Busy day today. We took the train to Alleman to Ikea (pronounced by the locals as ee-kay-uh) to buy a few things for the apartment. It must be the most popular store inSwitzerland...what a zoo!

After that we walked to the Cantonal Musem (A Canton is like a State. Lausanne is the Capitol of the Canton of Vaud.) The Museum had an exhibition of the works of Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, a Lausanne born artist who later moved to Paris. (I posted one of his famous posters of the Chat Noir above.) On the way home we discovered he was born on the very street we live on, and the building now has a restaurant called Au Chat Noir.

Lausanne is called the San Francisco of Switzerland. It's really nothing like Switzerland except for one thing: hills. The city is built on three major hills and there are stairs everywhere. I don't think it is possible to live here if you are disabled. However, the city is very walkable. Many streets do not even allow cars, and even on busier streets pedestrians walk right across the street without even checking for cars. You don't even have to bother waiting on the curb for a break in the traffic because the cars stop once they see you. I was a bit confused the first two days but I'm starting to get a feel for my way around, at least in the area right around our apartment. We still have a lot of exploring to do.

So far Mom has been a little overwhelmed by the language difference. Every time someone speaks to her in French she looks at me with panic in her eyes. However, she is trying very hard. I have taught her how to count to five (we'll get to ten eventually) and she can ask for the check please when we eat out. She is still working on "I don't speak French" but for the time being it's too much of a mouthful so that's my job. We went out to dinner with a Honeywell couple tonight who have lived abroad for twelve years and in Lausanne for a year and Mom already speaks more French than she does so I think she is starting to feel a little better about herself.

Tomorrow Dad heads back to the States so we will be on our own for a few days. I have posted some more pictures in the already existing albums. Some of them are photos Dad took of the apartment and around Lausanne before we arrived, and some are photos we took today.