Back in Paris

So we slacked a little bit in posting on our last couple days in Switzerland. We were just enjoying ourselves way too much! Some highlights:

On Friday Josh and I took the train to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It is almost as beautiful as Zurich and just as charming to visit. We explored the old town and climbed the impossibly high tower of the Munster, affording an amazing aerial view of the city. Those spiral stairs were scary, though. A view from the top:

View from the other side of the tower, Alps in the background:

We also visited the famous bear pits which have housed the bears that give the city its name for hundreds of years. I felt bad for them, but they were really funny to watch as they effortlessly caught food thrown down to them. (The food was specially sold for the bears... no nasty people food to harm them, never fear!)

Pedro the bear waiting to catch food in his mouth.

After an interesting Shabbat experience at the Reform congregation -- Josh accepted an aliyah and made such an impression that he was invited to return to lead High Holiday services! -- we opted to take an overnight train back to Paris. We booked two spots in the "couchette" car, i.e. the sleep cars with six beds to a compartment. The train left at 11pm, and we were alone in the cabin... or so we thought. Two more couples got on at different stops during the ride. It was noisy, cramped, and turbulent. We didn't sleep a wink, and arrived in Paris at 7am in a state of utter exhaustion. We crawled back to the apartment and back into bed to sleep until mid-morning!

With Evelyne and Thibaut, our gracious hosts, at the train station before our educational experience with the "couchettes."

Post-napping, we dragged ourselves out to the Marais section of the city and did a walking tour. We felt like we were back in Jerusalem in the Jewish Quarter, where falafel and "chawarma" stands abound. Most interesting was the extensive and moving Shoah memorial which is also a WWII education center.

As for New Year's Eve... well, we were so zonked from our night of no sleep, we decided to stay in and celebrate quietly with a funny French New Year's Eve program on TV. We did do a lot today but this post is so long so I'll update tomorrow. Happy 2007 everyone!!!