If you missed the first blog post from my Europe Trip, you can see Dublin, Madrid, and Barcelona here. Blog #2 from my European Adventure includes Paris, France and 3 cities in Switzerland that were some of my favorites from the entire trip: Zurich, Bern, and Lenk.

Paris // After a few nights in Barcelona, Cari and I jumped on a quick hour and a half flight to Paris, France. We weren’t quite sure what to expect here since we had heard mixed reviews, but I am happy to say it was a delightful 24-hours, and definitely a city I would like to visit again. We got into Paris in the afternoon, and I explored the city a bit before dinner… snacking on a nutella and banana crepe and setting my sights on the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I walked around and soaked up the city, practicing the little French that I knew to whatever Parisians would speak to me. Later than night, Cari and I went to dinner at this little restaurant I stumbled upon and had great reviews online. We ate delicious steaks, french onion soup, salad, creme brûlée before heading to a little store to get even more wine, cheese, and bread to have a picnic with on the lawn by the Eiffel Tower. The man at the store was kind enough to give us our bread for free, and he even opened our bottle of wine for us since we didn’t have an opener. The next day Cari and I went for a run around Paris, and then shopped around at the markets again before having another picnic lunch by the tower. It was a quick stop in Paris, but overall I’m glad we stopped in the beautiful town overnight.

(photos below taken with my phone)

Switzerland // Cari’s family was traveling through Switzerland the same time we were in Europe, so we took a quick flight from Paris to Zurich. It’s embarrassing to admit, but Cari and I didn’t even know what language they were speaking when we arrived in Switzerland… and when I bought my train ticket with euros, I was super confused when the machine spit some other type of currency back at me as change… hello Swiss Franks. But beyond my naivety, Switzerland was a BEAUTIFUL country. To be completely honest, it wasn’t on my radar for countries I needed to visit – but after visiting Zurich, Bern, and Lenk… it is definitely a country that I would LOVE to visit again, and might have been my favorite stop of the entire trip. Zurich was kind of like a typical European city, but from there we drove to Bern. The best way I can describe Bern is that it was straight out of a German disney movie. It was quaint little town, nicknamed the Bears Den… and they had a bear area in the middle of the city where bears just walked along the river. From Bern we drove to a little mountain town called Lenk, near Interlaken… and it was unlike anything I had ever seen. The little town we were staying in sat at the bottom of gorgeous mountain tops that were lined with trees, but in the distance the tops were lined with snow. Most people only spoke German, which made ordering dinner interesting, but even just hiking through the hills of this little town made me fall in love with the country over and over. I pretty much couldn’t stop taking pictures…

The last installment of my Europe Trip blog series is coming on Friday – Florence, Rome, and London! I promise it’s full of history, mouth-watering food, and of course pretty-pretty pictures. Don’t miss it!