Belfort, France

Things have been cooling down here in Switzerland. We have started experiencing weather in the 40's-50's. It has still been really sunny and beautiful though! We have really been embracing fall. The trees changing colors on the mountains is incredible. It is a panel of colors with the dark evergreens remaining. One night, we made a quick trip to Belfort, France.

They have a massive lion carved into rock. It is a monumental sculpture built by Frederic Bartholdi, who is the same guy who sculpted the statue of liberty. It is 22 meters long and 11 meters high. It symbolizes the heroic French resistance during the siege of Belfort. There were 40,000 Prussians and only 17,000 Frenchman(only 3,500 of these were military) and they still managed to hold off the Prussians. It was very neat to see!

It is set into the backside of a French la citadelle de la liberte. We walked all around it; it was so cool to experience the history first hand. (Dad, you would have been proud: ) We also saw some amazing views of the city from the top.

On our walk back, we couldn't resist taking a picture with a "smart car". They are everywhere in Europe! I still can't help but laugh every time I see one up close.

St. Ursanne

Todd had today off after getting home late last night after his away game. Unfortunately, they lost their game by twelve points. They played Vacallo, who were the returning Swiss/Swiss Cup Champions from previous years. They put up a good fight! Boncourt was up by 1 with twelve to play, but unfortunately they ended up losing the game. They will have a week of practice, and then they will play Massango at home on Saturday.

Since we had a spare minute, Todd and I went to visit St. Ursanne, a small town near Porrentruy. This is just one of the many quaint little towns in our areas. There is a river going through it; Todd and I had a peaceful cup of coffee next to it. St. Ursanne is a really historic town, and it is one of the only medical towns with it's town gates still intact. We saw a beautifully well-preserved Romanesque-Gothic Collegiale church. It was mysteriously gorgeous, and it had a creepy crypt in the basement!

We went on a few short hikes surrounding the city. We saw a really neat church that was set up high in the hills. We also found a hobbit door! I posted the pic for you, Ann. Our trip wore us out, so we came home and proceeded to eat a brick of cheese, roll of sausage, and package of crackers. : )

le jardin botanique (botanical garden)

One of things I love most about Switzerland is their use of flowers. As I said before, there are large pots of flowers on every corner and median. Many people place boxes of flowers in their apartment windows. It makes the town incredibly beautiful and colorful. In our small town of Porrentruy, there is a wonderful botanical garden. This garden is over 200 years old and has hundreds of different plants and flowers. Since I am obsessed with flowers, I absolutely love it! I often walk here while Todd is at practice to read, pray, and reflet. The garden has a magical atmosphere. There is a really great bench that has a view over all of Porrentruy. Todd is going back to his roots with the marigolds!

Bonjour de Suisse!

Hello Everyone!
We have now been in Switzerland for over a month, and we are loving it! Switzerland is one of the most beautiful, picturesque places we have ever seen. Everytime we turn around, there is another photo opportunity. We have been discovering Porrentruy, the city our apartment is located in. It is a city of about 7000; it has a nice, small town feel to it. There is a fairly large down-town area with many shops and cafes. Everything is amazing clean and orderly. They have potted flowers on every street corner and in many of the windows of buildings. The buildings are painted colors, and many times the shutters will be painted a bright contrasting color. It doesn't look gaudy; it looks amazing! It really feels as though we were plopped into a fairy tale story. The city itself is set in a plateau, so it is surrounded by rolling "hills". Those of us from the midwest would call them mountains. : ) There are many farms with cattle and crops surrounding our town. It is an amazingly serene atmosphere.
Unfortunately because of it's small size, no one in our town speaks English! We are quickly picking up French, due to lack of any other communication. It has been a really neat experience being apart of this community. The people seem friendly, and they really have welcomed us. Many times they will stop us, and try to ask if Todd plays basketball for Boncourt. The other day, a lady pointed and said, "You are number 15!" It is really amazing how supportive they are towards the Basketball team. The first season home game was last Saturday, and it was so fun to see the fans energy and applause. Todd has been playing really well; it is exciting to see the team progress together. They have an away game in Geneva this Wednesday. This is a link for a quick video about their game last Saturday. They played the best team in the league!