Yvoire, France

Back to France today! We are so lucky to be close to the border so we can explore a little in both countries.
We started out early hoping to drive to Nyon, Switzerland and then take the ferry across Lake Geneva to the medieval village of Yvoire, France. Katie has been studying the Middle Ages in history this year and I thought this would be the perfect chance to show her what a real walled in town looked like back then!
We turned up in Nyon early for the ferry (imagine that!). Finally, we found an acceptable parking lot (more on Swiss parking soon) and slipped the car into a spot. When we got to the meter we could not really read it, plus we only had Euros on us, no Francs! Oops! Between both Jeff and I feeding it with both Euros and what little Swiss change we had, I think we drastically overpaid. Oh well, we said as we walked away. At least we won't get a ticket!
We hurried to the ferry as we could see the boat at the pier! The kids were excited to ride on a boat and Jeff and I were excited to see Lake Geneva up close and personal! Then.....

 Now, we don't know what this sign said, but I'm pretty sure that boat wasn't going to Yvoire today. Hmmm Plan B: get into the car, pull out of the overpaid parking space, and drive to Yvoire ourselves.
So that's what we did! We were very curious as to how it works crossing the border between France and Switzerland. Would they check our passports? Do we need to speak French? Will we be okay? We pulled up to the border checkpoint and it was completely empty with not a soul in sight. We crossed over and a man stopped our car. He was holding a pile of French flags  and a clipboard in his hands. Jeff rolled down the window to talk to him (because that's what you do when strangers flag down your car in a strange country, right?). He started speaking French to us a mile a minute. When we finally got a grasp on what was going on, we figured out that he was not a border checkpoint person, but just some guy selling those flags for poor kids to buy bikes or something of the sort. (My French sucks so I'm really still not clear on the story lol) However, it makes me laugh when I think of the little things that happen because we can't understand what's going on!
We finally arrived in Yvoire after driving about two hours. I am ashamed to say that I was a little disappointed. I think we could have done a little better research and we might have known that this town is best seen in spring and summer due to the fact that it has won various international awards for horticulture and floral displays. Also, most of the shops and restaurants were closed. One more thing is that there doesn't seem to be much to do in the town. Being that the town has such a rich history, it would have been nice to see some period characters or museums or demonstrations. Instead there is a smattering of hotels, restaurants, and shops. So once you have bought some souvenirs, looked at the blown glass shop, and eaten, there isn't much left to do and there are no educational activities! Fortunately there was a TI across the street and we hopped over to get a map and brochure.
Okay, enough complaining! Here are the good parts!

A view of the village as you enter. The entire town is walled in with stone walls as was common during the Middle Ages.

Once you enter through the stone gateways you can walk the cobbled streets as they wind through various shops and homes. All of the historicity has been maintained right down to the ditches along the sides of the road.

The buildings seem to have found to find the perfect balance between maintaining their historical value while also avoiding an unkempt appearance. Therefore all of the shops and homes have a quaint village feeling.

Old items used in a new way.

The village reminds me a little of Williamsburg, VA (diff time period of course). Maybe Yvoire should take a look at their business model haha.

The village was a military installation in the 1300's; however, after the Bernese took over in the 1500's the castle was burned and remained without a roof for 350 years.

The church bell was ringing in the noon hour.  The steeple architecture is from the 1800's but that ugly stainless steel was placed in the 1980's to replace the rusted tin.

After a little sightseeing, we decided to have some lunch. Upon our friend's recommendation, we wanted to have some local fare...filets de perches du lac avec frites (I hope that's right). In other words, fried fish from the lake with some french fries. It turned out to be a traditional French lunch (aka LONG).
As Americans we gobbled up our salad and then moved in on our main dish. However, as I looked around the restaurant I realized that everybody else had saved their salad for after the meal. Typical mistake I am sure. ;) Jeff and girls had ice cream for dessert and I had Creme Brulee. Afterwards we finished up with espresso. An hour and a half later, we were free! Here are some pics from our lunch:

Large platters of French Fries are both common and delicious!

filets de perches tartare

The trip to Yvoire was relaxing and fun. It was nice to get in a traditional French lunch as well. I also got to purchase some beautiful embroidered table linens at one of the shops there. All in all it was another successful, beautiful, and rewarding day!