Category: Europe, 2022

I woke up early to make sure I had everything together. A 10 minute walk from my hotel brought me to the CDGVal, the little shuttle train that gets you from terminal to terminal. I got randomly stopped at security to have them do a bag check with the electronic sniffer to see if I was carrying explosives. I was not.

Even with the random stop the Sky Priority lines at CDG airport saved me tons of time. The Air France Lounge was also a treat. Great breakfast of French Toast (when in France…?), eggs, sausage, bacon and croissants. And a lovely espresso. Perfect.

This was my first time flying on a Airbus 330-300. I was excited to check it out. It had the older Delta lie-flat seats which were a bit tighter than the Air France lie-flats, but still, pretty darn comfortable. Grateful for the comfort on an 11 hour flight.

On board, I did a Tom Cruise marathon starting with A Few Good Men followed by The Firm. I also watched James Bond, Spectre.

In between and sometimes during the movies I slept. Probably got around 2-3 hours of sleep.

The food was OK. Nothing to write home about, but enough to satisfy. The service was excellent. Very kind flight crew.

We landed on time. Yay! I don’t get to use it very often but when I do Global Entry saves me a ton to time standing in the immigration/passport line.

I had sort of a weird situation with connections I was hoping Delta would remedy for me. Due to a flight change a few months ago I was routed from Seattle to Vancouver then back to Seattle then to Sacramento, getting me home around 9:40pm. I just wanted to stay in Seattle and catch my final leg home. Delta did me one better. They got me on a 3:30pm direct flight to Sacramento getting me home at 5:30pm. Yay Delta! Things are always working out for me.

I had just enough time to grab a quick shower in the SKY Lounge (so nice to refresh after an 11 hour flight!), a coffee and snack before heading to my gate. It’s a smaller plane so I have to gate check my bag. First time I’ve checked a bag this entire trip. Not too bad.

The views from Seattle to Sacramento were delightful.

Mike picked me up at the airport 4 hours earlier than expected. What a gift.

As I was looking back over this trip I was astounded that it began in Vancouver. That feels like a million years ago.

Vancouver and Paris were just really transition cities meant to get me to my final destinations. I’m really glad I took the time to get out and see a few things in both cities instead of just hanging out in the hotels. It was not easy to get out about about for the few hours in both Vancouver and Paris and I could easily see me convince myself that it might not be worth the hassle. It certainly was worth the hassle.

And I’m really thrilled I got enough time in the Swiss Alps. And that I decided to leave Gimmelwald a day early to visit Basel.

Some might know I’m a huge Freitag fan. (Freitag is a Swiss company that makes really cool looking bags and accessories out of recycled truck tarps.) I found a store in Interlaken and Basel and picked up a couple of things. I held off on putting this in my blog because I wanted it to be a surprise for Mikey.

So that’s a wrap for this trip. Thanks again for following along. Until the next one, adieu!

Woke around 7:45am. Finally adjusting to the jet lag…just in time to fly home tomorrow. 😁

I walked across the street to the train station to grab a croissant for breakfast. It was delicious.

My train didn’t depart for Paris until 12:30pm and my checkout time was at noon. Perfect. I hung out in the room and relaxed right up until checkout.

The train was direct from Basel to Paris, Gare Du Lyon station. I read this station had luggage lockers so this seemed like a good place to dump my stuff then enjoy Paris for a few hours before heading to the hotel at the airport. I have a morning flight so I opted to stay close so I wouldn’t have to get up too early.

It took me 1/2 an hour to find and the drop off my luggage at the drop off lockers. Security was pretty tight there. That made me feel safe leaving all my stuff behind.

I hopped on the Metro and went here.

I just wanted to do two things while in Paris. Snap the obligatory Eiffel Tower selfie and sit at a cafe for a few hours.

Eiffel Tower Selfie, check.

Granted this is a touristy thing to do and I’ve been here before but the heart wants what it wants. Plus the scene here was pretty fun. Lots of people snapping pictures and enjoying themselves.

Mission accomplished and I’d had enough of crowds so I headed over to Rue De Cler and sat at a cafe for a couple of hours.

I don’t remember the name of the dish but it was delicious. Some sort of French Mac and Cheese with ham. And the coffee was perfect.

I like this little neighborhood, too. It’s where Mike and I stayed the last time we were here. A great place to people watch. And a pretty little street. Lots of locals with their kids walking home with baguettes sticking out of their bags.

Time in a Parisian Cafe, check. It was nearly 7:15pm and time to head back to Gare Du Lyon, grab my bags and head to the hotel.

Now I’m all checked into my hotel and prepping for tomorrow’s 11 hour flight.

Thanks for following along.

EDIT: Word Press tells me I’m out of space for more photos so here’s a little video of some more images.

Here’s the view I woke up to this morning.

Notice the rain cloud on the mountain. The forecast called for rain in the afternoon. As is often the case in the mountains, the forecast was wrong. It’s raining already.

When I visited Gimmelwald I really struggled leaving to continue my trip. I’d only had three days and it just didn’t feel like enough. This time I felt like I’d drank in enough of this wonderful place to be fully satisfied. I felt content to leave. Nice feeling.

Here’s 30 seconds of rainy Gimmelwald to hold me over until next time.

After packing up I headed down the gondola to begin my journey to Basel. The gondola went through a cloud to return to the valley floor. (I’ll allow you to create your own “returning from heaven to earth” metaphor. You probably won’t be too far off.)

The cloud cover in the valley made it feel like it was roofed in. The weather has been so amazing this entire trip. Really sunny and clear seeing it all clouded up added nice variety to the experience. And it reminded me of the first time Mikey and I visited.

The trip out of the valley was beautiful but uneventful. The train passed Lake Thun on its way to Basel. It was beautiful with the cloud cover.

I arrived at the Basel SBB Train Station 3 hours after I left Gimmelwald. Not bad.

My hotel was directly across from the station.

As much as I loved the view from Esther’s Guest House, the downside was the shared bathroom. There was never really any issues with it, I just prefer having my own. And boy do I in this hotel!

I dropped off my stuff in the room and enjoyed the bathroom before I headed out to explore the city a bit.

I headed for Basel Minster on the suggestion of the man at the hotel front desk.

The church was closed but there was a lovely area in the back that overlooks the river. It was raining a bit and this happened.

Me and around 15-20 others stood around in the rain marveling at the amazing rainbows.

This was just perfect.

I wondered back to the train station to get a little chocolate to bring home and grab a bite of dinner.

I had a flatbread with arugula, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. It was baked to order and it was fantastic.

It was around 7:30pm and I was done for the day. I will miss watching the mountains tonight but I will thoroughly enjoy the European Rain Shower Head in my own private bathroom. (Mike says they just call it a Rain shower head here.)

And speaking of Mikey. This is the portion of the show where homesickness really kicks in. I miss my husband and the dog.

And I know my husband misses me and loves me. Here’s how I know…

And here’s a few little videos from Basel.

Switzerland has the very best in public transportation.

If you need me, I’ll be in the shower.

I woke up to this view. Again. Beautiful.

Actually, I woke up much earlier, around 3AM, so I attended an online meeting and finished my day 5 blog. I also got to chat with Mikey a bit. I fell back to sleep around 5am and woke up at 10am. The paragliders must have gotten up much earlier as they were flying by my window.

My plan today was to go to Trummelbach Falls.

The Trümmelbach Falls are a series of ten glacier-fed waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by a tunnel-funicular, built 1913, stairs, and illumination.

Here’s a little 3 minute video with clips of the falls and the funicular. They put the fun in…funicular. Thank you. Tip your waitress.

The falls were fun. I imagine they are more spectacular after a good rain or in the summer when the snow is really melting.

It was cool to see how the water had carved through the mountain and the noise was impressive. A little disappointed I didn’t get to see the back side of water, but you can have it all, I guess.

The valley views from various points on the stairs were worth the price of admission.

I caught the bus and gondola back to Gimmelwald then headed up to Mürren for lunch.

I had thought about another hike today but after all the stairs at Trummelbach, I wasn’t up for it. Instead, I opted to take the funicular to Allmendhubel. It’s a great place to check out some amazing views at 6257ft.

I caught the last funicular down and said hey to some cows grazing in Mürren.

Mikey said yesterday’s cow parade didn’t have enough cowbell. I hope this suffices.

I headed back to Gimmelwald and had a few snacks for dinner.

I’m pondering leaving here tomorrow and traveling to either Basel or Strasbourg to stay the night. It’s supposed to rain here tomorrow and I’m not sure there’s much I want to do while it’s raining. And I’d like to break up my travel back to Paris for my flight home Monday. Both cities are about half way to Paris. I’ll do a bit more research tonight before I sleep. It’s win win either way.

In the mean time here’s my view as I write this.

And here’s the gondola going down to the valley in real time, in case you’re wondering, it’s about a 3 minute ride.

Good night, Gimmelwald. And good night to you.

Woke up early to this view.

The mountains woke up to this view.

Here’s a shot of the Main Street of Gimmelwald I took leaning out my window.

No hikes for me today. My legs are a bit sore so I decided to head to Interlaken and hop on a lake cruise.

Interlaken (the gateway town to the Bernese Oberland) means something like locked between two lakes. Lake-locked. There are two large lakes on either side of Interlaken, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. Both have cruises that are covered by my Swiss Pass travel card since the boats are essentially buses that serve the villages along the lake.

A canal in Interlaken connects the two lakes.

After breakfast (banana, Alp Cheese and a pretzel) I took the 45 minute trip down the valley from Gimmelwald which takes a gondola, a bus and a train. Here’s the gondola ride down (type-lapsed.) I love taking these.

I pondered how little direct sunlight the valley floor gets each day. The cliff walls are so high that they shade the valley floor most daylight hours. Interesting ecosystem.

It was around 11am by the time I made it to Interlaken Ost train station which is one of two stations this town has, Interlaken West being the second. The cruise didn’t depart until 1pm. I has time to wonder around, grab a few snacks and the Co-op grocery store and do a little shopping. I took the bus to Interlaken West station and then meandered through the downtown area. Interlaken has a million little Victorinox (Swiss Army Knife maker) shops, plus tons of little souvenir shops and high end retailers. I had fun looking around. I mostly avoided spending too much money. Mostly.

I made my way back to a Interlaken Ost (which means East, I think…?) and munched on a Nutella croissant while I waited for my ship, the MS Jungfrau, to arrive.

Here’s where I sat during the cruise.

The lake is a lovely turquoise color, an effect of the glacial slit that pours into the lake from the surrounding Alps.

The ship zigzagged across Lake Brienz, stopping at the little villages along the shore. Here’s one of the stops with a pretty waterfall.

I got off at the village of Brienz and took the train back to Interlaken. (I hopped on a train going the wrong direction at first. Oops! Fortunately I just got off at the next station and got on the right train.)

The train zipped along the shore of the lake racing the ship I just got off of back to Interlaken.

A train, bus and gondola later and I was back in Gimmelwald. I didn’t have lunch so I grabbed a pizza from the Mountain Hostel across the street from my guest house.

The sky was super clear so I walked down to a little vista point and the far end of Gimmelwald. I spent a couple of hours here and played around with my various cameras taking pictures and video. It was a fun place to just hang out. Plus, cow parade.

In the two time-lapse videos below you can see the shadow of my side of the valley slowly creep up the other side as the sun goes down.

It was getting cold as the sun went down so I headed back to my room.

Despite being a pretty relaxing day I was done. I was ready for bed before it was completely dark outside. Here’s the view out my window before turning in.

And good night to you.

Slept for 5 hours, up for 2 and back to sleep for 3. I count that as 8 hours.

This was my alarm clock. (volume up.)

I decided to brave a moderately challenging hike after breakfast. Gimmelwald to Chilchbalm. It is as far as you can walk to the end of the valley. (Then you have to use mountain climbing equipment to go further.)

I wasn’t sure what was to be challenging about this trail. Then I realized I kept descending. It was easy going down but I could help feeling like coming back up was going to be exhausting. And my legs were a little done from yesterday’s trek.

I got to a little clearing where I could fly my drone. I shot a bit of footage.

I hiked on through mostly shaded areas. Found a few little waterfalls. It was remarkable how they’d carved into the stone of the mountain.

The trail was pretty empty. I saw maybe a dozen hikers and a few locals. Two guys drove by me in tractors filled with big wheels of Alp Cheese. Yum!

I made it to a cow farm and saw the that the trail in front of me continued to descend. I was going to have to ascend quite a bit already and wasn’t up for adding more so I turned around and began to hike back.

I took my time and stopped for lots of pictures. It really wasn’t too bad of an uphill climb.

Here’s a few more shots I took.

I made it back to my room by around 1:45pm, dropped off some stuff then headed up for a late lunch in Mürren. The gondola was PACKED!

Fortunately it’s a quick ride to the top.

I headed to Hotel Edelweiss and had a very a Swiss Roste Edelweiss. (Roll your “R” when saying Roste.) It’s shredded potatoes with slices of ham, topped with Raclette cheese and a fried egg.

I had this the last time I was here and it was just as good this time. plus the view…

I wanted some dessert but I was stuffed and it was cold so I headed back to Gimmelwald and my room.

I didn’t bring a jacket with me to lunch so I warmed up in my room while editing my videos and photos from the day.

And that brings me to now, around 8:15pm. I really enjoyed all aspects of today. Great hike, nice chill time at lunch and in my room. This was a fine vacation day.

Here’s a little video of my hike. May be a bit repetitive so feel free to skip it.

Thanks for following along.

I slept for a good 6 1/2 hours waking up around 4am. No luck at first falling back to sleep so I chatted with Mikey for a bit after he got home from a long day at work.

I finally fell back to sleep and woke up to this morning view.

I got up and had some cheese, smoked sausage and raspberries for breakfast. Good start.

This trip I wanted to explore the other side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. I’ve seen quite a bit of the Gimmelwald side of the valley (and will see more) but it today was about getting to the other side and taking a hike called the Panorama Hike.

I took the gondola down to the floor of the valley. It’s a long way down. (Here’s time-lapsed video of the assent. The video headed down wasn’t very good.)

I almost missed my bus since I was watching the paragliders land and do stunts. These daredevils are fun to watch.

The two videos above kind of show both sides of the valley. The valley was carved out into its current “U” shape by a huge glacier. And I am heading to the side that I can see out my bedroom window. Gondola, bus and train take me to Wengen where I will catch another gondola to Männlichen.

I had 20 minutes before the next gondola. This was nice timing since i needed to do some shopping. I didn’t bring any pajama bottoms and I am sharing a bathroom. No pajama bottoms makes for an awkward, middle of the night run to the toilet, so I found a little shop and grabbed a cute pair. I threw them into my hiking pack which also contained some of the smoked sausage I packed for the hike. Now my pajama bottoms smell like smoked sausage. Not really a complaint…just an observation.

The Panorama Hike begins at the gondola station and continues around 5 km to Kleine Scheidegg.

The Eiger peak was in front of me nearly the entire hike.

To my right is the Gimmelwald side of the valley.

To my left is Grindelwald, a very touristy town, not to be confused with Gimmelwald.

The hike was great. Stunning views the entire time.

Toward the end of the trail I stopped at for lunch at a restaurant with a great patio for lunch. I had a very German Hackbratten with noodles and Brussels sprouts. I wasn’t expecting much, more there for the view, but it was all quite tasty.

A few minutes further down the trail brought me to Kleine Scheidegg where I caught a train back down to the valley floor. Since the train goes up and down some steep inclines it has a cogwheel configuration. (See the image of the track below.)

It was a lovely trip back to Gimmelwald. I was ready for a nap so I set my alarm for 1 hour. I slept for 2. Must have needed it.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Just had some snacks for dinner since I had such a big lunch. Did a little planning for tomorrow. Depending on how my legs and feet feel, I may take another hike. We’ll see.

For now I am off to bed in my new smoked sausage-smelling pajamas.

In an unrelated note, this was in the Wengen restroom. Good to know…

Vancouver is beautiful. I woke up to this.

I had breakfast delivered to the room so I could take my time getting ready for my flight today. And take my time I did.

I took the hotel shuttle to the airport and made it to the Sky Team Lounge by around 10:30am. Here’s where I had a bite of lunch and just relaxed.

Today is a long travel day. 10 hour flight to Paris, arriving around 8am local time. Then a 6 hour train ride to Gimmelwald, Switzerland. I hope to be walking into Esther’s Guesthouse around 6pm-7pm. Hopefully this will help me transition with the least amount of jet-lag.

Here’s my plane. Air France’s 777-200.

Nice seat, two windows for me to watch the world go by. It’s going to be an amazing flight.

I started watching Downton Abbey, A New Era before we took off. (I’m a huge fan of the series. I just balled my eyes out through the last 10 minutes of the film. It was great.) Meal service began after we got to 33,000 feet. The crew made the meal service feel like a fine restaurant. And the food was great.

And dessert was perfect.

I watched a few more movies and tried to sleep some. Despite the smooth flight I didn’t really get any substantial sleep. Still, nice flight.

I was expecting to spend a couple of hours at the airport and then catch an 11:23am train. Since we arrived in Paris a bit early I was able to make it through customs by 8:30am and then power walk to catch an 8:59am TGV Train to Basel. I made it with 10 minutes to spare.

I can hear my bed in Gimmelwald calling my name.

A quick change of trains in Strasbourg put me on a regional train to Basel, Switzerland. I grabbed a croissant, pretzel and espresso (un cafe) for 4 euro. I’m really glad I had a handful of euro coins that I threw in my bag. 

A couple of hours later and I arrived in Gimmelwald via the Gondola.

Jet lag was really staring to kick in but it was only around 4pm local time so it was too early to sleep. I went to the farm down the road to get some Alp Cheese and smoked sausage.

I love that you can get fresh eggs, milk and cheese in this little barn.

And here’s my room in Esther’s Guest House.

The view is ridiculous. And it keeps changing as the lighting and clouds shift.

I took the gondola up to Mürren to get some groceries and had a little plate of crackers, cheese and smoked sausage. Add a little bit of my favorite Swiss chocolate and it was just enough for dinner.

I took a quick shower and got ready for bed. Now I’m lying in bed looking at this.

And good night to you.

And because you made it this far you get the bonus “moo cow parade through Mürren“ video.

I’m very excited. I’m sitting in the dinky little lounge at the Sacramento Airport as I write this.

I’ve been planning this trip since February and I can’t believe I’m finally sitting at the airport waiting for the first part of my journey to begin. Several years ago I decided I’d like to get to Europe every other year if possible. I’ve pretty much been meeting that goal. And sometimes exceeding it.

Itinerary

Technically it’s 3 countries in 9 days. Really it’s 2 full travel days, an overnight in Canada, and transit through France.

I start by flying to Vancouver. I’ll spend the afternoon and evening there. The next morning I’ll fly direct to Paris arriving around 8am local time. I’ll hop a train at the airport that takes me to one of my favorite spots on the planet, Gimmelwald, Switzerland. That will be my jumping off point to explore the Lauterbrunnen Valley and,perhaps, beyond…

Backstory

You may be thinking, “Wait! Weren’t you just in the Swiss Alps last September?” Why, yes, yes I was. I was also there in 2019 with Mike. Again, one of my favorite places on the planet.

I subscribe to a email newsletter that sends out notifications when there is a good deal on business class seats for international flights. Back in February a deal came up for Air France, direct to Paris for around $1300 for a lie-flat business class seat which is basically a bed on a plane. Round trip. Considering an economy seat runs around $1000 round trip from the west coast, this was an amazing deal. Plus, I love flying in comfort. (Full disclosure, the actual price was a bit more when all was said and done, but still a remarkable deal.)

A question I get regularly: Is Mike going with you? Well, I suggested to Mike we get these tickets for late May and go to Europe together but we were both a bit concerned about the war in Ukraine so we opted to go to NYC for our May trip. I, however, grabbed a ticket for myself hoping Ukraine would be contained or resolved by September.

I would rather travel with my husband, but I don’t mind traveling by myself. I start to get homesick pretty quickly though, missing Mike and Lainey, thus a week or so trip usually is enough.

Steve and Ash (pictured above) did a lot while they were in Interlaken and it really inspired me to explore more of the Valley I’ll be staying in. There is so much to explore that I haven’t seen yet. I plan on doing a lot.

After a very busy summer I am ready for a nice recharge. And after flying with 5 bags and sooo much equipment to Puppet Festivals in Seattle and Iowa, I am thrilled to be traveling with just a backpack and small carry-on suitcase.

I love the challenge of traveling without checking bags. My friend Matt turned me on to it. Advantages:

• No waiting for checked luggage at the airport. (Saves 20-40 minutes.)
• No chance of lost luggage.
• Forces me to pack light. In Europe being able to quickly and easily maneuver through streets and train stations is a must.

Despite the Self imposed “no checked bags” policy I did manage to pack a bunch including:

• Clothing and toiletries for 8 days
• My DJI Mini 2 Drone
• Insta 360 camera and DJI Pocket 2 camera
• Tripod
• Hiking poles
• iPad, iPhone, AirPods
• A book (New Pair of Glasses, Chuck C.)
• Warm jacket, hoodie and umbrella
• Water bottle
• Bose noise canceling headphones. (Takes up some space but really eases travel fatigue, especially on longer flights.)
• Gifts for Tobias and his family (the very kind owner of Esther’s Guesthouse in Gimmelwald.) I’m bringing them lovely espresso cups thrown by Sacramento pottery artist Lindsay Dillon, 2 Folkmanis puppets for the kids and two CD’s, The Toy Box by Francie Dillon and Puppet Art’s Storytime CD.
• Flip flops with arch support for the guest house. (No shoes allowed in the house. These flip flops are amazing!)
• A day pack for hiking. (Folds up to a little 6” by 8” packet. First time using it.)

The plane was delayed by an hour. No biggie since I have no connections today.

For any of my plane nerd friends, I’m on an Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900. Air Canada still requires everyone wear masks on board. I like this policy as the woman a row over just coughed and hacked into her mask.

Smaller plane so I have a seat all to myself.

After a safe, smooth flight I quickly zipped through customs and caught the shuttle to the airport.

I did a quick meditation to recharge my batteries in the hotel room before heading out to Granville Island. The taxi driver gave me a guided tour of the city as we drove the 7.7km. He immigrated from Pakistan 14 years ago and became a citizen 11 years ago. He loves Canada and loves Vancouver. We talked nonstop for 25 minutes and it was great.

Granville Island reminded me a bit of Pike’s Market in Seattle. It’s got a touristy vibe. Lots of little shops and a nice market to walk around and grab a bite. I grabbed a rather disappointing Lobster Roll.

It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. The lobster was a little over cooked. It was…food.

On my way to the lobster roll place I passed by a long line of people waiting for something. It turned out to be a donut shop. What kind of idiots stand in line for a donut?

After the lobster roll I walked by the line again. There was no line at the lobster place. There was a long line here. I hopped in line.

The line was 30-40 people deep. I asked the guy in front of me what was so special about these donuts. He had no idea. It was his first time, too. His wife had him standing in line to get donuts for her. We started chatting about business and mentoring so the time in line flew by.

The donut was as good as the conversation. Light, not too sweet. Worth the wait.

I took the Aquabus across the water to Yaletown.

The boat driver directed me up the street to the train station. I wanted to take the subway back to the hotel. A couple of blocks up the street I started doubting the directions so I pulled out my little touristy map and started to check. A moment later I hear a woman’s say, “Are you lost?” She said she recognized the list look and kindly pointed me in the right direction. What a sweet lady. I’ve met some really nice people today.

The hotel was a quick 10 minute walk. When I made it to my room the lack of sleep I’ve had last night or two suddenly caught up with me. Nice timing.

As I’ve been typing this I’ve been watching planes land with a spectacular sunset background.

Nice start to the trip.

Thanks for reading.