We didn’t do that.

Instead we ventured off into the unknown with our trusty guide Paul Koch, to find the Frauenfelder heritage.

Billie’s progenitors arrived to the US from an area in Switzerland close to the town of Frauenfeld (hence the name). So a major piece of the genesis of this trip was a visit to the ancestral seat. We arranged to be gone from the tour group for a day and Billie did some research – finding Paul. Between the two of them they not only delved more deeply into the heritage, but they found current family members farming in the nearby town of Henggart. So a plan fell into place.

Paul would pick us up at the hotel at the appointed hour and whisk us away to a visit to the farm, the namesake town, and a few other interesting sites in the area before returning us to the warm and loving arms of our tour group.

That’s the plan

The reality:
– Saturday 6 September is the running of the Jungfrau Marathon.
– The marathon starts in front of our hotel.
– The festivities start at 8:00 with the starting gun at 9:00.
– In order to meet somewhere other than in front of the hotel, we agreed to walk to the West train station and meet there at 8:45.
– 1. Paul had a heck of a time getting into town because of all the blocked off streets
– 2. Once the starting gun sounded the runners circled the parasail landing field and headed directly for…
– 3. So, we got to shoot photos and video of the cowbell ringers while we waited for the runners to pass and the street to clear.

Eventually the last of the runners came thru, the roadblocks were removed, and Paul was able to get to us.
After a short bio break we were off on our adventure ensconced in the luxury of his Mercedes.

It took a while to get to Henggart but Paul is a great story teller so the miles flew by.
Arriving in the village we found the farm and were met by Michael and daughter Nora.

We had a great visit – learned a lot about their farm life and their plans for the future.

Currently they grow some pretty interesting crops: Corn, potatoes, sugar beats, wheat, asparagus.
We checked. They are just over 47 degrees north latitude, 4 degrees higher than Caldwell. And their weather patterns are similar. So it makes sense that they would be growing the same crops that are so familiar to us.
Which also makes sense for Michael’s newest venture – wine grapes.

Eventually it was time for us to move on (and it was time for them to get back to the grape and pumpkin harvest – and Michael to his latest project – turning the old milking shed into a tasting room).
So we said a fond goodbye to new friends and headed for Fraunfeld.

And lunch.

He and I split an order of really very good grilled liver.
We couldn’t sell the concept to the women so they settled for prawns.

After lunch we wandered a bit – tracking down the old family church.
Along the way we found the old castle (Schloss).

Our next site called so it was back in the car and on the road – to Zurich.

This one was for me and I’m eternally grateful to Billie and Cheryl for allowing it to happen.
The original plan for the day (before we learned about the farm) was to spend some time in Zurich. I did a bit of preliminary research and learned that the Fraumunster church there has a set of windows designed by Marc Chagall. I put an early bid in to include those in the itinerary. However, with the addition of the farm it was deemed too much to go to Zurich.
However, my favorite women talked to Paul and agreed to miss a couple of other sites in order to see the windows.

They were incredible and powerful and it was such a treat to sit and marvel at these great works.

‘Then they went home.’

Actually our objective on our way out of town was to take a short bio break before hitting the road.
Sadly, our initial efforts were thwarted in that regard, so we ended up visiting Paul’s apartment, meeting his husband Larry (the subject of many of the stories), and taking care of business before hitting the road.

It was a truly fun and fulfilling day. Paul is a GEM! (By the way he grew up in Indiana and graduated from DePaul University.) Meeting the Frauenfelders was special. The liver was melt-in-your-mouth amazing. The windows are over the top. And the company was first rate.
Yep, it was a good day.

We didn’t feel like going out for dinner so we just headed up to the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. (Good, but nothing to write home about). We did however, have a great view of our friend.

After dinner we retired to our room to open one of the bottles Michael blessed us with.

It’s an excellent wine. We see great things in their future.

So that’s today.
Tomorrow we get wet and high.

Till then…
R