Hello Monnaz!

OK, after a good night's sleep (Paula and I managed to stay up until almost 8pm last night!) I'm feeling better but still with that jet-lag haze around the edges.

Our flight from Seattle to Amsterdam on Delta went as smoothly as one can expect when on a plane that seats 8 people in each row (2-4-2).  Lots of kids and lots of Europeans heading home.  The Delta Safety Video was a hoot.  Check it out - it's always nice to see big companies that find their sense of humor.

The in-flight entertainment system (with the little TVs in the back of each seat) wasn't working for the first few hours of the 10 hour flight - to the total frustration of the steward that would get on the overhead PA system to say things like, "We hope that the most recent reboot of the system will allow it to provide your entertainment needs."  And then half an hour later they'd try again.  And again.  Eventually, it was working and we had 50 movies to select from along with music and games.  Then, rather bizarrely at the end of the trip, the steward that had been so frustrated with getting the system online thanked us for flying Delta (the usual spiel a the end of the flight) and said that we should express our displeasure with the entertainment system to Delta on their website and we would be compensated for the inconvenience!

The flight from Amsterdam to Geneva was short and uneventful - especially in light of the duct tape that was holding the wing together (see photo).

On arrival in Geneva (after having a great view of snow-covered Mt. Blanc - the tallest mountain in Europe - as we approached) we met Nicole (she arrived at the airport at the same time we did - Swiss punctuality!) and piled into her Volvo for the 30 minute trip to Monnaz.

We met our grandson Teo (who we first met here in Monnaz as a 1 month old a couple years ago and again 5 months later in Seattle - though, with Facetime it seems like we've seen him most weekends in between) and after a shy start he soon accepted us as family members.  He's grown remarkably and is currently trying to master the languages around him - his nanny speaks to him in Spanish (as does Nicole and Ahriel usually), but they also speak English around him, and he's living in the French speaking part of Switzerland.  He's juggling these various words and linguistic rules to try to sort things out.  He's doing well - much better than my attempts at language learning!

Here's a photo of Nicole and Paula with the castle that's outside the windows of Nicole's apartment.  You can't hear the cow bells from the cattle nearby - but I can.

We took a walk around the nearby fields and after a delicious dinner it was an acceptable time to head to bed (it being more than 24 hours since the last time we'd slept horizontally...).