Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Cityscape on Camera: Evian, France & Vevey, Switzerland

Today is the final installment of my European Extravaganza recap series. I've actually been writing these posts since late July, but it still seems weird to think I'm already done recapping all our fabulous adventures. Of course, there's only so much you can fit into a picture, so I hope I told you enough stories that you could really get a feel for each city and country.

After leaving the Azores (and spending a very long night in a children's playpen at the Lisbon airport), we went back to my mom's condo in Switzerland for a few short days of relaxation and re-packing before heading home to California. My sister's high school friend had flown over to visit her before traveling through Europe with her parents, so we all took an afternoon to take advantage of the warm weather and swim in Lake Geneva ... where we got chased by a swan. And got to see lots of confident Swiss women proudly showing off all 80 of their years. (Don't worry, there aren't any pictures of the latter.)

Megan swimming in Lake Geneva on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Swan chasing girls in Lake Geneva on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life


Our second day back in Switzerland, the four of us took a ferry across the lake to Evian, France. We took a short train to Lausanne to catch the ferry and then spent a few hours walking around Evian, peeking in the shops and eating lunch. My sister and I also bought our mom a pretty neat decanter as a thank-you gift for hosting us part of the trip, but I didn't get a picture of that.

Ferry ride from Switzerland to France on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Harbor in Evian, France, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Street in Evian, France, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Building in Evian, France, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Sisters in Evian, France, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Jonathan and Megan in Evian, France, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

Our final night in Switzerland, my mom's downstairs neighbor made a delicious dinner of fondue and lots of appetizers. In fact, my mom had warned us that the Swiss don't eat as much as Americans, so when we saw the lavish spread of dips and pretzels and fruit, we thought that was dinner. Then she brought out pots of fondue with bread and potatoes. Don't worry; we managed to eat it all still. ;) Especially the dessert, which was basically fruit soaked in vodka. (Again: Food fail. I never take pictures of my food, but I need to be better about that when it's part of a dining experience!) I did get a picture of our gorgeous view from the balcony, though:

Rooftop view of Lake Geneva in Clarens, Switzerland, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

And finally, on our very last morning in Europe, we woke up to a rainbow over Lake Geneva. :)

Rainbow over Lake Geneva in Clarens, Switzerland, on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

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4 comments:

carly said...

Those pictures are so stunning I almost can't believe it! I've never considered traveling to Switzerland before but it looks so gorgeous!

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Unknown said...

Megan, these photos are lovely (and have me craving another adventure :)

Anonymous said...

I'm dying to go to Switzerland and I love this post!

Regina @ Vintage 1973 said...

Sigh...

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing and not sharing too much (confident 80 year old ladies - ha!).