In Basel

June 3, 2024

Today was a big day for me: I conquered a French laundromat. I had help, of course. The owner happened to be there and led me from station to station, which was not intuitive to me but which was explained on signs in three languages, English being one of them.

I even had assistance when trying to decide which bottle of water to get from the vending machine. I think it was the owner’s wife who said in English, “Do you need help?” To which I replied, “Always.” That got me an understanding smile.

After that adventure I joined Hannah in Basel to sit on various benches along the Rhine. She read or people-watched or stared at the river flowing by. I sketched or people-watched or stared at the river flowing by or nodded off listening to a book. Sometimes one or the other of us would start a short conversation. Eventually we moved to a new bench and started the routine all over again. What a great time.

The Basel Münster from across the Rhine.

Pretty high water from big recent rains. I don’t think the water usually comes up so close to this bench.

Alex joined us for dinner when her workday was done. Then we took the tram back to Saint-Louis. Well, not all the way. The tram stopped just short of the border. Every night we dined in Basel, took the tram, got off at the end of the line, then walked the rest of the way to our respective lodgings, crossing into France without fuss.

The gals showed me this fine sculpture:

The frontier from the Switzerland side. Never saw it staffed.

Blind contour drawings are done without looking down at the paper. It’s a good exercise. I looked down to put in the details. Okay, maybe I looked down a few other times.

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