Breakfast in a postcard! Hotel des Alpes- Lucerne, Switzerland
Mom's first breakfast in Lucerne- pure joy.
Bold little birds join us for breakfast!
Market day in Lucerne- the view from our balcony
Out for a morning stroll in Lucerne
Mom and Jim on the famous covered bridge- Lucerne
Mom at the 600 year old Jesuit Church- Lucerne
The first leg of the "Golden Round Trip" - a cruise on the Vierwaldstattersee- Lucerne
Elyse and Thomas on the Vierwaldstattersee cruise
Elyse with the adorable first mate, Patrik (no, we can't bring him home)
How lovely are these little local boat stops along the way?
Every boat stop a little more charming than the last
Off the boat and ready to go up Mt. Pilatus for the second leg of the " Golden Round Trip"
Going up Mt. Pilatus by Cograil
Going up the mountain, we start to hear the gentle sound of cowbells
One of the hundreds of lovely, bell clanging, cows we pass on the way up Mt. Pilatus
View from the Cograil Train
Crystal clean air, lovely views and the distant sound of all those cowbells
Thomas gets a lesson on playing the Alphorn!
Mom and kids up in the clouds
Thomas on the edge of the world
Mom can't get over all the beautiful little flowers that somehow manage to survive and even thrive on this barren rocky mountain top
Elyse, Mom, Thomas and Amanda on Mt. Pilatus
Elyse and Thomas - mountain strong
Look, were mountain climbers!
Elyse and Oma napping on Mt. Pilatus after a long hike
How lucky we are to be able to soak in the beauty of this landscape
Church on Mt. Pilatus
Jim shares a cool fountain with a lederhosen clad friend in Mittenwald
On the road to the Zugspitz mountain near Garmisch Partenkirchen
On the Zugspitz
On top of the Zugspitz
More guys in lederhosen than you could possibly count. We stumbled upon the annual town festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen
How cute are these little guys?!
Could this be the best day of their lives? Elyse, Thomas and Amanda with gianormous mugs of beer at the Hoffbrau Haus in Munich
Happy Family at the Hoffbrau Haus
Jim finds out what happens when you mess with the Hoffbrau Haus staff
'Crazy' King Ludwig's amazing views at Neuschwanstein
Our favorite waiter for a week (with his baby) during our stay in the Black Forest
The view from the top of the Freiburg Catheral- our reward for 20 minute climb up those TINY spiral starcases!
The kids with my cousin (and good friend) Marianne on the top of the Freiburg Cathedral
Views from the Freiburg Cathedral
Elyse cooling her feet in one of the little Freiburg 'Street Creeks'
Pigs on parade in Neuhausen!
Elyse and her new best friend in Neuhausen
A cherished visit with family AND incredible food! Mom and cousins at our reunion luncheon
Okay- could we get one shot where EVERYONE is looking at the camera?
Well, at least we have almost everyone: Tante Gerlinde, Me, Tante Isolde, Tante Toni, Tante Marlies, Tante Irmgard, Onkel Erich, Elyse, Amanda, Mom, Tante Gisela, Michaela, Carolin, Onkel Jurgen, Onkel Herrman, Thomas, Onkel Fritz and Onkel Rudolf
How wonderful to have this day to share
Mom, Erich and her sister Marlies
Tante Marlies, Onkle Erich, Mom, Onkel Rudolf, Tante Irmgard with heirloom flowers from Oma Ott's garden
Thomas, Elsye and Amanda with Carolin (who came and stayed with us 16 years ago!)
Mom's family home in Tuttlingen
Amanda, Tante Toni (Mom's sister), Elyse and Thomas. The joy of finally getting to meet easily overcame any language barriers.
Onkel Rudolf (Mom's brother) plays the pipe organ in St. Gallus Church
The ancient fortress overlooking Mom's hometown Tuttlingen
Onkel Rudolf, Tante Toni and Tante Irmgard show Thomas Tuttlingen from the old fortress above the city
Tante Toni and a view a Tuttlingen
Mom shares some memories and a view of her hometown with Elyse
Elyse and Thomas as ancient warriors
Jumping for joy over Tuttlingen
On a tour of the Ott Family Farm
Jim in the shiny new 'Ott Family' truck, complete with the old family crest. (If only they would let him take it for a spin!!)
Marianne and Hans Rudolf - our wonderful hosts (and TGV train reservation heros) in Freiburg
WE ARE IN PARIS!!
Elyse relaxing in Paris
Pyramids, Ferris Wheels and pretty girls in Paris at dusk
Napoleon's ground zero, Paris
Amanda, Elyse, Jim and Thomas at the Arc
Our evening stroll to Sacre Coeuer
Chilling in Mont Martre
Riding bikes in Paris at night
Yay! Elsye's jumps over Paris
Elyse brings the pyramid in Paris down to size
All of us with our "Fat Tire' Paris Night Bike tour guide, Kylie (we loved Kylie & we loved the bike tour!)
a peek at Notre Dame through iron gates
The girls and Jim at Notre Dame- its hard to imagine anything lovelier than Paris at night.
Still hard to imagine anything lovier than Paris at nighttime
Even though you know there are already a mllion photos of it- you can't not take pictures of the Eiffel Tower..... This shot from our dreamy night time river cruise.
