I'm just popping off to France for a bit.

Woke up pretty late this morning. I use the term 'morning' loosely. Jun cooked some delicious pasta for us to eat on our journey and we set off to Evian. The name Evian may be ringing bells in some peoples' heads because it's a very popular brand of bottled water. Well guess where it comes from? Evian, France. Which is where we were headed.

We arrived at Ouchy to catch the ferry which only takes 35 minutes. 35 minutes to travel from Switzerland to France! What a luxury. No smelly planes. That's the Swiss flag flowing next to me, by the way. The weather was beautiful and later on that day I actually got sunburnt. Can you believe it? I only had to travel to another country to get sunburnt. It's only light but it's there! So on the boat and marvelling at the lovely town of Lausanne getting smaller and smaller as we swim across the lake. It's funny how much different the town of Lausanne looks to Evian. Just the architecture of the buildings is quite interesting. We pulled ashore at Evian, getting our passports out, ready for inspection - but there was none! If you want to skip the border and enter into France illegally - do it here! The Europeans' are so relaxed about all this is really nice. So trusting.

Jun and I walked along the lakeside (in France - can't say that enough) and this little town is so beautiful! Nothing is out of place here. No rubbish or stray leaves on the grass. Every hedge is cut into perfection. Flowers everywhere with big bumble bees buzzing (lot of 'b's there). It was so nice. I was feeling ready for another ice-cream (I had already had one before we left Lausanne) but Jun and I realized we didn't have any Euros! Whoops. Totally didn't think about that. We were stuck with our Swiss Francs. It didn't matter because Jun had made delicious pasta for us to picnic on so we sat looking over the vast lake and ate lunch. It was so good sitting in the sun (though later I was burnt) feeling warm and full just relaxing. We were sitting next to a mini golf course so people would putt putt past us muttering in French. I'm not doing so badly with the French side of things. I mean Jun asks for most things but if I were here on my own I can manage the basics. I know basic words to get me by - who would have thought I listened, to some extent, in French class?

After this we kept pottering about the town and were trying to find the actual spring where Evian water comes from. We walked up and down the high street and then found an alleyway that led further up the hill. The whole town is on an inclining slope - doh. We heaved ourselves up and found the spring! Well it's just a little spouting tap but it has a plaque and everything and was found in 1786 or so. This is where the water comes from and the whole town here uses this water. It's free and we had to wait in line whilst the little old ladies of the town came forward with their 12 big bottles to fill up. I don't think anyone here pays for tap water considering they can get it all for free here. I think the shopkeepers of the town buy empty Evian water bottles, fill them up here for free and sell them to unsuspecting tourists. I would. After waiting in line for a while I got to fill up my one little bottle. Okay it was worth the wait. The water is so good! I mean water is pretty standard but this was cool, crisp water. This water tasted nothing like the awful health water at Bath. Jun and I agree that it's the water of immortality so we're going to be living forever. So far so good.

We climbed up to the very top of the hill to look out over the town and lake in its entirety. Great view. Sat on the grass for a while and just relaxed. It was 5 by this time and it still broad daylight. It still freaks me out. We walked the other way along the river while we waited for the ferry to arrive and then said our goodbyes to France. I'll be back! Don't you worry!

Back in Switzerland once more... we walked back to the bus stop and caught the bus back. I actually tried to buy a ticket this time but the machine wouldn't accept my coins so it's fate telling me I don't need to buy tickets for public transport. So there.

Jun made a delicious dinner of sweet chili stir fry and we settled down to watch X-men and hit the hay.