A Train Ride to Switzerland

I love the new meme, WIT AND WISDOM. It gives you a chance to tell the story behind the photo you have chosen. It could be a true story or a fictional one. Today I am going to tell a true story.

It was an adventure of a lifetime, the three of us traveling about Europe with no itinerary, no schedule to keep, just enjoying the discovery of the old and new of a world Elbert and I had never seen. We'd checked out of our hotel on Rue de Seine that morning and walked out into a street filled with people shopping at an open air market. The scent of flowers, fish and pastries filled our nostrils with pungent scents.The sound of the french language rang in our ears as buyers bartered with the seller for their purchases.Susan and her Dad meandered across the street to a small grocer to stock up on bread, cheese and drinks for us. We would be spending the lunch hour on our way to Switzerland. 

The TGV was very fast scooting along the rails, the lovely French countryside zipping by us. Elbert loved to watch for familiar things, cows in a pasture, trees like we had back home, a farmer hard at work. Susan and I were more interested in the vineyards clinging to the sides of tall hills in the south of France or the ancient steeples on churches as we traveled through first one small town then another. The terrain was changing from the more flat land around Paris to hills, then mountains as we approached the border.

Soon our bellies began to rumble. We had let the noon hour slip by. So, Susan opened up the bags of goodies and pulled out the bread, still fragrant and warm from the oven. She slowly peeled the outer rind off each slice of cheese and placed it between slices of bread and then we began to eat. 

Suddenly it seemed so amazingly surreal to us riding along at such  speed through a country far from home, munching on cheese sandwiches as we went. We began to laugh and laugh and laugh. The thrill of the journey was a joy to behold. The three of us sharing such an adventure was a memory we would always cherish. With a smile on our face, our tummies full, we settled back to continue on to our next destination.