We arrived in Interlaken in the evening and started out towards our hostel. The other part of Switzerland that lived up to its reputation was the cost of things! We looked at a few hotels and decided instead to "rough" it in a hostel instead of paying so much for a hotel room for the few days we were in Interlaken. We walked ten minutes and found our hostel easily and were so pleasantly surprised at our accommodation!
The Backpackers Villa Sonnenhof was fantastic! Not only was the price right, but it was just a wonderful place to stay for a few days and relax. We had our own room and bathroom, so we still enjoyed a high level of privacy, but then we got all the extra perks of being in a hostel. There was a lounge to hang out in, a huge kitchen to cook our food in, free internet, laundry facilities, a bar and a coffee machine! They even gave you a number of tokens corresponding to the number of nights you were staying and these could be used to operate the laundry machines and also to pay for the coffees, etc in the coffee machine. Mom was thrilled - she was able to get multiple coffees, cappacinos, hot chocolates, etc per day! I also enjoyed the warm beverages every night before bed too!
And the hostel was filled with a lot of great people too, so we met and visited with some fellow Canadians, other families traveling together, etc.
Our first full day there was a Saturday, so we decided to spend the day exploring the town and save hiking until Sunday, as we had heard everything closes down on Sunday and thus it would be a perfect day to be in the mountains. Upon leaving our hostel in the daylight, we realized that we were on the edge of a field/park in the middle of town that was half filled with cows! They were just grazing in the middle of the town - in front of the biggest hotel and bank and casino! And they all had bells on - so they generated a good deal of noise as they were grazing! I found them adorable!
We started off towards one end of the town to see the east lake that borders the town....the path was not marked very clearly but with the help of some locals who pointed us in the right direction we came to the lake early that morning. Again, the best word to describe the view and the water was pristine. It was absolutely gorgeous! After seeing the lake we then walked along the river that led into town and enjoyed seeing the ducks and swans in the river and the houses that framed the shore.
We had packed a picnic lunch so around noon when our stomachs started growling we found a bench along the river and enjoyed our sandwiches and apples. As we sat we watched familes and couples walk, run or bike along the path. And over our next few days we consistently saw people exercising - and not in a leisurely way in that they happened to be walking or riding their bike to a friend's house, but purposely, decked out in gear and ready to work! It struck us as a very physically fit and healthy place to live!
We then walked around the town and looked at the buildings and houses. There were so many beautiful little chalet homes, restaurants and hotels. After a while I stopped taking pictures of them, but here is a taste of what you would see on the streets of Interlaken.
After our full day of exploring the town we went back to the hostel to make dinner and spend the night relaxing and doing laundry. It was great to be able to cook our own meals for a few days and take a break from restuarant and bought food. We had chicken and salad and for dessert a Swiss chocolate bar! A friend from church had recommended Swiss chocolate to us before we left and we followed her advice and had chocolate every day we were there!
The next day we went hiking. It was a little cold and rainy out, but we dressed in layers and found that at times during the day we were hot, at other times we were cold. Of course it depended a lot on what elevation we were at and whether or not the sun was out - but all in all it was a good day for hiking.
We did not do anything too extrenuous as we wanted to just take in the scenery and enjoy some trails just outside the town. We hiked to an old castle ruin, then over to a nearby village and above many fields containing cows. At one point we looked down and saw a field full of cows, again wearing their bells, and next to the field a children's soccor game being played. Well the sound that dominates was the cow bells, not the children playing soccor! The ringing of the bells seemed to echo across the field up to us as we walked above. Both mom and I could not believe how loud they were!
When we got back to the town after our hike it was starting to rain, so we went back to the hostel to get warm and dry and spent a few hours in doors, reading and then I took a nap! After dinner and once the rain cleared up we went out for another walk around the town, but this time at night. It was clear out by this time and the sky was black with shining bright stars. And sure enough - the sound of cow bells accompanied us!
We left the next morning after having had a wonderful, relaxing few days in Switzerland. And if you ever visit - make sure to have lots of chocolate!
We took the train from Interlaken into France, and arrived in Paris around 3pm. Paris, of course, was a totally different world compared to Interlaken, just 5 hours away! We arrived at Gare Lyon and had to take a RER train to Gare Nord as our hotel was located near that station. We got lost in the maze of Gare Lyon trying to find the right level underground to catch the RER. When we finally got to Gare Nord after taking more escalators and stairs than necessary, we thought we should check with the tourist information office for a map and instructions for how to get to our hotel.
We located the tourist office booth on the main floor of Gare Nord, but found that it was empty. There was a woman standing nearby who told us they would be back in a few minutes. 15 minutes later three people entered the booth - when the man whose counter we were waiting at sat down we waited for him to acknowledge us...eventually he said, yes? My mom asked if he spoke English, to which he rolled his eyes and replied yes.....! To me this experience was worse than the Venice tourist lady who did not even look at us - he rolled his eyes! Plus, the whole time we were there he was texting on his cell phone! I was kind of furious, but my mom continued to be her pleasant self and got a map and directions to our hotel!
Ten minutes later we had arrived at our hotel - after settling in we decided to go exploring and find the Lafayette Galleries, as it was raining out and we thought it would be best to contain our exploring indoors for the next couple of hours! We took to the streets with our umbrellas and headed out in the direction of the Galleries. Despite the rain, it was pretty awesome to be walking the streets of Paris. I found the city very beautiful - so many gorgeous buildings, cute shops and cafes and crazy intersections....however we did find it dirty, particularly after coming from Interlaken! There was garbage piled up on the streets, and in the rain it was soggy and smelly. Plus over our two full days in the city we saw 4 men peeing on the street...those were the ones we unfortunately glanced upon. It was definitely gross!
We reached the galleries after about a 20 minute walk and realized that there were three department stores that constituted the Galleries Lafayette at that spot in Paris. One was for women, one was for men and one was entirely devoted to home decorations, linen, etc. We started with the women's department store and explored its 5 stories of clothes, purses, lingerie, make up, etc. Although we could not afford to buy anything there, it was fun to walk around and see the decorations and everything that was taking place within. In the centre of the department store was a huge tree, with large present decorations hanging from the domed ceiling above. There was also a photo shoot going on on the second floor, so we stopped and watched that for a few minutes - see the photographers adjust the lighting, direct the models and make some unreasonable demands - it was very interesting!
We then moved onto the home department store and I was tempted to buy a lot of stuff! We only looked at one floor, but there was art, vases, candles, mini lights and lamps - and best of all a giant vat of Nutella selling for 40 euros! Yummy! After realizing that I could not buy anything at the Galleries, both for price reasons and for suitcase room reasons, we exited the department store and took in some of the sights right outside the Galleries. Their display windows were all elaborately done up with dancing toys, ABBA singing dolls, and other mini shows that you could stop and watch! There were also vendors set up along the walls of the Galleries selling jewelry, hats, scarves, souviners, etc. So we wandered through these and enjoyed the atmosphere.
It was getting dark at this point but the rain had stopped for the time being. Mom and I decided to take advantage of the dryness and walk around the city. We saw the Madeline, the Eiffel tower by night (sparkling with lights!), the Louvre....I kept telling my mom we should go further, but at one point she wisely pointed out to me that we still had to walk back to our hotel and we were getting farther and farther away from it with my directions! So after seeing some of Paris at night, which was beautiful, we turned our attention to finding our way back to our hotel. And one thing that might already be obvious about mom and I when we travel is that we walk everywhere. We both enjoy exploring new places best on foot, plus the abundant exercise enables us to justify eating whatever sweets we come upon in our travels! So when we headed back to our hotel, there was no question of hopping on the metro or taking a cab. We walk!
However, this particular time, it may have been wise to abandon our strict adherence to walking and catch a metro! It took us over an hour to get back to our hotel and by the time we reached the stairway we were both groaning in pain walking up the stairs! We did not bring a pedometer with us, so I do not know how far we walked that day, but it was A LOT and we were feeling it!
We rested in our hotel and then went next door to an Indian restaurant for dinner - note that it was next door! We choose it mainly for its proximity to the hotel, but we were happy to find that the food was amazing! We sat and enjoyed a beer, coke, naan, basmati rice, vegetable curry and butter chicken! It was so good! Plus, I had not had Indian food since leaving Winnipeg as I have not tried it yet in Strasbourg, so it was even more enjoyable for me after such a long time without!
The next morning we woke up to more rain and a forecast predicting rain for the entire day! Plus it was November, so it was cold out as well. Cold and wet makes for miserable traveling sometimes, so mom and I decided to get tickets for one of those hop on hop off bus tours that takes you around the city so that we could do some exploring by bus rather than by foot in the rain. Plus it was a good way of transportation for taking us to the far corners of the city that we would not be able to walk to and from - even we could realize our limitations!
We eventually found the first stop for one of the tour routes and upon getting on the bus found the entire bottom level full - so we climbed up onto the top and took our seats on the open air top floor of the double decker! Thankfully at that moment it was not raining, however this was not to last long! As the day wore on we kept sitting on the top level after realizing you can't really see anything from the bottom level, so even though we were cold and sometimes wet, at least we got to see the sights clearly! And at some points when it began to rain hard we and our other tour takers on top just opened our umbrellas and sheltered ourselves with them!
We saw a lot of things that day - both on the bus and on the ground exploring them by foot! We saw the Eiffel tower, this time by day light, we saw the Notre Dame, the Ill de Cite, the Palais des Invalides, the Opera house, the Arc de Triumphe, the Champs Elysees, the Moulin Rouge, etc. It was a full day with lots of sight seeing, but it was also good to be on the bus to get the audio commentary about each place we saw.
Mom and I decided not to go up the Eiffle tower - I know that this is a big deal to a lot of people, but it was so grey and rainy out that we would not have seen anything and would not have enjoyed it the same way as we would have if it had been sunny and clear! I will try to return to Paris in the spring when the weather is nice and go up it then.
One interesting things I learned on the tour was about the Institut de France that houses the Academie Francaise - a group of people from all walks of life who oversee all matters pertaining to the French language. There are 40 members of the Academie who hold their seats for life, thus they are called the immortals! I found this fascinating in a secret society kind of way - and it was something I had never heard of before!
The next day it was not raining quite so much, just off and on, so mom and I did more exploring on foot. We wandered through the shops and flower market on Ill de Cite, we walked along the West and East banks where the book sellers were open for the dry day, and we went to the Louvre!
The Louvre was gigantic - I had heard it was big, I just never realized that the Louvre had been a Palace, so it was spread out over multiple city blocks! Mom and I spent about 3 hours in it looking at art, sculptures, egyption mummies and artifacts and of course the Mona Lisa! One thing we were disappointed about however is that all of the information pertaining to the works of art were only in French...there was no other languages explaining what we were looking at. And if you used the audio commentary it only was programmed to explain select pieces of art, so a lot of the time mom and I wondered about what the descriptions by each work said, as we both wanted to learn more but were unable to understand French writing. In museums in Strasbourg there are about 3-4 languages available to read descriptions, I was just surprised the Louvre does not provide more as it is such a tourist hot spot for people from all over the world.
All in all we enjoyed Paris but both agreed it was our least favorite of the places we had been. A lot of that may have had to do with the weather we experienced while in Paris - it was the coldest and the wettest of the places we had traveled which did put a damper on things. However, since I am only 2 hours away from Paris I am going to try and return in the spring and plan my weekend there spontaneously so I will get some good sunny weather and perhaps I will enjoy it more then!
We took the train home to Strasbourg on Thursday the 11th and it was so good to be home! We both enjoyed our travles, but were tired out from them and ready to be in one place for more than 3 nights! And I was very excited to see Dave. Plus, since mom was staying with me in Strasbourg for another week and a half, we did not have to say goodbye yet! We had a week of outings around Strasbourg planned and relaxing times just cooking and shopping together - and that week will be the subject of the next blog!
Sorry I am late in getting these posts up - I am trying to catch up and get up to date again...hopefully in the next few days my last post on my time with mom will be up and then I will start in on the exciting details once again of my day to day life here in Strasbourg!
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