Well the final day has arrived. Sunny warm (seems hot but it’s only 81) weather has arrived.

We head off for the Musee Rodin, always a favorite of mine. We tour the gardens and have a really nice lunch in the shaded gardens.

We then walk over to the a Eiffel Tower and take the short line for a walk up to level 2. They have installed some clear decking on level one that is a bit scary.

We enjoyed one last evening in our apartment and a walk around our neighborhood including a crepe for Emily (Sadie’s suggestion). Yum!!

Of course we ended with another delicious dessert.

After watching the movie Marie Antoinette we decided that a trip to Versailles was in order.

We even got to see one of the fountains in operation.

The chateau was a mob scene so we skipped it, toured the gardens and then Marie’s hamlet area.

Back in Paris we discovered they have started installing the “beach” along the Seine, eventually they will fill it in with sand.

And of course we top off the day with dessert.

Today the weather cleared the sun came out and France celebrated the overthrow of King Louis. So we started the day with the French military fly over that went directly over out apartment. Very cool.

We then went to see King Louis’ former residence, the Louvre. Since it was Bastille Day it was free and a few thousand people joined us for the tour. However we outsmarted all of them. While they waited in an hour long line, we went to a seldom used entrance and were literally the only three people there. It was great. We then joined the throngs for our tour.

We had a leisurely stroll home along the Seine and after resting went and sat in the square in front of the Pompidou. We listened to an histerical Asian guy with a guitar butcher several American pop songs.

The grand finale were fireworks over the Eiffel tower. We went down and stood in the street with the crowd along the Seine. They went on for 35 minutes. Even at a distance they were wonderful.

There has been some question that maybe we weren’t providing Emily enough culture. So today we decided to address that issue.

The day started overcast and rainy. We delayed our departure so the rain might slow down. First we headed to the Eiffel Tower for a walk by (we’ll return for a walk up on Wednesday). There was much activity as they set up for Bastille Day.

We walked through then went to rue Cler for our daily grocery shopping. We bought lots of delicious foods.

We then headed to the Pompidou to catch some modern art, actually lots of modern art.

At one display Emily was able to go into the room with chalk and actually participate in the art.

Finally we enjoyed another nice walk alone the Seine. Only three days left the clock is ticking.

Today we started our day at the Woodrow Wilson market where we bought salmon and salad delicious Mediterranean lunches.

Later we headed up to Montmarte and Sacre Cour including a visit to the busy square of artists.

In the evening we crowded onto our tiny balcony for appies overlooking Paris.

We ended the day with our delicious dinner from the market and a stroll along the Seine under a full moon.

We decided that today was the day we would conquer the catacombs. We tried this with Sadie several years ago but could not handle the lines. Today we were there at 9:00 for the 10:00 opening. I would estimate we were about 100 people from the front. They let 200 in at a time. The prospects looked good.

10:00 arrived, no movement. 10:15 about 10 people appeared to enter. Slowly about every 15 minutes a few more people would enter. We were near the entrance. The line now snaked about 400 people behind us. Finally at 11:00 we made it to the door. We entered and once we were underground saw very few people. Definitely worth the wait (sorry Sadie, we’ll do it next time we’re in a Paris).

We then went to Bon Marche, another food heaven (and one of Carolyn’s favorites). We got wonderful sandwiches and quiches then headed to a nearby park for lunch.

We then walked through the Hotel Invaldes, across the “Adele Bridge”, bought more food and headed home.

(Sorry this entry is a little late)

We woke up early and got ready to leave Switzerland.

Our train out of Interlaken was about 20 minutes late. Exactly the amount of time for our layover in Bern. The ticket guy assured me they would hold the Paris train. Sure enough we got there, walked quickly to our train and within minutes it took off. I’m not sure they were waiting for us but we were on our way to Paris.

We arrived, made our way to our apartment (tres qute). And headed out to see Paris. We quickly became lost but found familiar things like the Stravinsky Fountain near the Pompidou.

We headed up to Rue Montorgueil a foodie Mecca. We bought pâté, cheese, chicken, potatoes daphinoise , baguettes, pan chocolates…. Emily was in patisserie heaven.

Back home we rested after a long day. We then checked out Notre Dame before enjoying our foodie purchases. Paris is good!!

Today is our final day in Switzerland. It is another overcast day with a steady drizzle.

We start off by taking the bus a short way up the valley to the Trümmelbach Falls. The are many many falls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley but this one is pretty unique. The falls come down through a very narrow crevice in the valley wall. The water roars down the opening through various chambers and openings. There are tunnels a walkways carved in the rock that seem like something out of The Lord of the Rings. It was very exciting.

Afterward we decided to take a tour via trains, cable car and tramway. It was all very beautiful. We even ahead a little snow.

Finally we ended the day with a great dinner at the Hotel Shuetzen, the place I stayed when I visited here 30 years ago. We then took a nice walk home enjoying the great view of the waterfalls.

Tomorrow off to Paris.

Today the rain we’d been expecting for the last two days finally arrived. It was a slow steady drizzle with the clouds rolling off the sides of the valley. The upside was that we had many new waterfalls to view from our back patio.

We decided it was a good day for a boat tour. We headed out and caught a train down to Interlaken. We boarded a boat and headed out onto Lake Brienz.

At Giessbach we got off and took a funicular up to an old hotel next to a huge waterfall. We took a short hike that went behind the falls. The rain had made the waterfall roar. Between the rain and the falls we were pretty wet.

We hiked back down to the shore and reboarded the boat to the end of the lake. The waters were an amazing blue color. We had lunch in a warm cafe with wonderful soup and salad and a shared pizza. We then headed on the train back home.

After a short rest (ie a one hour nap) Emily and I decided to hike up to the waterfall behind our house. Because of all the rain the falls were running large and the hike was very wet. The hike went up a tunnel in the rock with the falls pouring down.

We concluded the day with a good old Swiss fondue. We totally enjoyed the experience, though I’m not sure the meal will rate in the top 10.

Today the clouds had rolled in but we had very little rain. The views were just as impressive as the clouds hung over the valley and the mist rolled down the steep cliffs.
We headed off on foot toward the tram up and out of the valley to Murren.

From there we started a steep hike back to the valley floor. Our first stop was the little remote village of Gimmelwald. We found a great lunch stop at the Pension Gimmelwald. We each had an outstanding Lunch, a beer and amazing views into the valley. Thanks to Kathleen for recommending this hike.

After our amazing lunch we started the hike down. It was steep, beautiful and free of people. Truly wonderful.

At the bottom we caught a bus back to Lauterbrunnen. We hit up the cheese shop, the meat market for wurst and headed home. Emily made us a wonderful appie platter. A wonderful day.