Maison d'Ailleurs, Yverdon-les-Bains

Today, I took the train to Yverdon-les-Bains, a 40 minute ride north of Lausanne gare. This was my first solo excursion -evidently no one in my circle of friends is interested in science fiction, which will have to change. This brings me to the point of my story - the Maison d'Ailleurs, or the "House of Elsewhere." It already sounds cool; I know. You wish that you had gone.

The reason why I went to this rather incredible museum - the only one of its kind in the world - is because the intelligent people of the metro decided to post a publicity of the main exhibit in a few of its trains. Immediately after seeing the words "illustrator of Alice and Wonderland," I knew that my destiny was to go to Yverdon-les-Bains and learn about the history of science fiction and, specifically, to marvel at the works of Mervyn Peake.

Never have I seen an artist with such talent in expression and mastery of the human form. He understood how a small change in the face could create beauty or monstrosity, how a simple line in the mouth could transform a smile into a grimace. I cannot get over how detailed his drawings were: the cross-hatching lines must have taken days to complete, and the shading and contrast made everything seem so much more real. I took great delight in reading his tale of "Captain Slaughterboard," as well as his "Rhymes without Reason."

We can sometimes take for granted these beautiful drawings, but if it wasn't for the illustrations in children's books, we would often lose that sense of transformation into another world - full of fantastic adventures, strange creatures, and heroic battles. It can be depressing to think that real illustration is becoming a dying art due to the invention of high-tech computer programs. The next time you read Grimm's fairy tales, take a look at those pen strokes; those artists who took a physical pen to paper deserve recognition for their imaginative vision.

Celebration of the Weekend: This Calls for Pie!

After finding this lovely recipe on the internet, I prepared my first tart-style pie. The results? You can see for yourself and decide!
http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2009/10/french-apple-tart.html

The completed tart with a strawberry rhubarb glaze.

The proud chef! I was surprised at how well it turned out...the edges were perfectly browned, the apples were caramelized and soft, and ohhhh...the crust. We will get to that in a moment.

Because I only had margarine, I had to make a small substitution. As a result, the crust was fluffy, flaky, buttery, and absolutely the most remarkable creation ever. The layers simple melted in your mouth, and it had such a light texture that it perfectly complemented the soft, tart apples and the sweet glaze of the jam.
Of course, I couldn't eat it all on my own for risk of gaining half a ton. Plus, it's more fun to share!

This is one pie that I will have to make many times. It was a great success!

Recycling Discovery #2

Of note: This was the recycling container for water cups at the Nyon museum. I was so overjoyed, I had to take pictures!
Think about recycling, place your used cups in the tube.

Only for used plastic cups.

Evidence that someone cares!

Andrew visits: Yvoire, Nyon, La Chaux-de-Fonds

This weekend, Andrew paid me a visit all the way from Washington, DC!
On Thursday, he arrived at the Lausanne train station exhausted and ready for a nice nap after being in transit for so many long hours. He recounted the extensive journey from London to Geneva, which involved changing of many trains, buses, planes, and other modes of transportation. Unfortunately, I had to go to class quickly after his arrival, but that also gave him a chance to recuperate from his previous adventures in the UK. When I returned, we first went to the museum at La Place de la Riponne, where they had a Darwinist exhibition, among other fine museum artifacts. It cost 4 CHF (almost nothing!) to see the museum of architecture, archeology (including a lock of Napoleon's hair), money (mostly ancient coins), zoology (with jars of mutant cats and stuffed owls), geology (gorgeous, shiny, brilliant crystals and precious stones), paleontology (fossils, bones, and ancient natural structures), and others (which I cannot recall at the moment). We learned a lot about Swiss heritage and native flora and fauna, which served as a nice comparison to those of the United States. After our nice tour of the museum, we took a relaxing pause at Le Barbare, the cafe with the famous hot chocolate. We were in heaven with the rich, pudding-like goodness of the warm chocolate. It really is a heavenly experience. We had some nice conversation in the cafe but then promptly returned to my apartment for a quick bite to eat before meeting some of my exchange friends at le Satellite, the local bar/lounge on the EPFL campus. We spent the evening chatting with people from all over the world, and the bar was very lively with old American pop hits playing over the speakers and people letting go the stresses of the school day.
On Friday, we took a boat from Nyon, Switzerland, to Yvoire, France, a small medieval village that used to be completely protected by stone walls. We were not aware, however, that the season of tourism influenced the frequency of the boat trips, so we arrived only to find that we had 40 minutes until the last boat departed from Yvoire back to Nyon. We were able to see quite a bit of the village and to take nice pictures of the medieval structures, albeit the short amount of time, though, and we also found a persimmon tree, where we pilfered this strange fruit to take home and try. It was quite an effort climbing over the mossy stone wall, but we succeeded in grabbing one! (After letting it ripen over the weekend, we tasted it, but, to our chagrin, it was rather disgusting. Due to its strong tannins, the fruit was very astringent and it sucked all the water out of our mouths. It had the same effect as novocaine.) So, after taking a train to another city to only spending 40 minutes in France, you might ask if this time was wasted. I would have to say that this was not the case. We took great delight in returning to Nyon to spend the afternoon in a lovely nautical museum near the lakeside, only to find that our tickets were also valid (for up to a year!) to the fine art museum as well as the ancient ceramic museum found in the Nyon castle. Because it was late in the afternoon, we did not have time to explore the other museums, but I hope to use the tickets in the future and profit from this wonderful little city! After everything had closed, we walked around the city center and purchased (my first!) roasted chestnuts. To be honest, I don't know why I never tried them before...maybe it is because Iowa seems to be lacking in these delicious treats, but they were quite delectable, and we happened to chance upon them once again on our weekend excursion to la Chaux-de-Fonds.
So, you may be wondering where la Chaux-de-Fonds is found on the map. It is a very small city in the northeastern part of Switzerland in the canton of Neuchâtel. My Tandem partner, Valentin, invited us to stay in his parents' chalet at la Tête-de-Ran (in the canton of Jura) for the weekend. "Jura" refers to the jurassic era, when the tectonic plates caused the region to become very hilly with many peaks and valleys. We took this opportunity to eat molten cheese, hike through Swiss hills (where we saw an expansive view of the city of la Chaux-de-Fonds), and learn a bit more about Swiss culture - idiomatic expressions, dining customs, etc. We also had the chance to explore the Musee d'Horlogerie (watch museum) and les moulins souterrains (underground mills). If you take a peek at the photo album, you will understand more about the watchmaking industry as well as the underground mill process.
On Sunday, Valentin's parents were gracious enough to pay our way for the underground mills and a tour of the city, as well as to prepare a wonderful dinner of pasta with pesto and shredded cheese, lamb chops, and fennel and carrot salad on Sunday evening. We thanked them heartily for such a wonderful stay, and we departed with Valentin and his girlfriend, Vanessa, for our return back to Lausanne. I have to say that it is rare to find such generous hosts, but I often find them here in Switzerland. I think that maybe their beautiful country and their high quality of life makes them appreciate and enjoy the little things enough to share their joy with others. Although I did not initially expect it, I have made friends with Swiss people with relative ease, and, overall, I find them to be kind-hearted and incredibly generous.

Les Caves Ouvertes and Extraterrestrial Visitors

This Saturday, EPFL Xchange took a trip to the vineyards in Gland, Switzerland, for a day of wine tasting, called "Les Caves Ouvertes." We bought a glass that was our ticket to 24 vineyards. After having taken the train and then the shuttle bus to Vitzel, we ambled along cobblestone roads and through autumn-colored grape vines to get to each "cave." Unfortunately, it rained all day, so we often ran to seek refuge in the warm indoors. We were lucky enough to find many with fireplaces and large tables for our group. They were also generous in offering us bread and cheese in almost every place.

We learned a bit about how the wine was made - in the wooden barrel pictured in the album, it takes 10,000 L of grape juice to fill the barrel! We were going to be enginerds and figure out, according to estimation of the volume of the average grape, how many grapes were required to fill the barrel, but we were too tired from drinking all that wine. All in all, we managed to visit 9 caves and were thoroughly content to return to Lausanne.

Afterwards, there was an alien-themed party at one of our friends' apartments, and they covered the floor in red paper and had amazing lamps and craters made of papier maché. It was great to see the creativity of the costumes, and we had a lot of fun dancing the night away!

This guy used squash balls to make his super-power orb martian costume.

Leticia brought some music from all over the world. She is a big fan of 20's music like Django Reinhardt.

Gil and his alien costume.

Melanie and Emmanuele, our fashionable hosts.

I'm a friendly alien!