The Pyrenees: Waterfalls and Lakes

We're in Basque Country (well, almost)! We're in the Hautes-Pyrenees, France. We rented an apartment in the historic old town of Cauterets, an old spa town and ski resort. The accommodations were fantastic. We could walk right our door and be almost in the old town center. Here are KaRynn and the girls standing outside our apartment.

Exploring the old fountain downtown.

We hiked up the Sentier des Cascades to the Pont d'Espagne, which is surrounded by stunning waterfall views.

Mariah and her buddy, "Ka-Wynn"
Watch out. It's a long way down.

We stopped a little further up on the hike to take a dip in the river. Anna Claire and Mariah could have stayed there all day. . . throwing rocks.

A couple days later, KaRynn and I decided to continue up the trail to Lac de Gaube -- an aqua-colored freshwater lake. We had to take a cable car, then a ski lift, then hike to get there. KaRynn carried Anna on the ski lift, while I carried Mariah. I must say that, although I've been on ski lifts since I was 4 or 5 years old, this was the scariest ski lift ride I've ever taken. Mariah is so wiggly that I clung to her for dear life, fearing that she would wiggle out and fall several hundred feet to the ground. When we finally arrived at the lake, the girls stripped down for a skinny dip.

The hike was well worth it for the stunning views.

Back in town, we discovered a fantastic kids park, which the girls preferred to the stunning views! Up and down, up and down!

Wheeeee!

Look out! We're going to crash! I wonder if Anna is just mimicking the expression Daddy gets when Mommy drives.

The Pyrenees: Biking!

Of course, the real purpose of the Pyrenees trip was to get in some good biking. Rob is training for LOTOJA this year and he wanted to train on the Tour de France circuit. He wound up doing all the major climbs in the Pyrenees: Col du Tourmalet, Luz Ardiden, Hautacam, Col du Solourn, Col de Aubisque. Here is the top of Col du Tourmalet.
Rob attempted to take a picture of himself here. Unfortunately, he cut off half his face.
I rode with Rob up Luz Ardiden. For all you Lance Armstrong fans, this is what Lance was climbing in 2003 when his handlebars caught on a fan's bag and he fell -- before getting back up and blowing past everyone to win the stage. The ride is absolutely picturesque! That tiny pink speck down there is me. Rob took the photo.
Almost there, don't give up! Allez, allez, as the French say.

Okay, not a bad job for someone who is 4 months PREGO.

The Pyrenees: The Wildlife Park and Aquarium

Rob had to work quite a bit during our "vacation" so KaRynn, the girls and I headed off to some fun places to entertain ourselves while Daddy was working. We found a fabulous Wildlife Park just 20 km away. It had all sorts of "wild" animals -- and many of them wandered freely, so the girls could pet them. Here they are petting Bambi.

The deer just walked right up to them. They wanted to be petted! No fear of the deer hunter here.
Here is Anna Claire feeding the marmottes. This fuzzy animals live in the wild all over France and Switzerland.

Mariah got to feed the marmottes too. She was a little more hesitant.

The park also had several bears. They, of course, did not wander freely. Neither did the wolves. However, they weren't in a small caged area typical to zoos -- they had a huge area to roam around.

These bears were signing "me, me" as the groundskeeper threw them apples.

Mariah was fascinated by this hog. They made some kind of a connection!

More goats here too! And chickens, peacocks, geese, ducks -- you name it -- all roaming freely.

We also made a trip to an aquarium. The girls really loved finding "Nemo" and seeing the turtles and the shark.

Look mom, it's Nemo.

Mom, wake up! Look at all the fishies!

In the good ole' Summertime. . .

This summer we've been having lots of fun. The back garden of our apartment building is great for just running around. Especially when the sprinklers are on (which is a rare occasion in Switzerland because we usually get enough rain). Here is Anna running through the sprinklers with her neighbor friends, Sarah and Oliver.
Hanging out on the grass with Daddy.

Anna Claire with her little twin Mael (friend from church).
My little virtuosos. Rob finally bought me my birthday gift -- a keyboard. This one is great and plays lots of tunes. I just wish I had it this whole past year since I've been the primary chorister.

Day Trip to Annecy, France

Back to Annecy! It's been 19 months since I was last here -- but it's such a beautiful place and we just had to show KaRynn. The place is the perfect, flowery medieval town, surrounded by a lake and charming canals.

Just for comparison, below is the picture that we took the last time we were in Annecy. Actually, both Anna and Mariah are in this picture too. Mariah was just inside of me -- this was 1 week before she was born. So, I guess I'm pregnant in both pictures.
Hanging out on the castle walls overlooking Annecy.
Although very medieval looking from the outside, the inside of the castle is now a modern art museum. With high vaulted ceilings, it's the perfect place to host giant art exhibits. Anna is chasing after KaRynn and Mariah here. Poor KaRynn got quite the workout after pushing both Anna and Mariah up the steep climb to the castle!
Isn't this dreamy?
Anna Claire couldn't help but stop to smell the flowers.
Aside from the gelato, the girls' favorite part was the carousel in the park. Hi Mariah!

Day Trips to Geneva and Lausanne

This month KaRynn and the kids and I did some great day trips to Geneva and Lausanne. I was much more motivated to do this because I have KaRynn to help me right now. In Geneva, we wandered the old town until we finally found the Reformation Museum. It was really interesting. So many things from that pivotal period in history happened right here in Geneva. Calvin preached in the cathedral next door. The Geneva Bible was printed here (the early English translation of the Bible, upon which much of the King James was based). I wish I had discovered this earlier so that I could have taken all of our guests here. We also toured the archeological site of a 6th century Christian church, which was built under the current cathedral. Here is Anna. She looks great as John Calvin.
We also did a day trip to Lausanne to check out the Lausanne Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral. Needless to say, the inside was stripped bare by the Calvinists.

Fortunately, the Calvinists preserved the beautiful rose window.
The view of Lake Geneva from the top of Lausanne.

A Trip to Zürich Area and Bern

Rob is already working in Zürich during the week (actually, in a town called Horgen, right on Lake Zürich) so we decided to visit him. His apartment is in a darling town called Thalwil.

After buying groceries and restocking Rob's bachelor pad, we headed out to the Knies Kinderzoo in the quaint little town of Rapperswil, which is right on the lake. The zoo is a petting and feeding zoo so the girls had the time of their lives. Mariah and Anna even petted this giraffe.

Feeding the ponies.

Anna surprised everyone by riding this pony -- over and over -- she didn't want to get off.

Look at me!

Petting the rhinocerous. Yes, we really got to do this! They had a big brush that we used to brush his horn. The rhino loved it.

Feeding the goats!

Zoom down the slide. The zoo had a big playground too!

Can we come here again Mommy? Anna particularly loved the sea lion show. It was like a miniature Sea World.

Down the slide with Mariah. I think I'm a little too big for this slide.

Feeding the ducks and swans in Rapperswil.

On the way back from Zurich, we stopped in Bern for lunch. It's the capital of Switzerland, but also has a charming old town. Here are KaRynn and the girls.

The big town clock in Bern. (Every Swiss town has to have a big clock!) We arrived just as the clock struck twelve and little figures came out and danced. Just like the cuckoo clock!

Anna at one of the many fun fountains lining the streets.

The Bern Cathedral. It's my favorite in Switzerland so far.

I really loved the decor on the front doors of the cathedral. Surprisingly extravagant, given the Calvinism in this country.

The grand interior.