Yass Sir!

Our friends Nick and Hanni and their son Michael came down from Switzerland for Easter weekend.  Nick and I worked together at Silicon Graphics and later Nick and Val both worked for the Swiss government, so it was kind of old home week.  We’ve kept in touch over the years and this is the second time the family has stayed with us in Provence.

Another former Silicon Graphics colleague has a home in the area so we invited him and his wife for dinner, plus Sara and Christian.

We’d been here barely a week and we were already hosting a dinner for nine?  What were we thinking?

Luckily, everyone got along famously.  And it was quite the international affair, with citizens of France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and the US around the table.  The common language was French so that’s what we spoke, though I realized quickly that mine is still a bit rusty.  Good thing wine is an excellent lubricant.

During the dinner, Christian mentioned that he is a sculptor and the next thing we knew, Nick and Hanni had bought one of his works!  You never know what will happen when you introduce friends to each other.

The next day we went with Nick, Hanni and Michael to the big Sunday market at L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue, then came home and got down to the important stuff – Jass.

Jass is the national card game of Switzerland and the Swiss take it very, very seriously.  One day in Switzerland we had a snack at a café and some old guys were playing at the table next to us.  We must have interrupted them at one point because the looks they gave us could have frozen the Matterhorn.  

We’d played Jass before but forgotten the rules, so Nick gave us a quick tutorial.  More importantly, he explained strategy. 

Unlike some card games that reward patience and the slow building of a winning hand, Jass is a game of aggression.  You attack immediately and keep on attacking, trying to crush your opponent.  There is no mercy in Jass.

I guess we never realized this about the Swiss when we lived there – what fierce hearts hid behind those placid exteriors.  Maybe Jass provides an outlet, a way to channel aggression.  It's certainly better than invading your neighbors. 

Nick taught us how to keep score in what can only be described as a secret code.  You make different types of squiggles on the page for different types of scores, then you total these up in your head.  Unless you are good at mental math it is not always clear who is ahead.  It’s kind of like working with Roman numerals, but harder.

Happily, the Nick/Keith team beat the Michael/Val team.  Or at least that’s what Nick told us.  But I wonder if maybe he snuck us a few extra squiggles when no one was looking.

After our friends left and got home to Switzerland, they sent us an email saying they would like buy another of Christian’s sculptures.   Oh, and would we mind bringing it when we come to Switzerland at the end of our stay?  And, by the way, it weighs well over 100 pounds.

Christian and I decided to discuss the shipping logistics when we meet at the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine fair this weekend.  A glass or two of the good stuff should help our creative thinking.

KVS

Working up an appetite

In the kitchen

At the table

 Fine Swiss chocolates!