Switzerland // Lake Geneva

By the end of the week we were pretty beat, but we still had a few days of exploring left after Chamonix and wanted to see Lake Geneva before heading back up to Zurich. We did a loop around the lake, coming from France and looping around the western side of the lake all the way up to Greyer. And I'm so happy we took this long route because the scenery was stunning. Sunflower fields, apple orchards and lake side villages for all far as the eye could see. I wish we had a few more days to explore (we didn't have the energy to head into Lausanne or Geneva) but we did muster up the energy to walk through Vevey, an enchanting little lake side town full of colorful flowerbeds, unique lake sculptures, and tons of folks enjoying the beautiful weather in paddleboat on the water. It was simply adorable. 

France // Chamonix

One of our favorites places of the whole trip was our time in Chamonix, France. After a gorgeous drive from Zermatt, we pulled up to the most adorable french ski chalet that was only few minutes walk from downtown Chamonix. Chamonix in itself was quiet adorable. It was on and off drizzling the first day we got there, so we damply explored the town a bit before it started to pour. We ran into a little pub, warmed up with a beer, then strolled back to our Airbnb for a cozy night in with the sound of rain on the wood roof.

For the second night we headed to dinner at a little restaurant where we sat outside about an inch away from the other tables. The meal was delicious, but the best part was that after we finished we struck up a conversation with a nice British couple sitting next to us. We ended up chatting with them for almost an hour - they had been traveling around France camping in their van and had a ton of amazing recommendations for camping and trips for us for the next year. We left dinner feeling so full of delicious food and amazing conversation. 

When we got back to our chateau, our hosts were having a drink downstairs and invited us to sit and chat with them. They pour us sweet wine from their family's small winery in southern Switzerland and we chatted about everything and anything - space, robots, skiing, hiking, bread, water, engineering, wine - you name it. He used to work for NASA (hence the space talk) so I was completely obsessed with everything he was saying, and we ended up chatting, laughing, and drinking until the wee hours of the morning. 

Our final morning our hosts again welcomed us downstairs to a breakfast of delicious coffee and pastries. We sat out on the patio with the sun on our backs and a beautiful view of Mt. Blanc and felt like we could stay there forever. While the town of Chamonix was very cute and beautiful, it really was the amazing hikes and wonderful hospitality that made the place so memorable. 

Italy // Lake Como

One of the main reasons we headed to southern Swizterland was so that we could go to Lake Como for the day. It was a quick 45 minute drive from Luggano and was beyond anything that I could have imagined. I pictured of a small little lake with sprawling estates with ridiculously large mansions and people yachting all day, but what we found was a ridiculously large lake with windy, narrow roads, tons of quaint fishing towns and quick glimpses of ridiculously large mansions. From Como we drove along the eastern, inner side of the lake (I had no idea Lake Como was shaped like an upside down Y!) with the goal of making it to Bellagio for dinner. Jack's mission of the day (and every day, really) was to find the perfect swimming spot, so we pulled over to a few of the towns in search of a place to take a dip. 

The first town we wandered into was Torno, a picturesque little village with a ferry dock, fishing boats, and the cutest Italian cafes and restaurants on the water. As you can see, it had the most gorgeous views of the western side of the lake and we watched the boats sail by and dreamed up a fake dinner party with our friends George and Amal that we were going to later. I could have stayed there for hours, but unfortunately we didn't find the perfect swimming spot, so we headed out again to find "the one". 

We headed back north on the "death road" (seriously, it was terrifying. Motorcycles and cars flying by us on a one way, curvy street, with people honking and passing up from behind. I don't know how people don't crash on this road!) but pulled off when we saw a driveway leading to a church. We parked on the steepest street, hiked down through tight alleyways, passed big italian families having lunch, and creepily followed a group of teenagers in bathing suits to the PERFECT swimming spot. We were in heaven. 

After the swim, we headed back up to Bellagio, which was still another 45 minutes up the lake, but by the time we got there it was unbelievably crowded. Apparently the thing to do is to take the ferry there instead of trying to park (people parked miles away and were walking along the narrow road, which was terrifying) but we still drove through looking for a spot to check out the town. However, once we finally got into the town there were too many selfie sticks and big crowds for us to warrant the stop. We drove back along the lake at sunset, daydreaming about winning the lottery and buying a big mansion next to George and Amal on the lake. 

Swizterland // The road to Lugano

Switzerland // Bern

The second stop of our town-hopping tour in central Switzerland was Bern, which was such an amazing city to explore and photograph. I only brought my film camera, which helped me slow down and see the beautiful details of the city. We wandered the streets a bit, then grabbed a coffee in the park at Einstein Kaffe, which had a gorgeous view of the river and some stunning river front properties. We were only there for an hour or two, but it's definitely a city we'll want to come back and explore more.

Contax 645 // Richard Photo Lab // Portra 400

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