Switzerland Day 1

Switzerland is more beautiful than Reed or I could have imagined. The colors are so vibrant and you are constantly surrounded by green rolling hills amidst breathtaking mountain tops. Plus it is perfectly manicured and very clean everywhere you go. I highly recommend visiting Switzerland to everyone. Most places in Europe will appeal to certain types of people but I really think everyone would enjoy Switzerland.

On Tuesday we left Paris by train and headed to Geneva Switzerland 3 hours away. After a beautiful train ride we arrived in Geneva and picked up our rental car to drive to our apartment in Grindelwald (also about a 3-hour drive). We decided to stop at this area called Montreux to see a chateau along the way. We are SO happy we did. Montreux was one of the most charming and beautiful European cities I have seen. The chateau was nice (Chateau de Chillon) but the best part of that stop was definitely the city. I really regret that we didn't have much time in Montreux so I would most certainly recommend that anyone else going to Switzerland stay a night or two in Montreux. As for us, I guess we'll just need to plan another trip to Switzerland so we can explore Montreux a bit more ;-). We couldn't really find parking in the city so all my pictures of Montreux from within the city are unfortunately from the car window and it was hard to get any good ones :-(. But here are some of our photos from Montreux (the inner-city pictures don't really do it justice but I think they give you a taste)...

Driving into Montreux:

Reed enjoying a little shade on our walk to the Chateau de Chillon:

Me doing what I'm always doing on vacations:

Chateau de Chillon (and stupid construction...grrr):

More pictures of Montreux on our drive out:

Some of the many beautiful vineyards right outside Montreux:

After Montreux we continued on to Grindelwald. The drive was absolutely breathtaking. I often think of traveling time in between destinations as "lost time" on vacations but our drive through Switzerland to Grindelwald was so much fun. Most people recommend taking trains through Switzerland because the train system is so well-developed but I'm really happy we got a rental car because we got to go through so many charming little towns and we got to see the scenery at our own pace. It was awesome. By the time we arrived in Grindelwald, we felt like we had seen a ton of Switzerland and were very happy with how the day had gone. We then got ourselves set up in our apartment (attached to the home of a local...really a cute place) and then just went to dinner and retired for bed.

On our way to dinner:

At dinner I ordered some delicious fondue and Reed got a chicken dish that is popular in this region. Both dishes were fantastic (but expensive...Switzerland is extremely expensive)!

Here is a picture of the Chalet we are staying in (but it was taken the next day):

Oh, one last thing...Our rental car is a little embarrassing. It says "New Ford Fiesta" on both sides of the car in huge letters! So we are driving around one of those stupid advertisement cars. I'm not very happy about it but I think Reed kind of likes it.

Evreux

So it is no secret that Natali LOVES France. It might be the Eiffel Tower, the romantic feel to the city, or maybe just the language that she loves. She was so happy on our trip from London to Paris because she loves being in France. As much as she loves Paris, she actually loves Evreux even more. She loves the cute, charming town with all of the people in it. She loves just going to the store and buying things in French. She loves walking on the streets with a baguette in each hand. She loves the guy at the Kebab place that still remember her even after 5 years of being away. And she may be the only one in the world that would rather shop in Evreux than in Paris.
We were able to stay in Evreux with the Lemarchands from Thursday evening until Tuesday morning early. During that time we went to the beach, visited a castle, saw the "sluice gates," and just lounged around with the kids. It was super fun to stay with the Lemarchands and see their family. It can get a little crazy around the house with the kids but they also make life very entertaining.
It may not be as popular to go to small towns in France, but we highly recommend that if you travel to France you get out of the touristy Paris for a part of your trip. Parisians are known for being rude and not liking american tourists very much. We have had some experiences in Paris that prove this to be true at times. Leaving the tourist areas gives you the chance to see and feel what a day in the life of a real French person might feel like. Normandy is a beautiful place with many small towns. Renting a car in Paris would be the best way to see the beautiful Normandy countryside. Evreux holds a special place for us but we would also recommend visiting Honfleur, Deauville, Treauville, and Etretat (although these are towns we have visited, each French town is unique and charming so just go wherever you want).
Things we would recommend doing in the small towns; Walk down the cobblestone streets in the morning and buy a freshly-baked baguette at the Boulangerie. While you are there, try an eclair or any other pastry and you will not be disappointed. Do something "normal" like go to the store and browse around or buy something while talking (or try to communicate in any way possible like me ;) to the locals. Find a quiet place like a park, the ocean, or by a river and just relax or read. Walk down the streets and admire the French architecture on the houses. We also have enjoyed seeing a movie in French at the local cinema. And if you really want to feel French and have some spare time, go to a cafe anywhere and just get a drink at one of the outside tables and sit and talk for hours. We are not very good at this because we usually have a full meal with drinks, taking as long as we can and we are usually there for about an hour. The French can sit for 3 or more hours at a table with a friend or two so when you get a table, there is no expectation to hurry (Note: Many cafes close for a couple hours in the middle of the day after lunch and many are closed on Mondays so be aware of this when making plans to go out in small towns).
Well we did exactly that during our stay in Evreux and it was just what we needed. We went to the beach by Honfleur one day with Thomas, Audrey, Ines, and Julien. Julien and I had a fun time playing on the beach. We played soccer for a bit and then tried our hand at badminton. Thomas and Ines joined us later.

Natali and Audrey sat on the beach and watched while the rest of us played. Natali was also able to relax and read some of her book while at the beach.

We got to visit a unique castle in Martainville. It was a brick castle and had a lot of history around it. We brought our Gorillapod (LINK) so we were able to take some pictures of the whole family. Clemence was in Paris where she attends ballerina school for the first part of our stay there but was able to go on this trip with us (We were going to go swimming in a lake so we wore our swimming suits).

I learned on this trip what a sluice gate was and we went to go see one. There is a dam to create electricity about an hour from Evreux. The water on one side of the dam is higher than the other side. The sluice gate makes it possible for boats to travel up or down the river by having a section they can lower or raise the water level. We didn't see any boats go in it but it was cool nonetheless.

It was really cool and while others were checking out the scenery and the water, the engineer in me looked at all the structural elements that I am sure other people missed (like the driven sheet piles that are probably anchored back to a massive piece of concrete).

Natali was able to read quite a bit while in Evreux and on our little day trips. She hasn't had a lot of time lately to just sit and read so she loved the time in Evreux being able to read.

There were other highlights to our stay as well: Natali and Clemence eating a chocolate eclair.

The "stairs of death" we had to climb to get up and down to our room. The very upstairs of the Lemarchands house is a work in progress and these are the stairs up to the room we stayed in. The room was really nice but the way up was a little scary and narrow.

Eating Confit de Canard. Natali couldn't believe that the food she LOVES and craves so much comes from a can. Hopefully we can bring some back to the states when we go back.

And of course, the crazy kids.

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From London to Paris

Well we woke up (at a decent time with the help of an alarm) after a night of tossing and turning and listening to people open and shut doors in the flat we were staying in all night. We are not doing so well on ditching our jet-lag so far.

Before I forget here is a tip for anyone planning a quick trip to London. Natali and I were here for just over 2 days. If we had planned it a little better we would have just bought a 24-hour, hop-on hop-off tour and used that to get around. The open top would have been very nice and it goes around to all of the major attractions.  This is a little expensive but if you only have one day then this would be great. If you don't do that or are staying more than a couple of days then a cheaper option is to use the Oyster card (unlimited public transportation for a discounted price) and use the regular buses around town. Almost all of the buses are double-deckers so they provide a fantastic view of the city, especially if you get the top front seats. A little slower but way better than riding on the metros underneath the city because you will get go see great views like these.

This blue chicken was a surprise to see. We don't know why there is a giant blue chicken in London but we had to get a picture of it. It might have to do with the hundreds of men in kilts that you can see at the bottom of the picture.

We rode these buses over to the National Gallery to check out the artwork there. It was full of paintings  dating from the 13th century. I took an art class during my time at BYU and so I became a little bit more cultured in the different styles such as Impressionism and realism and I was proud that I knew that Manet and Monet are in fact not the same people. I wish I remembered a little bit more from class but it was interesting to see the evolution of art through the ages. One of the last paintings we saw was by Van Gogh and it was one of our favorites. 

 Also, out in front of the National Gallery was that crazy blue chicken again so Natali had to get a picture with it ;)

Then we headed to do a London street art tour that we had booked. We had heard that it was very interesting and showed some of the best street art in the East End of London. We were not disappointed. The only disappointing thing was that we had to leave the tour early in order to catch our train to Paris. Our tour guide started with telling us the history of the East End of London. We would walk down a street and he would point out old textile factories that were important to the Jewish community when they settled there or a door that was numbered 11 and a half because the expensive apartment had to be split into two separate parts when the economy crashed. 

One of the craziest things was this little plaque that the guide pointed out above one of the doors of a building. This plaque is proof that the owner has paid his fire insurance. Since the fire stations were privately owned, if there was ever a building on fire the firemen would first check to see if the plaque was on the building. If it was, they would put the fire out. If not, they would move on and not waste their time & resources on the fire!

Then we got to the street art. One of the most surprising things that I learned is that people travel all over the world doing street art. Here are some of the pictures. The details that people can produce on street art is amazing. Also amazing is the speed they must often work at since street art is illegal if they don't have permission. The picture of the boy on the right below, for example, was done without permission thus it had to be done in less than a half hour or the artist would have been caught. This artist is one of the best at using a bunch of stencils to create a masterpiece. Each stencil would be painted with one color, one on top of the other. The building owner was actually quite happy with the picture though so he decided not to clean it off or replace the window.

 

This is probably the first time any of you have seen an octopus mixed with an elephant. Brilliant!

This was done by a Brazilian artist. It represents the artist's dislike of the way the Brazilian government gives nice things to the poor people so that they will conform to do what those in power want them to do. It shows a "tribal" blue man with things like an iPod, headphones, and Nike sneakers.

This painting looks like the impressionist paintings in the art gallery because the artist sprays a small circle of spray paint and let's it dry. The paint runs a little bit and creates this image.

My favorite was one that I probably would have missed if it hadn't been pointed out to me. I was right next to the painting for about 5 minutes and I kept thinking "What is thing crazy jumble of black yarn next to me and why are we looking at it?"  

The tour guide said to cross the street and take a better look at the wall. When I looked back I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Natali and I looked at either in shock as we stared at the picture in front of us. The creativity and skill this took to create is super impressive. The jumble of yarn became two panthers fighting in an almost 3-D picture that I would have never expected.  

Then we had to rush to the flat, grab our luggage, and hurry to St. Pancras International to catch our train to Paris. Note to future self: if you ever do this again, go to the train station and store the luggage there so that you don't waste an hour traveling back and forth and miss the last 30 minutes of an awesome tour. 

We had a quick 2 hour train to Paris. Our good friend Christine Lemarchand was super nice and offered to pick us up from the train station and drive us to Evreux where we will be staying for the next few days with the awesome Lemarchand family. We arrived pretty late in Evreux, had dinner around 10:30, and didn't get to bed until about 2:00 in the morning. Yeah we stink at this jet-lag thing.