Au Revoir Lausanne

All good things must come to an end.

Our last few days in Lausanne were busy ones, spent mainly on the many tasks related to returning to North Carolina:  returning our leased car, shipping boxes, buying gifts, closing our Swiss bank account, and packing.

But we found time to say goodbye to some of our favorite places, including one last visit to Ouchy Harbor, where we often went to ride scooters, play chess, and just hang out by the water:

At the Ouchy Metro stop

At the harbor

Ouchy was much less crowded now than in the summer and fall, but it still was lovely to stroll, enjoy a view of the lake, and talk about the many fun times we had here.

We took the metro back up to our stop, conveniently called "Ours":

And we road the bus up the hill to our apartment:

Usually, when we arrived at our bus stop the boys would run ahead to our building and up the stairs to our apartment so they could wave to us from the window in the stairwell:

We of course celebrated Christmas in Lausanne.  The boys were excited that Santa knew how to find them in Switzerland.

Christmas morning in Lausanne

Alas, our last evening in Lausanne arrived.  We decided to eat out.  Eating out is way more expensive in Switzerland than in the U.S., so we did it only rarely.  In fact, this was only the second (!) time we ate dinner out as a family in Lausanne.  But we wanted one more fondue before we left, so we walked over to one of our neighborhood restaurants, Cafe de Bethusy.

Fondue at Cafe de Bethusy on our last night in Lausanne.

Packing to leave was a bit of a challenge.  We shipped a few things back and left a few things behind, but we still had plenty of luggage!

About to leave our apartment for the last time.

The bags packed, the apartment checked one last time, all that's left to do is lock the door and leave.

Locking our apartment door for the last time.

Walking down our hill to the train station

Waiting for the super fast train to Paris--our departure city.

After more than a year of planning and almost six months in Switzerland, it's hard to believe that it's over.

If I sound sad, it's because I am.  We're looking forward to seeing people back home, but we're also not quite ready for our time here to be over.  I'll miss hearing and speaking French, riding the bus and train to school, going on day-trips or overnight adventures nearly every weekend, working at the dining room table with Mark, being able to choose which variety of fresh Gruyere cheese to buy, and so much more.

We also wonder how this time away might have changed us, and might shape our lives going forward.  We wonder about small changes:  Will we be better recyclers?  Will we eat more (high quality) chocolate?  Will we watch (and play) more soccer?   But we also wonder whether we've been changed in more significant ways:  Will we find ways, especially for Christopher and Matthew, to learn more French? Will we take more weekends away to visit interesting places in the U.S. (which would require fewer weekend sports obligations)?  Will we use more public transportation?  Will Mark work more at home?  And perhaps the biggest question, prompted by living perfectly comfortably and enjoyably in a 2-bedroom apartment:  Will we downsize to a smaller house?

We don't know the answers to these questions, but we look forward to finding out.  And we know that, whatever long-term consequences there may or may not be, we will cherish our time in Switzerland for the sheer joy it gave us and for the many happy memories it has left us with.

Au Revoir Lausanne!