Day 3 - Switzerland

We left Zurich for Mount Titlis, Engelberg early in the morning by coach which took about an hour.

Engelberg is an alpine town in central Switzerland where the station for the cable cars going up to Mount Titlis is located.

The scenic ride to Engelberg was breathtaking. Storybook chalets and the snow-capped Alps unfolded at every turn! The vista was just like a page right out of the Heidi classic I grew up on. It made me want to yodel!

Because I have anemia and was at risk of high altitude sickness, the three of us decided to hop off at the Trübsee middle station while the rest of the group took the cable car ride all the way to the top of the mountain.

No regrets!  Not going up to the summit  meant more hours of frolicking in the snow at the Trübsee Snow Park!

We experienced snowtubing for the first time and it was super fun!  More photos and videos in my upcoming post.

Love, love, love this photo of us.The peaks of the Alps make such a postcard-perfect backdrop.

Reaching 10,626 feet above sea level, Mt. Titlis is Central Switzerland’s highest peak.

O ho lay dee hee!!

Mt. Titlis

After Mt. Titlis, our coach shuttled us off to Lucerne.

LUCERNE

Lucerne is a lake city in central Switzerland known for its charming medieval architecture. Its old town (Altstadt) is amongst the prettiest in Switzerland.

Our group photo at the sad Lion Monument.

More photos and explanation of this poignant sculpture in an upcoming post.

ALTSTADT (OLD TOWN)

Many of  Altstadt's  buildings were constructed in the Middle Ages, with the chapel bridge (Lucerne's icon) built circa 1300.

The Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) is a wooden pedestrian bridge that spans the Reuss River.
It is named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel. Built in 1333, the bridge is one of the oldest wooden bridges in Europe.

Paintings on the interior of the covered bridge.

Two thirds of the  paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1993. Out of the original 158 paintings, only 30 were fully restored and are on display today.

Swans around the lake lend a fairytale charm to this beautiful city.

We spent the rest of the evening meandering the cobbled pedestrian streets, seeking out the numerous hidden squares in the old town.

Wandering around this old town was like walking into a medieval movie set!

You can see murals like this painted on the ancient buildings.

We loved the little squares with the beautiful fountains.

A wefie with the Swiss Pinocchio in front of the Casagrande.

Inside one of those quaint souvenir shops.

You don't have to go far to see a Swiss flag; they are everywhere!

There are a few things that are quintessentially Swiss and cheese fondue is one of them.
Our visit to Switzerland wouldn't be complete minus a fondue!!

Our very first Swiss fondue at the Fritschi Restaurant.

Best rösti ever!!!

The raclette was amazing too. Yummmmm!

                                                 

You can't go all the way to Switzerland and not buy a Swiss watch!

Unlike what we thought, the prices of branded Swiss watches over here were just about the same as those back home.

Just because...

A Rolex or even a Tag Hauer is way out of our league so we settled for a Swiss Military Watch for my son Josh who couldn't join us on this trip.

Day 2 - Scenic Drive From Paris To Zurich

After the whirlwind tour of Paris on Day 1, we were glad for a much-needed slowdown as we travelled by coach from Paris to Zurich. The 6-hour-plus journey gave us time to regroup after the frenetic pace of Day 1.

We stopped for lunch at Dijon, a small, charming French city in the heart of Burgundy.

The name rang a bell! Dijon mustard!!  Yep, it's true. You can find mouthwatering mustards made in Dijon!

Lunch at La Grande Taverne

I passed up on the Foie Gras. I couldn't get the image of workers ramming pipes of grain and fat down the throats of listless ducks in crammed cages out of my mind. I am so very glad that this product of animal cruelty is now already banned in 16 countries. I pray that someday, France will remove this inhumane delicacy from their menus.

We arrived at our hotel in Zurich in the evening, just in time to do some shopping at the Lidl Schweiz Supermarket beside our hotel.

Dinner wasn't provided this evening but we found a nice kebab kiosk about a 15-minute walk away from the hotel called the Äss Bahn Snack.

A kebab costs 9 CHF. One Swiss Franc is about 4.11 Malaysian Ringgit which means that everything here costs 4 times as much!!

I read somewhere that Switzerland has the highest average McDonald's Big Mac price in the world, with an average transaction of $6.54 USD equivalent.  Switzerland happens to have one of the highest overall costs of living in the world.

Dang! Hubby will have to work 4 times as hard to save up for our next trip to Europe!

Day 1 - Paris

The Hubs, Rodney and I joined a guided tour together with 27 other Malaysians on a 10-day tour of Europe. France was the first of the 5 countries we visited.

We took a red-eye flight, departed Kuala Lumpur at 8:00 PM and arrived in Paris in the morning after a fifteen-plus-hour flight with a layover of 2 hours in Doha.

As soon as the plane landed at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, we were whisked into a waiting coach and began our tour of Paris right away!!

Paris is 7 hours behind Malaysia.

Jet-lagged and sleep deprived, Paris was a blur to me. In zombie mode, we took lots of photos but I really couldn't identify most of the places we visited other than the iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Lourve Museum and the Arc de Triomphe.

We headed up to the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower and viewed Paris in all her splendour.  More photos in my upcoming post.

Arc de Triomphe

Lourve Museum

Champs Elysees

Petit Palais

Grand Palais

Pont Alexandre III

Ecole Militaire

Les Invalides

The Palais Garnier opera house

The Galeries Lafayette Haussmann is surely the place to go shopping when you're in Paris!

Besides Harrod's in London, this was by far the most ornate, elegant and beautiful department store I'd ever seen! I will share photos of the resplendent interior in an upcoming post.

Our three-course French dinner at Chez Edouard

The much maligned but utterly delicious garlicky snails were the highlight of the meal.

Escargot with herb butter

The day ended with a night cruise on the Seine River.

                                              

Doing Paris in just one day right after a 15 hr flight was exhausting! And when we checked into our hotel, we all crashed out on our beds, too tired to even shower! I was way too knackered to brush my teeth or remove my makeup!