The Apartment in Leloc (with pics to come later)

My friend in Switzerland had to rent a place near her new job, a good hour and a half commute from her exquisitely appointed house in Geneva. She found an apartment in an traditional old Swiss farm house, the kind I had expected Sachiko to have. This is a calendar picture-perfect romantic place, with a cabin feeling. All the walls and ceilings are covered in old wood and the kitchen floor is made of big slabs of old stone. With large, deep windows overlooking the top of the Jura mountains, pinewoods, fields, and the town of Leloc beneath, the place is enchanted, especially the way it is now, covered in fresh snow.

The young couple Rachel and Sebastian Schmid bought this place and live on one side of the farm house on two floors. The apartment is on the back. They shopped at IKEA to decorate it with taste and simplicity.

The bedroom has an almost double bed covered with a duvet, two night tables with lamps, and an Oriental print of flowers on the wall above the bed; it has also a wicker long chaise by the window.

The living room has a sleeper sofa, a table, lamp, two chairs and a steel bookshelf. Both the living and bed rooms are carpeted in grey-moss tone. There is a quaint wood stove covered with royal blue tiles to warm the room. Otherwise the apartment is (almost!) heated with water filled heaters that don’t quite do the job here at the top of cold mountain.

The kitchen has a large wood cabinet fully furnished with dishes, pots and pans and what not, including an expresso machine, much common in Swiss households. (I do not know how I have lived without one until now! I will look for one in thrift stores when I return for sure…) There is an old fashioned wood stove for additional heating and a electric stove for cooking, and a table with four chairs. The bathroom is tiled in beige-brown small tiles, and has a shower, toilet and sink.

The town of Leloc is near the French border. All major watch and clock makers are here, including Cartier. There are other precision instruments industries here also. The Horlogerie Musee, museum of time keeping machines, is the main attraction. Le Corbusier* was born here. The town is located in a narrow valley surrounded by the Jura mountains. It is much colder and snowier here than in Geneva.

The Leloc farm house apartment has a few decorative pieces about. The motif of most is the stylized human heart, the symbol of love, in wood, wicker, and red cloth embroidered with tiny edelweiss. This is how I have felt here, sleeping to the sound of a woodstove burning and the crackling of the wood and fire inside, preparing a meal, cleaning, reading and writing, and reflecting about life: heartfelt, loving, grateful.

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*From the Online Encyclopedia:
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, who chose to be known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-born architect, designer, urbanist, writer and also painter, who is famous for his contributions to what now is called Modern Architecture. In his 30s he became a French citizen.

He was a pioneer in theoretical studies of modern design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. His career spanned five decades, with his iconic buildings constructed throughout central Europe, India, Russia, and one structure each in North and South America. He was also an urban planner, painter, sculptor, writer, and modern furniture designer.