adults stood around and ate all the kid snacks, yay gummy bears!

 

 

A Hike at Les Paccots

After a lazy day of opening presents and playing with toys, we all were aching to get out of the house and do a little exploring. Before Christmas break I had hoped to get the kids up to the local ski resort and get Quinn on skis, but the unseasonably warm and dry winter that we have been having put a stop to that idea.

Instead of skiing, we decided a good day hike was in order, after all the sweets we've been eating everyone needed a little fresh air and exercise!

We went up to the local family friendly ski resort Les Paccots and did a little exploring. Kevin carried Anna in the backpack, but Quinn hiked the whole time. I guess all the hilly walking around Lausanne is really paying off, because he had a great time. This kid's growing up fast.  I think the "walking" sticks he picked up along the way helped make the uphill hike a bit more fun for him. At various points we would look back to see Quinn "drilling" a tunnel or smoothing a road in the small patches of snow on our hike. This kid kills me, he has such an imagination.

We hiked to the top of one of the ski hills then walked down to a well earned outdoor fondue lunch at the bottom of the hill. As we sat down to eat, I realized that I didn't have any restaurant toys for the kids to play with while we waited for our lunch. I was a little nervous until I looked over and saw them busy counting the number of holes in their chairs! Ha, they were well occupied until lunch was served. I guess, this is one step away from our American habits of trying to constantly entertain the kids, towards the Swiss way of just letting them occupy themselves. As you can see Kevin and I didn't have any trouble occupying ourselves with the fondue!

We can't wait until it snows so we can go back to Les Paccots for some skiing!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We hope this Christmas season was filled with love, laughter, family, and friends, and happy memories to be passed on through the generations!

Love,
Kevin, Melinda, Quinn, and Anna

Sticky Situation...

         

It happened, it finally happened. We all knew the day would come, and let's face it we were all hoping it wouldn't be so soon, but alas our dreads and fears have come to pass,  yup you guessed it, we ran out of American Peanut Butter!!! 

Before we left I heard some advice from a fellow expat and stocked our shipping container with some "comforts of home" to help the kids transition to a new place. We packed loads of jumbo sized peanut butter, boxes of Annie's mac and cheese, and cheddar bunnies, you know the staples. We definitely used these things during the first months of our stay, but we changed some things about the way we feed the kids, and I have to say there are definitely some boxes of cheddar bunnies getting dusty in the cupboard. 

It's funny looking back and realizing how our "comforts" have changed and how adaptable kids can be. 

Don't get me wrong, they still love their peanut butter sandwiches, and peanut butter oatmeal as much as the next guy, but they have adjusted so well to the Swiss style of eating that our customary PB&H's are no longer a necessity. Kevin and I learn more and more everyday that these kids are smart, flexible, and willing to try new things as long as we allow them. 

So, for now we'll just keep letting those boxes of cheddar bunnies go stale in our cupboard, and we'll buy our peanut butter in those tiny little glass jars like all the other Americans in Switzerland!

Le Village De Noël

On Sunday we spent a lovely day in the tiny village of Caux where they have a quaint children's Christmas town set up on the side of the mountain. Before going, I had big American visions of an over Disney'ed cartoon Christmas town with blaring music and jolly Old Saint Nick, and then I breathed a big sigh of relief when I remembered that we are in Switzerland!

After taking a cog train up the mountain, we arrived to find cute wooden chalets for raclette and hot spiced wine, raindeer, and tons of rustic music makers for the kids to play. There were a few chalets set up with small crafts for the kids to make, and some wandering musicians, but not a santa in sight. It was almost like stepping back into a much simpler time where one could enjoy the beautiful setting, and children could experience simple pleasures.

Anna immediately ran to see and touch everything. It is so special to see the magic of Christmas through the eyes of these kids!
Here she is stoked on life next to some sort of Swiss Christmas animal prayer flags… So happy!

Anna met her future pets here at the reindeer pen. Although, I have to say that both kids were a little freaked out when they brought the reindeer out for a walk around the village.

So, in what seems to be typical Swiss fashion, they had all these neat rustic music makers and bike tire spinners set up for the kids to play with, not a cartoon santa in sight! These kids were in heaven.

Quinn particularly enjoyed this creative contraption…

This photo was taken before the kind Swiss lady enlightened Quinn on the correct way to play this instrument.

Apparently you're not supposed to put your mouth on public instruments. Swiss law. Life rule.

After the kids played for awhile and the adults gorged on a lunch of melted cheese and potatoes we went to a little show put on by these holiday elves. 

It was very cute and the kids absolutely loved it, I don't think Quinn stopped grinning the entire time. I have to say I couldn't stop smiling either, I mean just look at how quaint this little set up is! PS- Wait to go Kevin for getting right up there with the front row (floor) seats!

Quinn was over the moon when the performers let the kids play their instruments at the end of the show. Kevin got this great shot and I think it really sums up the sums up the whole day for both kids.

This little Swiss Christmas village was not quite what I expected, but its simplicity and charm made it so much better then anything I imagined. The gorgeous setting wasn't so bad either!

Thanksgiving Catch-up

*Picture from my friend google. 

Hello, where have the days gone? It seems like such a holiday whirlwind around here lately, phew. Kevin came back from his latest trip, and a few days later we celebrated our first Thanksgiving in Switzerland with a chicken dinner... with our English friends... Ha, ha, I know I know. I feel like I chickened out a bit by not ordering a turkey, but we made up for it over the next several days, I promise. 

On Friday our downstairs neighbor invited us for a proper turkey feast and we followed up with another on Sunday with Kevin's American work buddies. So good, and so much turkey! We had such fun at all the gatherings and we're so thankful for kind friends to share this American holiday with. 

Here are a few fun facts about trying to cook a traditional meal in a foreign place-

1. Yes, you really can get anything you want in Switzerland (as long as you're willing to pay for it) but if you don't plan ahead all the other expats get the good stuff before you!

2. Roasted butternut squash pie makes an excellent substitute for traditional pumpkin pie. I guess if you add enough sugar and spice you can make anything taste good.

3. Roast Chicken is NOT a good substitute for Thanksgiving turkey. Sorry America, it won't happen again.

4. Cranberry sauce, Quoi? Remind me to smuggle some back next time I'm in the states.

5. Butter… Cream… Mmmmmmmmmm!!! The Swiss may not know what cranberry sauce is but they do not mess around with dairy. The whipped cream here is what dreams are made of.

6. My oven Tetris skills are on point. Getting everything cooked and warm in these tiny Swiss ovens is a formidable task, well done American friends, well done.

Hello from Ho Chi Minh City

I'm (Kevin) sitting in the Ho Chi Minh Airport after an eye-opening, emotional, and excellent 2 week coffee buying trip through Laos and Vietnam.  This was my first trip to both countries (as well as a brief night in Bangkok) and I'm leaving very impressed with both countries.

I traveled with my boss, Lindsey, and we had a one night layover in Bangkok at the start of the trip.  With a free afternoon ahead of us, we immediately took to the streets to explore the city.  We saw the largest solid gold Buddha in the world and, after meeting up with a coffee supplier of ours, we took a boat ride along the Chao Phraya River.

Wat Traimit - holds the largest gold Buddha in the world

Boat on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok

The following day we flew from Bangkok to Ubon, Thailand, and then drove across the border into Laos.  We spent the next 4 days exploring the main coffee growing region--the Bolavens Plateau.  Laos is a beautiful and very peaceful country.  I hadn't done my research ahead of time, so I was surprised when I saw the communist flags flying throughout the country.  This was my first time in a communist country, but it didn't affect my trip at all.  It's a very calm and peaceful feeling country which may stem from the prevalence of Buddhism.  The food was great, the people were friendly, and the potential for high-quality coffee is enormous.  It's a relatively new coffee origin for the higher-quality coffee roasters, so we're very excited to be an early adopter and supporter of the coffee.  I'm running a special project with a coffee mill there which will be a coffee type that has never been produced in Laos, so I was very eager to taste the progress thus far.  So far, so good.  The highlight of the Lao portion of the trip was the day when a group of coffee farmers organized a village party for us.  We had excellent food, watched (and partook in) some traditional Lao slow dancing, and had some good laughs.  The last day in Laos we visited a Hindu temple from the 11th and 13th century called Vat Phou.  We were accompanied by one of our coffee suppliers who is Hindi so it was great to see it through his eyes and have him explain it all.  After 4 great days in Laos, I was a bit sad to leave and but was excited to head into Vietnam.  

Coffee delivery

Visiting a school and donating some art supplies

Great welcome from the students

Students

Coffee break

Our coffee drying

Village party

Village party

Village party

This is the village leader

Meeting with a group of coffee farmers

Meeting with a group of coffee farmers

Cupping table

Lao and Communist flags

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

Vat Phou

We arrived late at night in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon until 1976) and were immediately impressed with the absolute lack of any traffic rules as we headed to our hotel.  The streets are completely filled with motorbikes and they act like ants moving through the streets in every direction.  During our 6 days in Vietnam, we did a lot of traveling throughout the country.  The first full day there we flew up to Dak Lak to visit the robusta area.  Robusta is a very low quality type of coffee of which we only buy a very small amount.  It was a very different experience than visiting an arabica area (higher quality coffee that we buy) and it was much more impersonal.  Robusta is really the ugly side of coffee, but visiting the area was a good education nonetheless.  It's much more a price-driven (low, low prices) area rather than a relationship/quality driven area.  Starting the Vietnam portion of the trip in robusta territory made me a bit nervous for the rest of the trip.  However, the next day we flew north to Da Lat City and all concerns immediately vanished.  Da Lat City is an absolutely beautiful former French city up in the highlands of Vietnam.  The French influence is apparent in the architecture and it's called the honeymoon city b/c that's where people go for honeymoons and vacations because of the climate and how beautiful the city is.  It reminded me of a mix between Lake Tahoe (lots of pine trees that I've never seen in coffee areas) and a French alpine village.  We met many farmers and even spent a day visiting farms on motorbikes.  It was a fantastic 3 days and I'm excited to go back there on vacation with Melinda.  We spent the last 2 days in Vietnam back down in Ho Chi Minh City and used one as a tourist day.  We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels which was the underground tunnel network and headquarters of the Viet Cong.  Next we visited the War Remnants Museum which is all about the Vietnam (American) War.  I've never had such a hard time going through a museum.  It was a tremendously emotional experience to see the horrors of that war, but it was a well put together museum.  The last morning of the trip I woke up early to walk down to a park that tons of people exercise in during the early morning.  It was a pretty funny sight to see people moving in all random directions with their wacky exercises--swinging their arms and legs in odd ways, practicing Tai Chi, a guy practicing his sword moves with an actual sword, and two extremely old ladies hacky sacking better than anyone I've ever seen.  It was a great way to start the day.  I sat sweating in the early morning humidity watching them too long and soon realized that I was going to be late for breakfast.  I was walking back to the hotel when I was signaled over by a guy on a stopped motorbike.  Through his arm motions I realized that he was offering me a ride and it would cost 50,000 Vietnamese Dong (their currency) to take me the mile or two back to the hotel.  That equals just over $2.  So I borrowed his extra helmet (too small) and hopped on back and we joined the chaos of the motorbike ants swarming through the city and had a great final ride through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

Happy farming family

Coffee buying station -- owned and run by women as most are in Vietnam

Coffee tractor

Separating the red from the green

The pom-pom looking robusta trees

Stoking the fire of the coffee dryers

Nice view from a wet mill

The countryside around Da Lat is covered with these green houses growing flowers.  It's a huge flower producing area and has a big flower festival every December.

Exploring farms by motorbike

Happy farming couple

Beautiful country

Lunch served at one of the farmers' house

Hostess

Her house (where she served us lunch) and farm in the background

Coffee and pine trees -- a unique combo

This lady lost her husband a few years ago but still continues to farm her land

My driver

Notebook from a coffee collection station

Coffee collection station

Award ceremonies for the top farmers of the year

Raking the coffee to help it dry

Ben Thanh Market - Ho Chi Minh City

Ben Thanh Market -- Ho Chi Minh City

There are constant reminders throughout Ho Chi Minh City that it's a communist country

Joining the masses of motorbikes

All in all, it was a great trip filled with excellent food, new sights, and great coffee and I'm very eager to return someday--hopefully with Melinda in tow.