A Starting Point
Switzerland is actually "Plan B"
We had hoped to get to Fire Island (Long Island) at The Pines for Rosh haShannah to be with a colleague and at the beach. However, because "the season" at The Pines was still going strong, the two establishments where we tried to book rooms could not commit, barely even returning our calls or emails.
So, Plan B; Chocolate research in Switzerland.
Our American Airlines miles had accumulated enough for us to fly to Zurich and back from Geneva so we rented a small car and developed a plan to spend time in Zurich, Basel, Gruyères and Geneva. Mark booked simple hotel rooms. He also contacted the rabbi in Zurich who arranged for us to join his congregation Or Chadash on Rosh haShannah.
Debbie thought through the chocolate stops. We had heard about the chocolate train from Montreaux to Broc and back. Tantalizing as it was, on closer research it was expensive and it limited our time at Cailler. Since we would have a car, we decided to forgo the train. This turned out to be a great decision.
On sharing these thoughts and what actually happened with Libbe, she responded that they seemed like a wonderful mixture of careful planing and serendipity.