Fun with Friends in Geneva and Montreux, Switzerland

One of my friends from IL, Jen, is currently living in Wettingen, Switzerland (near Zurich) while her husband does some training for his job. They are only here for a short time but had the opportunity to come visit us here at our home on Friday July 24th and then we spent the day together on Sat the 25th touring around Geneva and Montreux, on the other side of Lake Geneva.

Did I mention that Jen has 3 boys??!! She drove up on Thursday evening with her boys and we spent the day on Friday just playing and touring up the mountains behind our house.

The boys had a blast playing together. Here's a few shots of them riding bikes in our drive.
This is the middle child:

And their oldest:

The sweet part is that with all the moving they've done in the last year or so, their oldest has not had the opportunity to really learn to ride a bike - but he was obviously ready as he learned in about 10 minutes on his own!! It was really exciting for him and all of us!

Then on Saturday we went to Geneva, Switzerland where Jen's husband, Brandyn, met up with us to spend the day together.

The boys in front of the famous flower clock in Geneva. Poor Piper couldn't stop crying for this picture!

Jen and I. We have 3 boys each, that alone is an instant bond!

Checking out the Jet d'Eau on Lake Geneva.

Walking out on the pier past the Jet d'Eau.

Feeding swans and ducks....

and a single child willing to stop and pose for me ;)

We went back past the flower clock and decided it was a great opportunity to have our friends take a family picture of us. We usually don't bother getting anyone to do it since often the boys are not very cooperative! Not bad for our boys :)

Then we headed up the hill to check out the 'old town' in Geneva.

Jen and her boys in front of the Cathédrale St-Pierre, or St. Peter's Cathedral.

Inside St. Peter's Cathedral.

the organ

Calvin's chair. John Calvin preached here from 1536 to 1564, and the cathedral became the guiding center of Protestantism.

We also went up the tower in the cathedral.

Going up the winding stairs...

View of Geneva and the lake from the tower.

The spire - up close.

Going back down...

After this we loaded up in our cars and drove around Lake Geneva on the northern side to the eastern side of the lake to Montreux, Switzerland to see the Chateau de Chillon.

View of the vineyards and lake below.

Another view of Lake Geneva dotted with sailboats.

The Chateau de Chillon, a medieval castle set in an amazing scene between Lake Geneva and the alps behind.

Piper and Daddy take 1...

take 2...

take 3... so sweet.

Inside the chateau.

Piper wanted to swim - not a bad idea on a hot sunny day!

Lord Byron's name, carved into a pillar in the dungeon of the castle. Byron wrote a poem titled "The Prisoner of Chillon" in 1816 about François Bonivard, a monk imprisoned there. This began the popularity of the chateau.

View from a walkway.

Reading their maps. This castle was definitely great for the kids - they had children's maps with neat activities and things to look for as you toured through the castle. Thanks for the heads up on that, Jen!

One of the favorite rooms for the boys - full of armor.

View from the tower.

One last view west.

Six tired but happy boys!

Love the water fountains!

Parting view of the Chateau de Chillon.

After the chateau, Brandyn and Jen and their boys were headed off to spend Saturday evening north of Montreux, so we headed home - staying along the southern edge of the lake into France.

We stopped as the sun was setting to let the boys play and throw rocks into the lake and watch the beautiful sunset!

I'm not sure if it's just a love of sunsets I've always had or if I miss them more than ever because we have none here in our home surrounded by the mountains, but it's always so amazing and exciting to watch the sun go down and turn the sky into the most magnificent array of colors. Especially over the water. What a beautiful world we are privileged to live in and enjoy!

A lovely ending to a lovely day!

Thanks for visiting, Jen, hope we can get together again before you go back to the US!