I’ve always heard of the Alps. And having been to Disneyland a few times I heard of the Matterhorn. Still, I never dreamed that one day I would visit the Alps in person and even be able to stand on them. When Matt found this “excursion” online I got very excited. To be at the highest point possible in Europe sounded like a once in a life-time opportunity. And we were not disappointed!

First we had to drive from Zurich, Switzerland to Interlaken…another 2 hours spent in the car. But, the scenery was very pretty, so we didn’t mind. We got to the train station, purchased our tickets for the “Top of Europe” and headed to the Alps.

We took 3 trains to get to "The Top of Europe" and the view was spectacular

View from the train of the Alps

All of us on top of the Alps, wishing the guy would hurry up and take the photo

It was really cold there... -59' C (you'll have to figure out the conversion to Fahrenheit)

The Ice Palace was our favorite. Ice sculptures with NO glass between us and the sculptures

More photos of Interlaken & Jungfrau

An added bonus to serving a mission for the LDS church is all of the missionaries that you meet and through social networking we can stay in contact with them more easily. Such is the case with Matt and a sister missionary who lives in Zurich, Switzerland whom he met as a missionary in France. Dani graciously allowed us to stay at her apartment while she was away for spring break with her husband. Not only did she have the beds all made for us, but she also allowed us to use her computer, got the kids Easter baskets and a bunch of chocolate for all of us to share. And all that she asked for us to bring her was some baking soda from the states!

We had very full days while we stayed at the apartment.

6 apartments in this complex. We stayed at the middle one on the right

You can’t go to Europe without going to a Chocolate Factory! My favorite chocolate is Lindt and the factory just happens to be in Zurich. The factory wasn’t open for tours, but the store above the factory was open and all ready for Easter.

chocolate, chocolate everywhere

Then we walked around the town of Zurich and saw some cool buildings and interesting people.

Grossmunster church on the river Limmat

Taking a break near the Grossmunster. On the other side of the river is Fraumunster with its church tower

This guy kept trying to talk to Matt, but neither one spoke a language the other could understand. He was a little crazy...and he was rolling a joint

We ended the day with going to the Zurich zoo since our family loves the zoo and TripAdvisor places it as the #1 attraction.

Jungle Book Family

More photos of Zurich

On our way to Zurich, Switzerland we made a couple of stops. First to the castle in Chillon which lies on the Lake Leman.

Chillin' at Chillon

The oldest parts of the castle have not been definitively dated, but the first written record of the castle is in 1160 or 1005

People use to sleep sitting up and then would take care of their bathroom business next to their bed

From Chillon we went to Gruyeres where we felt like we were in the Disney story “Beauty and the Beast.” The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson. This city of Gruyeres is also known for its cheese, although I don’t know if we tried it or not.

Belle should be at the fountain singing while a sheep comes up to her

The Gruyeres castle, one of the most prestigious in Switzerland, towers majestically above the medieval town.

More photos of Chillon and Gruyeres

We arrive in Geneva with still plenty of sunshine. Our hotel was on the 3rd floor of a building where we had to walk through a little cafe area. One of the funniest sayings we heard was when a lady asked my 25 year old brother, “Are you waiting for your daddy?” Robbie stayed with the car since we unloaded in a “no parking” area.

The Jet d'Eau...the cities most famous landmark. Shoots up 459 feet

All of the tulips were in bloom in Switzerland

Switzerland is known for making watches/clocks. They even make them out of flowers

The Cathedral of St. Peter. They wanted $25 a person to enter...we didn't go inside

The streets literally lights up at night with various sayings in different languages

The United Nations of Geneva

One of the conference rooms at the UN ... important people make big decisions here

Human Rights meeting room...seriously cool ceiling

Robbie promoting peace at the UN in Geneva

Broken chair in front of the UN...with protesters there when we visited

Fountains in front of the UN kept Mason busy and wet

Red Cross was founded by a Swiss business man

Red Cross / Red Crescent museum is across from the United Nations

More photos of Geneva

One of the coolest parts of our European vacation was sleeping at different locations. Matt chose some places that are off the beaten path…like Grignan, France. He found this AWESOME Bed & Breakfast at the base of a castle. We stayed at “La Demeure du Chateau.” It felt a bit like a castle itself and had some incredible views.

View from our bedroom

glass bridge in our family suite

Walking up to the Grignan castle...short distance from our B&B

Rebel on top of someone's roof...they shouldn't have their roof the same height at the street!

Ninja on the roof...glad he didn't fall through

Farley family in Grignan, France

After walking around and maneuvering through the narrow streets of Grignan we loaded back up in the car and headed to Grenoble…2 hours away. I must say that everyone did very well in the car, and we spent a lot of time driving to different cities. With an iPad, Android tablet, laptop, cell phone games, music and beautiful scenery we were all entertained in some form. Matt had the brilliant idea to bring our car charger that has an American outlet and a power strip. We were able to charge many devises all at the same time and keep everyone happy.

We didn't have to worry about a converter with this set-up

We had beautiful weather in Grenoble. The city is surrounded by mountains and is known in France as the “Capital of the Alps.” We parked at the plaza and got some lunch and ate on the grass near a fountain with mountains all around us.

The kids liked playing in the water after they ate

We walked to a great tourist spot called the Bastille. But in order to get there, you need to ride in the “Grenoble-Bastille Cable Car”. At the top you can look out over the city and stand in awe of the mountains that are all around you. From the top we could see the arena that was built for the Olympic Games in 1968. This was the city where Peggy Fleming won gold in figure skating!

Europeans lay around when the sun comes out

Egg-shaped cable cars known to locals as "Les Bulles"

View of Grenoble and the Isère River from the Bastille

On our walk back to the car we stopped at a park so the kids could play before we stuck them back in the car for another 90 minutes before we reached our next destination…Geneva, Switzerland!

More photos of Grignan and Grenoble