Once Upon A Time There Was A Cute Little Town Called Murten

Once upon a time (1100’s), there was a town founded by Duke Berchtold that fell under the protection of the Count of Savoy, that was burned, rebuilt (in stone) and proclaimed its loyalty to the towns of Berne and Fribourg.  This town was called Murten (Morat in French).  It was so cute that in 1476, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy wanted it.  In complete honesty, I think he wanted it for reasons other than its cuteness.  Nevertheless, it is pretty cute.

Once upon a time (1100’s), there was a town founded by Duke Berchtold that fell under the protection of the Count of Savoy, that was burned, rebuilt (in stone) and proclaimed its loyalty to the towns of Berne and Fribourg.  This town was called Murten.  It was so cute that in 1476, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy wanted it.  In complete honesty, I think he wanted it for reasons other than its cuteness.  Nevertheless, it is pretty cute.

Charles the Bold (he was called bold for a reason) besieged the town, but was defeated by the Swiss in 1484.  Swiss towns had previously made pacts to protect each other.  When Charles the Bold came, it was time for them to put their money where their mouth was.  Being Swiss, they (a) took money rather seriously and (b) kept their promise.*  The other towns came to Murten’s aid and they kicked Charles the Bold’s heiney.**   Et voila, modern Switzerland was born.

From 1484 on, and for 300 years, Murten is ruled by the two states, Berne and Fribourg.

Cute litte Murten was not left to its happy ending quite yet, the French invaded the town in 1798.  Napoleon gave the town to Fribourg (sorry Berne).  Ultimately, our hero lived happily and cutely ever after (more or less).  It doesn’t hurt that it is on a gorgeous lake and has preserved its history (castle, ring wall and streets).

*At least that’s how the story goes.

**The Swiss became sought-after mercenaries and were the guns you wanted to hire for centuries.  In fact, the Swiss Guard, modern-day Swiss mercenaries, protect the pope.

 

The Scariest Post Ever – Me With Clippers

Just in time for Halloween, we bring you the scariest post yet.  He hasn’t had a haircut in over 2 months (not scary).  This is not some new cost-saving measure brought about by high Swiss prices.* He has been working so much that the barber shops are closed by the time he leaves the office.  They close at 7:00 p.m.  He just hasn’t been able to sneak away early to get a cut.  We haven’t been in Geneva most Saturdays and everything is closed on Sundays so those days have been out.  It was driving him nuts so…

I got out the clippers to do a touch up.  Very scary.  For some reason, I look just a bit too excited.

 

I blurred our laundry hanging dry

When we first were married, we were really, really broke. To save money, I tried cutting his hair a couple of times.  After two attempts, we decided that no matter how broke we were, it was better for our marriage if we just sprung for his cuts.

I don’t have any pictures of the actual trim because I was concentrating so hard.  I couldn’t have handled doing anything else.  Check out the finished product.  Doesn’t it look a bit neater?

The finished product from the front

He is looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6:00 a.m. the next morning as he gets ready to head off to a big day at the cracker factory.  While I definitely don’t have a career as a stylist in front of me, he is sporting a better haircut than I am!

*We did have a guy friend pay +/- 90 CHF ($103) for a trim.