We enjoyed our trip (22 Feb to 25 Feb, 2012) The next 9 pictures....

....were taken on our way home, via, Marseille, Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo and we stayed in a Marriott Hotel in Torino, Italy before crossing the Swiss Alps to get back home--to Switzerland.

Here we are near/in the Mediterranean Sea....

....during the month of February.  It was COLD.

This small sail boat was grounded....

....on a sand bar and couldn't get free.

We walked through some beautiful gardens...

right near the casino.  This is a giant lizard fountain.

This is a license plate from the....

....country of Monaco. (Remember Pricness Grace Kelly?)

The famous casino from a distance....

.....Monte Carlo is in the country of Monaco.

The famous casino of Monte Carlo....

.....lots of fancy cars and expensive shopping.

The Swiss Alps from the Italian side....

....lucky there was a tunnel to go through to get back home. (Switzerland)

This is at the Palace of the Popes....

....in Avignon, France.

Home of the Popes...

....in Avignon, France.

We stayed in the city of Avignon, France. This city was.....

....was the home for the Pope of the Catholic Church for 67 years.

Following the strife between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, and the death after only eight months of his successor Benedict XI, a deadlocked conclave finally elected Clement V, a Frenchman, as pope in 1309. Clement declined to move to Rome, remaining in France, and then moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy".^[2][3] A total of seven popes reigned at Avignon; all were French, and all were increasingly under the influence of the French crown. Finally in 1377 Gregory XI moved his court to Rome, officially ending the Avignon papacy.

This Roman Arena was build in 70 AD.....

...it was used for gladiator fights, and the killing of Christians and wild animals.  Some of the stories we heard were very barbaric.  They said that they had to till the sand every once in a while to make it so the blood didn't create such an evil stench.  People would watch this for hours on end.

This gladiator has lots of protection....

....I think the life expectancy of a gladiator was about 25 years.

This is one of the best preserved Roman Temples.

It was first dedicated in 16 BC.

This temple was dedicated to Caesar's two sons....

....Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar.

This Roman aqueduct was built in the 1st century over the river Gard....

....it carried 44 million gallons of fresh water a day to 50,000 people of Nimes, France.

The aqueduct decends only 56 feet over the 31 mile length....

....the bridge itself is only 1 inch lower from one side to the other.

These wedge shaped protrusions at the base......

....has allowed the aqueduct bridge to avoid being destroyed by floods.

This is at the castellum divisorum...

....where the water was sent on it's way into the city.  The highest priority went to homes, and then to city buildings and baths, etc..

The aqueduct bridge is bowed upstream...

.....to withstand the stresses of the river.  Quite an engineering feat for almost 2000 years ago.

In the 1200's it was used as a toll bridge.....

.....by the Lords and Bishops of the area.

In 1850 Napolean III had the bridge repaired; stairs & walk way added; etc.....

....this bridge has survived 3 major floods in the last century.

We took our Elders out for a tour of the chocolate & cheese factories...

....and then for lunch at McDonalds.  They were very happy.   Eld. Kusseling (left) is from Paris and Eld. Coenen is from Belgium.

We saw over 30 planes on the frozen lake.....

.....right in front of my cousin's chalet.

These planes were taking off and landing....

....every 2-3 minutes on the frozen lake.

This is the ski area right across the lake....

....from my cousin's chalet.

This is how much snow is piled up in front.....

....of Urs/Anita's chalet.

This is our fly swatter, stuck in the snow, on our patio...

....the fly swatter is 18 inches long and less than 5" is sticking out.

Latest Swiss food product that is undergoing...

.....careful scrutiny by an experienced pie crust eater.  (not Jo Ann)

When I was young, we always had a little rhubarb patch...

.... and besides pies, my Mother always made rhubarb sauce.  Here it is with apples.  (Pomme is the French word for apple)  Pretty tasty I might add.

This is our patio.....

....we have about 8' - 10" of wind blown snow on it.

Here's a picture taken from our balcony....

....they call these mountains the pre-Alps.

I'm becoming a connaisseur of.....

.....baked pie crust.  This container is half empty (or half full for us positive attitude people) before I got a chance to take the picture.  (Yummy!)  ....and I still can't tempt Jo Ann.

The last book and the last page.....

......of over 1,600,000,000 records, completed on Jan. 31, 2012.