TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGED

Well, that’s that then. Last week OG and I prepared our Swiss apartment for it’s new owners. An era is over. After spending 8 luxurious years of enjoying our very own Swiss paradise we have come down to earth with a bump. Everything packed and sent back to England. That part of our life is now held together with duck tape and packed in a van.

Now there will be no more standing on our balcony looking at the man in the moon perched on top of the Petit Muvoron (that's the small pointy mountain on the right) gazing back down at US in amazement. No more contemplating the miracle of the night sky with billions of stars displaying their wondrously twinkling light show in the black firmament - just for us.



No more trips to the spa bath http://www.lavey-les-bains.ch/home.php?id=2 to revive my aching limbs in the Turkish bath; subject myself to a pounding aqua massage; drift peacefully on a "float" listening to classical music being piped underwater; allow my poor arthritic body to soak up the therapeutic natural mineral waters being pumped directly from the earth at "bath temperature" with the snow surreally falling on my head in temperatures of –2C (or less!); enjoy a tingly invigorating and spotlessly clean sauna; and finally regain my spirituality whilst relaxing to the soothing sounds of running water, bird songs and wind rustling the trees in the darkened "tranquillity" suite.

No more eating at fabulous Swiss restaurants, where the prices are reasonable, the food is out of this world, the view is to die for and the hospitality is second to none.

But on the upside we have no more daylong journey’s by car, plane, train and finally mountain bus which leave us exhausted and in bad spirits. No more "apartment or Swiss etiquette" to consider, like don’t flush the loo between the hours of 10pm and 7am because it will disturb the co-proprietors, don’t use the washing machine between the hours of 11am and 12am because this is when the Swiss are cooking their midday meal and washing machines may cause a dip in the power supply, don’t "lose it" and start screaming at OG because it may embarrass the neighbours.

So, is it good, is it bad? Now here I sit beside the French doors in my new "Hollywood" bedroom looking across the fens and writing my blog at my beautiful Swiss bureau and I don’t have to travel all day to get here or worry about screaming at OG whenever the mood takes me. We move on.

And finally…Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.