Last year when Domenic graduated from ASU we wanted to do a big trip, but let's be honest we didn't have the money for that! But with both of us working this last year and time to plan and save we decided we were doing it! Why, not?!?
A roommate of mine from BYU, Rochelle, lives in Switzerland now with her family and Domenic has an old mission companion from England, Nathan, so we decided we would travel Europe and visit good friends. So with that, we booked the tickets and waited anxiously until April 20th when we left!
Since we both started on opposite coasts of the United States we met in Philadelphia to make our connection to Zurich, Switzerland. It was an overnight flight that was certainly looooong!! I had gotten sick 4 days before we left and so despite feeling better I still had all the drainage/sinus junk that made sleeping impossible. I left AZ at 8am Saturday morning and we got to Switzerland at 8am Sunday morning! I was tired to say the least, but everyone we talked to said to stay up the first day so that night we would just pass out. We planned accordingly and after meeting Rochelle at the airport, a nice breakfast at their house, and a little freshening up, we were on our way to start our adventures. :)
After a long 4+ hour flight from Phoenix to Philly I met up with Nick and we were boarded to fly over the ocean (something I must admit I was a little nervous about). We are ready for take off!
First up: France!
We went to the northeastern area of France known as the Alsace region, where most people actually speak German. We visited the village of Eguisheim. This area is known for very high end wine and most of the tourists are on winery tours. Being that we don't drink wine, Rochelle had heard it had such a cute town and center that we wanted to check it out. It did not disappoint! The narrow cobblestone streets and old colorful buildings was just what I expected in an old European city. We enjoyed hot pretzels smothered with locally made cheese and macaroons! Yum!
I was so in love with these cute little streets
Jeremy, Rochelle, and Liza. They were such great hosts. They had never been to this little town so it was fun exploring together.
I kept asking if people really lived in these homes, and sure enough we saw people leaving their houses. There were a few for rent so we were checking out the prices. It just didn't seem real that people lived here. haha, yes, we are so American.
This town is known for all the stork birds that nest in the town center. In fact, a shop owner told us that this is where the story of the stork bird delivering babies to parents began. And due to the large quantity of these birds everywhere I think I believe the story. The nests were huge and snuggled into all the buildings.
How is this for a narrow street! Domenic could barely fit!
This street!! I just can't get over it.
We bought a snack from this street vendor. The smell of freshly made pretzels tempted us. It had the most delicious cheese melted on top with cured meat, so good. This was also my first experience trying to pay with francs. Haha, it was hilarious! I didn't know what any of the coins were and the lady working only spoke German. I still have no idea what this snack cost us. Lol.
I loved all the fountains and flowers everywhere. Nick was not amused to pose for this picture.
The town center had great fountains and a few of the most adorable old churches. Can you spot the birds nest?
Nick probably took 25 pictures along of the stork birds all over the place!
France had such a pretty countryside. It was great driving around and I couldn't get over how green everything was. I think I made that comment 50 times!
Next up we ventured to see some free roaming monkeys! Seriously, I don't think I can ever go to a zoo again and see an animal in a cage and be impressed. Montagne des Singes or "Monkey Mountain" as everyone calls it, is a sanctuary for Barbary Macaques in the Alsace. The monkeys are native to northern Africa, but were brought here in the 1960's when they became endangered to do research and to breed. You pay to get into the park, a guide goes over a few rules, you get several handfuls of popcorn to feed the monkeys, and then you are off into their territory. The only big rule was to not look them in the eye, that is a threat to them, but otherwise you hold out your hand and they will come right up to you. It was crazy!
I had my popcorn out ready to go!
The monkeys were so cute, loved popcorn, and didn't mind having a few pictures taken.
The park had a huge loop to walk around, but it took us forever because we couldn't walk away from the little things.
I love this picture, it captures the initial reaction we had to the first monkey who took the popcorn right from us.
These baby monkeys were just adorable, and interestingly the male monkeys mostly take care of them.
After Nick took this picture and I saw these big sharp teeth I was second guessing how close we were to them...haha!
Despite being totally jet lagged and dozing on and off in the car we loved all that the Alsace region of France had to offer. We debating going to Paris, but we didn't want to rush our time there and try to do it in a day, so Paris will have to wait! Oh, France I think I love you!
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