Switzerland...Part One

On Friday, May 25th, we headed to Switzerland.  We took a high-speed train from Paris to Basel. We literally showed up 20 minutes before the train left and hopped on.  There wasn't any security, and we were so confused about it all. We didn't know what to expect or how we were to prove that we were supposed to be on this train.

Gare de Lyon in Paris

Gare de Lyon in Paris

On the train

We were probably a half hour into our train ride when a person who worked for the train line came through our car and scanned our tickets.  So indeed, we did have to prove that we were supposed to be there.  I'm not sure what happens if you just jump on, though?  Maybe you get a fine and have to pay for a ticket on the train?  I'm not sure.

Leaving Paris

When we got into Basel, we got off the train and had just enough time to grab something to eat before we hopped on the train that would take us in the direction of Wengen.  The Basel train station was huge, but they had enough signs that we found our train (and food) fairly easy.

One thing that I found very interesting was that in Paris, it seemed that people were annoyed that we didn't know French.  I was nervous about this very thing going into this trip.  We did get by just fine. However, in Switzerland, people naturally spoke to us in English.  Maybe it was due to the fact that there are four different languages spoken in Switzerland or maybe the cultures are different or maybe they could just tell that we were Americans.

The train from Basel to Interlaken was a double decker! We rode on the top level.

Our first look at the mountains!

In Switzerland, trains were our only mode of transportation.  We had our Swiss Travel Passes, but we weren't sure how any of it worked.  But quickly, we found that someone who worked for SBB (the train line) came and checked everyone's passes while we headed to the next destination.

We rode from Basel to Interlaken, then from Interlaken onto Lauterbrunnen. 

When we transferred at Lauterbrunnen to go to Wengen, we got on this very cute mountain train.  As the person came around to check our passes, she asked where we were headed.  Evidently, Wengen was the last place we could get off the train without having to pay extra as it headed up higher.  Lucky for us, we were staying in Wengen.

In Lauterbrunnen, we transferred to the cutest mountain train to go up to Wengen.

The first look at this famous waterfall that I'd been looking at for months in pictures.

I've just got to say this:  if you ever get the chance to go to Switzerland, please do yourself a favor and go!  It is truly the most beautiful place I've ever been.

We were going to wander around Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen before we went to our hotel, but we decided that we'd go check into the hotel first.

We stayed at the Sunstar Alpine Hotel in Wengen and it is the cutest mountain hotel ever!

This is a mostly car-free town. This was the main street through town.

The view from our hotel room was breathtaking.

Just enjoying the beautiful weather on our balcony.

We enjoyed our welcome aperitif which tasted like fizzy water with mint.  I'm not really sure what it was, but it was local to Switzerland and delicious!

Once we got settled, we decided to head back to Lauterbrunnen to explore.  I wanted to see this famous waterfall up close and personal. We walked through the town of Lauterbrunnen which didn't take much time at all. The views and scenery were truly breathtaking.

Up on that hill is Wengen, where we stayed.

Wengen

As weird as it sounds, the cemetary was beautiful. I love all the flowers over the graves.

Stubbach Falls

I fell in love with the wooden houses and buildings...and I especially loved all the flower boxes hanging from the windows.

Swiss cows are known as "happy cows."

We made our way down to Interlaken.  Interlaken is a bigger town and is actually known as the "adventure capital of the world." We enjoyed walking around and watching the hang gliders come in to land in the center of the city.

We ate supper on the terrace at a cute place we found off the main street.

We decided that we were glad that we were staying up in Wengen.  After being in London and Paris, it was really nice to stay in a smaller town away from all the people. There is nothing like being in the mountains.

I See France...Part Four

On our last day in Paris, we went back to Versailles.  We looked at their website before heading that direction. ;) However, the trains were striking that day.  They were still running, but not as frequent, so we had to time it right. We got to the train station in time, however, the first train was so packed there wasn't room for us.  So we caught the next train, got off at the last station, and then got on the train we needed to get us to Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles is massive.  I had NO idea how big it really was.  We decided that we would start at the back and work our way towards the front.  But first, we had to get in. We got our tickets quickly but then had to stand in a very long line to get through security.

When we finally got through, we started walking.  The paths were gravel, so it took a bit.  We headed to the estate of Trianon, which I think was a 30-minute walk.

The Palace from the inside.

Looking out into the grounds.

We toured the Grand Trianon first.  It was made of a beautiful pink marble. I would love having a pink house! Think Tyler would go for it? Haha!

And I love the marble floor!  That stud isn't bad, either. ;)

The gardens behind the Grand Trianon.

Then we tried to find our way over to the Petite Trianon, which was an adventure in itself.  The gardens are so beautiful!

The Petite Trianon

In the English Gardens

The French Pavillion

The French Gardens

These were my favorite flowers! I even found some to plant in my own garden.

The French Pavillion

The Cool Pavillion

We headed back toward the Palace.  I just couldn't believe how well kept the grounds were and we were trying to figure out how many people it took to keep up with it all.

By this time, we were both tired.  It was quite warm that day, we just spent a lot of time walking back up to the Palace, and there were tons of people everywhere.  But we still saw all of it. I love that in almost all the places we went, they offered an audio guide, so we got to learn as we saw each place.

The Hall of Mirrors--my favorite!

After we were finished touring the Palace, we headed back into the city. We decided to take a stab at going to the Catacombs again, because I really wanted to see them. However, they were still on strike. That just means we'll have to go back someday. :) We went back to the same little bistro we found the night before and ate our supper in our hotel.  That night, though, we watched an episode of Gilmore Girls on Netflix, which just so happened to be the one where Lorelai went to Paris. It was too funny!

I was not thinking that I would fall in love with Paris...but I did. I left a piece of me there and I look forward to the day when we can get back there.