Just a few weeks ago I received an email from a genealogist in Switzerland. He found a 1928 photo I posted online of some distant cousins in Wisconsin and wanted some details. I sorted out his enquiries and he was most grateful. He said ‘If you’re ever in the Bernese Alps, drop in.’
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the ‘if you’re ever in XYZ drop in’ invitation or how many times I’ve said it. I rarely take up the offer and people rarely take up my offer. But this time I replied back. ‘As a matter of fact we WILL be in the Bernese Alps in a couple of weeks’, I wrote. Paul wrote back and strongly encouraged us to visit him and see his 250-year-old Swiss chalet.
Padma’s brother, Diwaker, and his family are visiting and we stayed on Lake Thun in Bernese Alps for a few days. Paul’s house is just across the lake from our AirBnB so we accepted his offer for ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’. I had some concerns about dragging the extended family of seven to the home of someone I only knew as a result of a couple of emails, but somehow I had a feeling that we would all click.
And as soon as he opened the door of his massive chalet on our arrival with a most heartfelt welcome, I knew my gut feeling was right. Paul greeted us warmly and learned seven new names. The light was fading so he started the house tour right away.
His home was built in the late 1700s and was occupied by a senator after Napoleon invaded Switzerland in 1799. The senator set up the house as a depot for a lucrative salt trade. We went up crickety stairs to the attic where the hams were smoked and the cheeses cured. Paul showed us the room – now his library – where the floor marks of the senator’s desk still remained and where he conducted his salt negotiations.
It took almost an hour to see every room in that ancient chalet and hear Paul’s stories. Paul grew up in Ogden, Utah and like many Mormons took a passion for genealogy and got a BSc in the field as well as an MSc in library sciences. He then came to his mother’s native land of Switzerland 50 years ago to study Swiss history and largely remained in the area and worked in Bern until he retired in 2010.
Paul and his partner, Kurt, bought the old chalet 20 years ago and began to restore it to its mighty splendour. But the house suddenly became very very large and very very lonely for Paul when Kurt died of pulmonary fibrosis three years ago. So when seven Aussies converged at his place during the holidays he was tickled pink he could once again fill the dining table with boisterous visitors who very much enjoyed his ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’.
You could visibly see the disappointment on Paul’s face when I announced that we had to get moving to travel to our chalet on the other side of the lake before dark as it was up a narrow and treacherous road. We all could have sat all night and hear his stories and learn of the history of the region.
We bid Paul farewell after a most joyous visit and all decided that there are times when it definitely pays to ‘drop in if you’re in the neighbourhood’.
