Matt and I plan to travel to Europe in the Spring of 2017 and are creating this blog for friends and family to follow along. We will spend the first part of the trip traveling through Switzerland, then spend a couple of days in Paris before returning home. We hope you enjoy the journey with us.
Here are all the places we will visit in Switzerland
Trip Itinerary
March 31 - Arrive in Zurich, SwitzerlandApril 1 - Travel by train from Zurich to Zermatt with stop over tour of Bern
April 2 - Cogwheel train from Zermatt up to Gornergrat. View of the MatterhornApril 3 - Glacier Express, 8 hour scenic train ride from Zermatt to St. Moritz April 4 - Travel by train from St. Moritz to Interlaken via Lucerne
April 5 - Excursion to Mount Schilthorn by cable car
April 6 - Train travel from Interlaken to Paris, France
April 7 - Marathon Expo packet pickup & sightseeing
April 8 - Relax in Paris
April 9 - Paris Marathon
April 10 - Travel back home
Travel Day!
Let the adventure begin! Today is our travel day. Dropped off the dogs at "pom-camp" and headed to the airport. Did you know that Delta has an outdoor sky lounge in the international terminal? Even better that the weather was perfect for sitting outside, watching planes and sipping lemonade.
This is how Matt likes to air travel
This is how Carol likes to air travel
After a pleasant and uneventful flight, we arrived in Paris CDG airport very early in the morning. Sun just came up. We have a short lay over before our flight to Zurich. We are sitting in the lounge, enjoying French coffee and eating croissants.
Zurich, Switzerland
Finally, with the travel day behind us we are ready to explore Switzerland. The first thing I noticed was that it was much warmer and greener than I thought it would be. The second thing was all the German cars; even the semi-trucks were Mercedes. The third thing was that people greet each other with three cheek kisses.
We are staying one night at the Park Hyatt Zurich downtown. This is a very nice hotel catering to business travelers right in the middle of the financial district.
Partly to ward off the jet lag, and mostly to see the city we walked first to see Lake Zurich. It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed to be outside enjoying the weather.
People were sitting all over, talking to one another and just relaxing. It reminded me a little bit of the Chicago lakefront - just with more people around.
I thought these small children were cute, playing with this woman and her soap bubbles.
We walked around Old Town Zurich. Side streets were cobblestone and very narrow. Lots of small shops.
The Bahnhofstrasse shopping district consists of one main street with name brand stores. There are several arterial streets with smaller shops and restaurants filled with people.
We finished the day with a wonderful dinner at our hotel. Tomorrow we are off on our first train adventure.
Bern, Switzerland
This morning, we handed off our luggage to the Swiss travel service and walked over to the Zurich train station and headed to Bern. We purchased a Swiss travel pass, so we could take the trains everywhere this week. Commuter trains travel a little bit faster than my experience and are definitely much smoother in ride. The train was very comfortable. The view was a mixture of traditional chalet styled houses and new, industrial looking modern buildings.
Bern is the capital city of Switzerland. Medieval architecture dating back to 1300’s. This city has more tourists than the Zurich financial district. Most everyone wearing a backpack and hiking boots. We fit right in. We are amazed at the infrastructure built into these very old cities. The train station was a fascinating place to people watch.
We walked around the city and saw famous sites such as the Zytglogge medieval clock tower, built in the 13th century. This clock tower has served as a guard tower, a prison and is now a civic memorial. People were lined up to take the tour.
The Saturday morning farmers market was open for business. This appeared to be for the locals. Fresh produce, meats and cheeses were for sale.
We noticed several old cellars. Some of them have been converted to shops and restaurants.
We walked down to the river, and saw the beautiful old buildings.
Commuters use bicycles to travel to the city. Most of them had practical baskets on them. You saw these bike racks all over. Public transportation is huge here. A lot of buses were on the streets, but very few cars.
A painter sat working in the street. We stopped for a moment to admire his work. This was a big mural. The people behind him were sitting at the outdoor cafes. Plenty of those to be found.
We also found a street market with more touristy type items. Lots of items for children. I purchased a new scarf. Everyone, men included, seem to wear these daily.
That was a quick stopover in Bern. We boarded back on the train and continued to Zermatt. On the way to Zermatt the scenery immediately turned to lush, green farmland. As we trekked higher into the Swiss Alps, it became noticeably cooler and the focus turned to skiing.
Zermatt, Switzerland
We arrived in Zermatt by train and took the electro taxi to our hotel. Zermatt is an alpine ski resort village. No cars. People get around by taxi or bikes. There is one main cobblestone street called Bahnhofstrasse; filled with shops, hotels and restaurants. Our hotel is located right on that main street. The village extends beyond. You can see the Matterhorn just outside our hotel front entrance. Our luggage had arrived before us on an earlier train. That was nice not having that with us while we toured Bern and make train transfers. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof. We had a nice welcome gift when we arrived in our room.
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof
Carol outside our hotel with the Matterhorn in the background
We enjoyed a relaxing dinner in the village. We were often greeted in several languages. First German, then French then Italian and finally English. It seems like they try them all and whichever you respond to is the one they will speak.
We saw 300 year old buildings in the village. Roofs were made out of stone with moss growing in between. The river waters were so clear, you could see the rocks on the bottom. The last time I saw glacier water was in Alaska.
300 year old building
The next morning, we took the cogwheel train up to Gonergrat, which is at the top of the mountain – over 10,000 feet. Skiers take this train and get off at various stops along the way. It was snowing pretty heavily up in the mountains – but not in the village. Ski season ends in April. The conditions were perfect to be on the slopes. We watched the skiers take off down the ski run – or as they say here, piste. I found it fascinating. Growing up in Chicago, I am not a skier, but after spending the day on the mountain I sure would like to give it a try. Looks like fun!
We had lunch at the restaurant and then headed back down into the village. We relaxed and checked out the spa. Later in the day after the last of the skiers had departed, we headed back up the mountain for another look. The only one up there besides us was a Chinese exchange student taking photos. His name was Chenghua and we had fun taking silly shots with him.
Chenghua was kind enough to take this photo of us with the Matterhorn in the background.
We took the last train down the mountain just at sunset and had a late dinner in the village.
Tomorrow morning we get on the Glacier Express heading to St. Moritz.
Glacier Express
We left Zermatt on a beautiful, clear sunny day and embarked on the Glacier Express. This is an 8 hour scenic train ride from Zermatt to St. Moritz. This was certainly what I would call, an experience. Pictures can't do it justice. The train was very comfortable with floor to ceiling windows. An elegant, three course meal was served on the train. The route crossed 291 bridges and 91 tunnels through the Swiss Alps. We had headsets available to guide us with local facts and stories as we progressed on the tour.
Matt at a train stop along the way
At one train stop there were German musicians playing in the terminal
Scenes from the train ride.
We started the train ride in Zermatt - with snow
Scenery became greener quickly
Matt enjoying dessert on the train
We arrived in St. Moritz around 5pm that evening. Went for a long walk along the lake after sitting all day.
St. Moritz, Switzerland
We departed the Glacier Express in St. Moritz, Switzerland. We stayed at the Hotel Schweizerhof, downtown. Our room had a view of the lake, San Murezzan. St. Moritz is a cosmopolitan city with a focus on tourism and skiing. We are here for one night. Right in front of our hotel we saw a helipad. Turns out, that is the hospital. I bet they air lift injured skiers here.
There is a trail around the lake and we walked that to our dinner spot. It felt so good to stretch our legs after the long train ride. We saw runners on the path. The weather was cool, but pleasant. On the walking trail, we passed a couple of horses and carriage.
St. Moritz hosted two winter Olympics and multiple World Cup skiing events. Ski season is just wrapping up here. Due to the close proximity, you notice the Italian influences. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The next morning, there was fresh snow on the ground. Every morning we have these wonderful buffet breakfasts at each hotel. I love the coffee, fresh bread and jams. Matt likes the fruit juice, local cheese, dried meats and the muesli.
Lucerne, Switzerland
We took the same Glacier Express train back to Chur – except this time we were in the commuter car. We are very impressed with the train system. The trains run on such a precise schedule. The platform clocks have second hands on them. I wish that we had this in the states.
On some parts of the rail line, we spiraled down the mountain in circular loops thru tunnels because the grade was so steep. We changed trains two more times before we arrived in Lucerne. We were allocated 8-12 minutes for each train change, which was just enough time to find your platform and get on the train car. On the last change over, we got so efficient we were on the platform 5 minutes early and almost got on the wrong train. (that was the 1:39, we were on the 1:44) That’s how often and efficient these trains are. Once again, we used the travel service, so that we didn’t have our luggage with us.
In Lucerne, first stop was the Chapel Bridge. This octagonal water tower was built in the 13th century. It originally served as a watch tower, but later became a jail and torture chamber!
Inside the bridge is nothing but a tourist shop…
On the other side of the river, the medieval architecture remained intact. We saw the Musegg Wall and towers which were originally used to protect the city.
We took a break and stopped at an outdoor café to snack on a piece of apfelkuchen.
I like how so many people ride their bikes in Switzerland. I saw commuter train stations where people obviously rode their bikes to the station and then took the train to work. They even had some bike racks with little roofs to keep the bikes dry in wet weather.
Back at the train station, there was a piano in the main terminal. When we first arrived, there was an older man playing the piano. Couple hours later when we came back to the station, there was a young tourist playing the piano. He was really good. He left and was immediately replaced by a grown man, who was extremely talented. Another guy joined him at the piano and next thing, a couple more professional musicians showed up. This felt like a flash mob might be starting. Fun way to pass time at the train station.
We got back on the train and headed to Interlaken, where we will stay two nights.
Interlaken, Switzerland
After traveling for most of the day, we checked into the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel in Interlaken where we were greeted with another warm welcome.
Welcome fruit basket in our room
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa
The hotel is located in the center of town, with a park across the street. Tourists were walking about, taking photos. Interlaken is a beautiful city, in between two lakes with the most gorgeous blue water. While there are many ski slopes here, this area is also known for outdoor summer sports. We really enjoyed our stay in this city.
As we walked around, I noticed that several yards were dedicated to gardening. Spring flowers were in bloom and vegetable gardens were ready for planting.
There were several walking paths and people casually riding bikes and walking their dogs. Dogs are welcome everywhere here, even on the trains.
As we walked by the park near our hotel, we notice that the public tennis courts were made out of red clay. That’s something you don’t see at home.
Interlaken is surrounded by mountains. When you get up high enough, skiers are still on the slopes because there still is snow. Paragliding was a popular tourist activity. Right next to our hotel was a shop that would set you up. The service takes you up the mountain, provides equipment and then you come down in tandem with an instructor. The paragliders land in the park across the street from our hotel. If we had time, that would have been scary and fun.
We took a day trip to Schilthorn. We took a cable car up the mountain to Piz Gloria. We had lunch at the revolving restaurant. This is where several scenes from the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, were filmed. There were expert skiers trekking up over 9,000 feet to launch themselves down the steep slopes.
On the way back, in the Alpine village of Murren we came across two Pomeranians! I had to stop for a photo. This little wolf sable Pom gave me kisses.
Tomorrow morning, we head to Paris for our next adventure. Goodbye Switzerland!
Paris
Race Expo
This trip originally started when we decided to meet up with our friends Trina and Minerva to run the Paris marathon. I recall watching it on TV last year and when I heard that this year's race was scheduled to be on my birthday, I thought "how fun would that be to celebrate your birthday running through the streets of Paris?" I didn't realize that would actually come true. We've all been training together for several years and thought this would be a fun trip. The girls each traveled with their families and took side trips to London and Ireland before we met up in Paris. As soon as we arrived, our first order of business was to head to the race expo for packet pickup.
It was held in the salon du running (aka convention center), on the other side of town. Matt and I met up with Minerva and we navigated the Metro trains together. We heard that it gets crazy at the expo with 57,000 runners. Good thing we went early. Lines were not bad.