Exploratory Trip to Switzerland - Part I

The adventure started on Sunday, March 11 with a slow check – in to board our Air France flight to Paris. Word of caution…flying into France is quite the unique experience. For those of you willing to take us up on our offer to visit, we recommend a direct flight to Zurich or for the more adventurous types, a trip through Charles du Galle Paris could be the adventure race you are seeking! On our way home, we felt like VIP guests (or those teams in the amazing race...), personally escorted in a fast driving, knuckle gripping , caravan ride through all the back alleys of the airport in order to catch our flight. We made our flight, cleared customs and security (on two separate occasions) all thanks to our amazing driver! Ah... France!

Nonetheless, we arrived in Basel in the afternoon on the 12th to pick up our Frenchy Renault….please do not ask Robert about the engineering on this car (more French). Do check out the photo that shows how the car is started and the type of key that is used. Quite different from US standards, but a great ride nonetheless.

We realized maintaining a sense of humor early on would be the key to a successful relocation. Please check out the photo of the first flat we saw. Not quite what we had anticipated, so we both felt OK about passing on this one. Check it out!

For the next two days we searched for a flat the way you search for a full - time job...waking early, sending off applications and interviewing with each landlord prior to submitting our application. We ended up not being Swiss enough for the first flat we liked (open floor plan, huge balcony, fireplace in bedroom)...

and the second flat we thought would be great (on the Rhine, charming yellow building) was already taken by the time we went to complete the application. But as all things go - we were able to secure our third choice due to "Melinda's Swiss Accent" no this true, the landlord did say Melinda had a fabulous Swiss accent! Wow..it only took seven classes of High German to nail the accent down! So here it is...our flat.

Just kidding...this is a cool Euro furniture store with what we like to refer to as the caterpillar couches.

Here is the Our New Flat...

Part II coming soon...