Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Week-ends à Geneve et Annecy

Somehow I managed to neglect my blog this past month, so I figured I should catch up-- especially since I only have just under 4 weeks abroad! So let's rewind a bit...

When I traveled to Europe my senior year of high school, my Aunt Susan and Uncle Rich drove me across the Swiss border so that I could say I had technically been to Switzerland. Flash-forward nearly 7 years later and I can now say I have actually been to Switzerland.

To fully appreciate the entire significance of this trip, I should rewind again about 20 years. At the age of about 3 years old, my parents decided that they wanted me to attend a French immersion school in Chicago-- Le Lycee Francais de Chicago. Ultimately, this is where my love for the French language began. While there, I made my very first friends in life-- many of whom I've remained in contact with over the years (thanks, Facebook!). Many of these friends ended up staying at the Lycee longer than I did, I left at around 7 years old, but it seems most of us have actually kept up with French over the years.

One of my first friends, Claire, and I had been very close as kids, but when we both ended up in different schools and in different neighborhoods we slowly lost touch. Luckily, we managed to reconnect and I learned she was currently living in Switzerland after having done TAPIF the year before. After months of trying to find a good weekend for us both, we finally managed to meet up in her current city of Geneva!

Claire was a fabulous host and guide to have in Geneva and brought me all over and I am so happy we had the chance to see each other again after all that time! Geneva was a beautiful city-- a mix of very modern and very old. My absolute favorite part of the city was the lake, which of course only reminded me of Chicago. I have a lot I could say, but I am going to keep it short and sweet today and show you lots of pictures instead. Suffice it to say it was a great trip with a wonderful old friend and I am happy I finally made it into Switzerland for real this time!




Shortly after my weekend to Geneva, I made a quick getaway over Easter weekend to Annecy with Jessica and Christian. Annecy has been on my list for far too long considering I've been living very close by. The problem has been balancing my au pair life with the train schedules-- but I finally succeeded in finding my way there! Annecy, like Geneva, is by the Alps, has a lake, and is absolutely stunning.

We spent a lot of time walking by the lake and in the old center, which is probably the most well known part about Annecy. It was a perfect break for us all and we were all glad to have been able to get there after months of talking about it! Now for the photos.


I just finished my final big trip to Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam and plan to be writing about that soon. At this point, I have just under a month left before I come home. It's definitely bizarre to know my time in France is coming to an end again, but I AM ready to be home! Stay tuned, I promise I won't be as neglectful with my posts for the few weeks and trips I have left.