A Day in the Juras: Givrine au Vaud [Part 2]

[Continued from earlier]

I arrived in Nyon by 8:30 and anxiously awaited Aaron while striving to stay warm. La Bise (the cold eastern wind) has been noticeable as of late. Interesting to note, la bise is also the term for the Suisse Romande and French greeting of simulated kisses on the cheek. Here in Suisse Romande, la Bise consists of three “kisses” starting on the left. It’s regarded as the polite and acceptable way to greet and take leave of people. My first opportunity to faire la bise was a major flop, as I was unsure of the rules of this greeting and failed to do it when it was necessary. I have since figured it out…

ANYWAY, back to the story. Aaron drags up around 8:45 and we find our bus to Le Vaud. Aaron spent Friday night in Nyon, as he lives a 30 minute bus ride away and he missed the bus home. He and I are in similar states, though I must admit I think he slept even less than I did. Sadly I had to purchase a bus ticket to Le Vaud (Aaron has one) and I was shocked when the conductor demanded 15chF for my round trip. So much for price efficient public transportation!! Nothing is inexpensive in Switzerland! We arrived in Le Vaud after a pleasant trip, and we walked the few minutes down hill to his house. Aaron’s family is originally Swiss German, so they speak an interesting mix of German, French, and English at home. With us, ils parlent just French unless it’s really important. They offered to take us to the train station where we can catch a train to Givrine, where we were to begin our hike.

The father gave us maps, gave us two pairs of snowshoes, explained everything in French, and at the last moment gave us a compass. We were psyched, totally confident in ourselves and in our understanding of the directions. Ha! The mother drove us to the station and we made small talk with her as we waited for the next train to Givrine. She explained the map again, told us how to pay for the train, and made us feel totally confident in ourselves. Mind you, this has been all in French, and we did our best to understand everything, but I’m sure we missed a lot.

The train arrived and we jumped on for the 20 minute ride to Givrine. We passed through the clouds to our stop at 1200 m (somewhere around 4000 feet). Much to our chagrin, while looking out the window at one of the stations, we saw Jonathon and Katherine, two other SIT students. Of all people, seeing Jonathon seemed appropriately funny and we laughed and exclaimed our surprise at seeing them. The train moved on and so did we. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was an impeccable blue, and the wind was nonexistent as we stepped out of the train to our “alpine paradise.” After map consultation and our ritual “embarrassment while speaking French,” we set off on le chemin pour pietons.

The snowshoes were superfluous at this point, but our excitement to be using them made us continue to wear them. The trail was groomed for the multitudes of walkers and skiers. For a lot of the time, us walkers had our own trail separate from the cross country skiers. The snowshoes remained a novelty until several kilometers later when we discovered the ease of walking on the packed snow sans raquettes.

During this first hour, and for a majority of the day, we experienced a sensory overload. Were we really in Switzerland? Were we really snowshoeing through the Jura Mountains a week and a half after we stepped off the plane? It was almost surreal at times. You have to experience this natural beauty to gain a true understanding of how we felt at the moment. Stupendous, spectacular, picturesque. The first restaurant we encountered was still too early for us to want to eat, even though it was 12:30. We must press on – we have a long walk!

to be continued...