Absolute Beauty: Switzerland-Paris

Penned down our trip details for some family and friends, so putting it up on KV as well. Better late than never :-).

Stay: 2.5 days
• Eiffel Tower both during day and night (walk through the Champ-de-Mars park that takes you across – many street artists perform at the other end, we laughed a lot.)
• Louvre Museum
• Notre Dame
• Arc De Triumph
• Stroll around both left and right bank of Seine River at night. It’s very festive. Walk to the famous Love-Lock bridges.
• Eat at L’As Du Fallafel, its worth a wait in the line. (There are Boutiques on streets around this place if you want to go around)
• On the last day of our trip we had scrumptious Indian Food @ Gare du Nord – Krishna Bhavan & Sarvana Bhavan (both were amazing).

• Traveled locally using the Paris Metro Trains.

Stay: 5 days
•We pre-ordered the 4 day Swiss pass
•Stayed 2 days in Interlaken and 3 days in Lauterbrunnen. Loved our stay, it’s the most beautiful and mesmerizing place to live at. We didn’t want to live in cities like Zurich, Geneva etc. We stayed in hostels @ both these places, as both I and Dhaval had read a lot about them. It felt like my story book dreams turned into reality. Rooms were very clean with amazing views and very friendly people. Added advantage was having kitchen in hostels. Hostels also have private rooms if you want to try.
Balmer’s Herberge – In Interlaken (Included Breakfast)
Valley Hostel – In Lauterbrunnen Valley

View from our room in Lauterbrunnen.

•Interlaken – We rented bikes (bicycles) from Interlaken and went around Lake Brienz for around 4~5 hours. The other option is to take boat cruise in either Lake Brienz or Lake Thun. We chose Brienz as it is more beautiful to see around.
•Jungfraujoch – Make sure you go on a clear day, so don’t buy tickets ahead of time. We got 25% off these tickets as we had the Swiss Pass. Start early (around 6.30 ~ 7AM) to beat the crowd. The train ride is quite enchanting. Saw the Sphinx, walked through the tunnel towards the snow, ice museum. And yes, there is a Bollywood cafe up there( Indians can’t leave out top of Europe too.)
•Murren – Lift from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp followed by train to Murren. Murren in a car free town and very beautiful. We just walked through the entire town and stopped by a cafe.
•Trummelbach Falls– Walked to Schilthornbahn@ Murren and took a lift to Stechelberg followed by bus to Trummelbach. This bus ride was very beautiful as we were in the valley surrounded by mountains and numerous waterfalls. Spent 1.5 hrs at Trummelbach falls.
•Lucerne – Took the Interlaken-Lucerne Express Train. This was the most wonderful journey passing through crystal clear lakes, innumerable waterfalls, jingling cowbells in fields and spectacular views of the Swiss Alps.
At Lucerne: Kapellbrucke-Chapel Bridge, Lion Monument, Old town (Churches, Museums, eating and Souvenir shopping). We skipped Mount Pilatus.

Our train ride to Lucerne

•Zurich – Stroll around Bahnhofstrasse and Old town, Church of our Lady, Take PolyBahn (Apparently a Historic Ride) to Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute to see the city and Limmat River from top. People go to Rhine river and falls from Zurich.
•DDLJ and Shahrukh fans should look to visit Sannen from Zurich to see the church and bridge. We didn’t go, but I had researched. Though,we did find Yash Chopra’s signature on one of the trains to Jungfraujoch.

Bollywood Rocks!

•Geneva – Saint Pierre Cathedral, Jet d’Eau at Lake Geneva, Visit the UN office (no tours on weekends), old town Geneva, Floral clock @ Jardin Anglais, Basilica of Our Lady Notre Dame. They had a street food and fun festival around the lake during our visit.

And I can go on and on about Switzerland. So let me stop and leave the rest for you to explore.

Pointers:
• Swiss Trains were never late, so make sure you plan to reach at least 10 minutes ahead of time.
• We used to stop by Co-Op store every morning for local groceries, as the store closes early before we get back from sightseeing.
• Don’t miss trying the Swiss Cheese Fondue and Swiss Chocolates.
• Travel very light, it doubles the amount of fun as we walk a lot.