Au revoir, France! Guttentag, Switzerland!

We packed up our tent from the vineyard and got our big old backpacks ready for our next stop. First, though, we had to hike into the village of Eguisheim carrying our packs the whole way. For convenience we decided to drop our packs so we could enjoy a walk around the town. We quickly found a bike rack in a safe place (okay... all of Eguisheim is completely safe) and locked up our stuff. We spent the morning getting goodies from our favorite boulangerie (bakery) and also splurged on a bag of the greatest chocolate macaroons in the world! These things are to die for!

Saying a sad farewell, we stood on the edge of the village and waved down the first bus we saw. (That's right- there is no official bus stop because this place is so tiny.) We took it to the train station in Colmar to set up our transport to Switzerland. This proved to be a little more difficult than expected when we realiyed the French Railway Association was on strike. In fact, the strike had just begun that day. This caused us to change our train schedules at every stop on the way and gave us REALLY tight connections and packed train cars. (Tight connections= having to sprint and then opening the door to the train car after it was closing to leave the station. Man, are we good.)

After 4 trains, 5 macaroons, 25 francs for accidentally sitting in a first class car, and some jaw-dropping views, we arrived in Lausanne, Switz. We were so excited to hear English and find the people here more than willing to speak it. We even had someone help us figure out a bus to our campground.

Camping de Vidy is a cute little campground that we walked to from our bus stop. We had read about it in one of our guidebooks and decided to give it a try. We ended up gettting the last of the "bungalows" which was a real steal to split between the two of us and we were totally pumped to have four walls, windows, a lockable room, and a KITCHENette all to ourselves. The best part is that the grounds sit right on Lake Geneva, the largest lake in Western Europe. We walked to the beach and enjoyed the sand while looking at the view of snow-capped mountains across the lake. This place is astounding. We cooked a dinner for ourselves and were so glad to be in the relaxing and beautiful Lausanne for the night.

Love all!

Tripp and Laura

ps- Some essential French foods we had the pleasure of enjoying...

* Quiche
* Créme brülèe
* Croissants
* Quiche
* Chocolat Tartte
* Alsatian wine
* Almond Croissants
* Quiche
* Crépes
* Meringues
* Chocolate Croissants
* Baguettes (aka brick bread)
* Quiche
* Kebabs (thanks Matthew and Phil!)
* Macaroons
* Glacé (French sorbet)
* Quiche