A trip to Europe continues...

We enjoyed some of the French dishes and tea parties in open restaurants on the roadside. Thomas Cook took us round the places worth visiting. We used to take long walks on some of the famous roads of Paris on the banks of the Seine. We made a trip to the palace of Varsailles where the peace treaty after the First World War was signed and where the diplomats of all the nations used to meet. I went round a few gardens growing French pears and apples but could not order the plants as I knew no French. From Paris, I travelled by train to Switzerland and stayed in a hotel on Lake Lucern. From there, I travelled by bus through mountain regions and glaciers to Interlaken and took a trip to the famous Mount Yungfra. We were taken there by a funicular train which went inside the mountain to a
height of about 14,000 feet. Its last halt was at the top of the snow-bound mountain. A beautiful hotel had been built there and through the glass frame of the hotel we could see glaciers all around us. On some of these glaciers one could enjoy rides on carts driven by goats and could do skating as well.

I spent one day in this hotel. The difficulty was how to order food as the Swiss manageress of the hotel and her staff knew no English. After a good deal of effort, they were able to understand the word ‘lamb’ and gave me delicious lamb cutlets and omelet. The bread and butter supplied in that hotel were as good as I had enjoyed anywhere. From Yungfra, I returned to Interlaken and then took a trip by train and bus to Verona in north Italy via St. Morits, a health resort. In Yerona, I met my friend laganNath who had arranged my stay in a hotel, while he himself was living in a nursing home. I stayed there a few days till his treat-
ment was complete.

to be continued...