Hervé's 40th birthday weekend

For Hervé's 40th birthday weekend, Mother Nature gave him the gift of perfect weather. Notice the clear blue sky behind the clock tower at the fortified village of Le Landeron. Notice, also, that the clock shows 7 o'clock, the time for our dinner reservation. There is a reason the punctual Swiss refer to "L'heure suisse" (Swiss time).

Just at the entrance to Le Landeron is a flowered fountain. Pictured are Bryn and Alicia. Not pictured is Brandon, who ducked down behind the fountain just before the picture was to be taken.

The family version of the birthday dinner took place Friday night at L'escarbot (The Scarab Beetle), a restaurant that is recognized in the Michelin Red Guide to fine eating in Switzerland. [Brandon still would not cooperate for a family picture!]

Everyone chose filet of sanglier (wild pig) as the main course. The presentation was very artistic (clockwise from the bottom left, chestnuts, fruit, fois grasse, gourd filled with cooked squash, mushrooms, an apple slice with berry sauce and a warm fruit gravy for the filet . The filet in the middle of the plate was covered in a filo pastry (like beef Wellington) with a parsley sprig, a chive spear and a flower draped over it.

Saturday was another sunny day to host a party for about 40 family friends at home. This is the view from the terrace across the Bernese Oberland to the Munck, Jungfrau and Eiger (about 60 km away!) just before the guests arrived.

The patio was arranged with tables of cheeses and savories. A half dozen types of wines were available for adult guests.

Here Bryn and Sandra talk to Ling and Raphael (the parents of Brandon's close friend, Sophie).

As the sun fell over the Jura, the mountains in the Bernese Alps became progressively redder.

Returning to the conversation around the savory table, the almost 6 foot tall boy in the middle is Brandon's cousin, Gregory.

It's almost sundown and the mountains are becoming still redder - a constant topic of conversation as wine is sipped.

Here the mountains are at their reddest as the shadow of the setting sun creeps up their sides.

The sun has set, but it is not dark. That's because, as the sun disappears from view behind the Jura mountains to the west, there is lots of light on the plain. The children guests use the skeleton of the trampoline to demarcate a play area.

It is now dark and Bryn pours the champagne to toast Hervé's birthday. There were five birthday cakes to share: two store bought cakes, two home made (by Bryn) and one home made (by Sandra) cake. Sandra was pleased to see her cake was completely eaten before much of a start had been made on the store bought cakes!

The children guests gathered round the TV after dark while the adults continued to talk and sip wine on the terrace.