Cully, Switzerland - Day 1

A journey of 5000 miles should end with 1 step, not 5000 steps. The trip started super smoothly.
- Flew 5000 miles to Paris (free wine even in cattle class!)
- Deftly navigated the Paris subway to Gare de Lyon (Lyon Station)
[Although not quickly. I have no idea why we stopped at Parc des Expositions for 30 minutes. And at times the train moved so slowly that I think I could have bicycled faster.]
- Rode the TGV (really fast train) 323 miles to Lausanne
- Rode the commuter train (not so fast) 6 miles to Cully

And then I was almost there. But I didn't know it.
Here's a picture from the train station.

But Google Maps didn't know there was a walking path straight up the hill to my destination. So my walking directions had me going to the right and zigzagging up the hill to approach my destination from the other side as a car would have to do. Yeah, I know. Walking directions are still in beta. I was going to say, buyer beware. But since the directions are free, I guess I'll say, freeloader beware!

I would have still been okay. Just a 10 minute walk. But I must have zigged where I should have zagged as I just kept climbing the hillside. Carrying my two bags--one on each shoulder. I finally realized I was lost and decided to call my host. I had planned ahead and had Verizon turn on global telephone service for my phone. But even though I had the phone number and phone service, I couldn't figure out how to dial the number! I didn't know I needed an international prefix. I'm in Switzerland calling Switzerland. But as far as the phone system knows, I'm calling from a USA phone number.

Pro tip: 011 (international prefix) 41 (country code for Switzerland) number

I hadn't enabled global data service on my phone because it's two arms and one leg per kilobyte. So I couldn't just google for dialing instructions. And you can't enable data service on the phone itself. You have to do that from another phone. So it's a real adventure now without the internet to help me!

Fortunately, I had printed out my walking directions, so I started looking for someone to ask for help. I knew my 10 words of French wouldn't get me very far, but I was able to say the address and point on my map and get some help from a well-tanned fellow taking a smoke break. He pointed down the hill back to where I had started. He suggested I take the path down through the vineyards. The hillside is mostly vineyards and a few houses. Not wanting to zagzig back down, I took his advice and started down a narrow concrete path. Well, the path turns and turns outlining a rectangular path down the hill. At one point the path became a retaining wall about 4 feet down on one side. I just kept walking with my two shoulder bags being very glad I hadn't brought a suitcase with wheels.

I finally got to the house. Now, I have to tell you how thick the plot really is. The host isn't actually home, so he asked a friend to meet me at the house and let me in. Sure, no problem. I booked this months ago, he had to go out of town, no problem. He had someone to cover. But I was 45 minutes late and his friend had to go. Some kids to pick up, I found out later. I think she made the right call getting her kids over waiting for the lost American.

I was there. I had a plan. I had the wifi password. I was able to get my phone on the wifi from the back yard and have the internet at my fingertips. I checked if my friend, Martine, was on Facebook. Martine and her husband, J.C. are the reason I'm here in Switzerland. They recommended the Cully Jazz Festival as a good time to visit. They don't live in Cully, but in another town outside Lausanne somewhere. I figured Martine would know how to call a local phone number. She called the friend. Wrong number. She called the host. No answer. I looked around briefly for a hidden key. No luck. I thought of asking the neighbor in the shared duplex. But the host had said to be considerate of the neighbors and enter though the side gate. Had I approached from the front I would have seen that the neighbor left a note for me on the front door!

As I was pondering how long I was willing to camp out in the yard, the host called me. There was a hidden key and I took the last step of my journey as I passed through the door way.