Wishing you all the best this holiday season from sunny California! 

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The Last Of Our Travels

  Our last and final post about our summer travels. On the one hand it is sad to feel the adventure is completely over now that photos are polished, organized and posted. On the other hand it is SO exciting to feel free to start sharing about our everyday, ordinary adventures here in Cali. So here it is, the last of our travels in 2013.

On our way out of France, we stopped in a gorgeous little town called Annecy. It is set against the French Alps and the closest we ever got to those magnificent mountains. We had planned on spending three days in Switzerland where we would hike the Matterhorn, but we just ran out of time! So we stopped here instead. The first morning we arrived, Landon and I got up early for a morning swim! I chickened out with it being still so cold that morning, but enjoyed just soaking in the unreal experience we were shortly leaving behind. 

This is one of my favorite photos from our trip (minus the sand on the lens). It took us forever to capture with our little gorilla pod wobbling on the floating dock, but i love it! We were really there. And we were so in love. I love remembering how this trip was full of time where we were the only people around for miles and miles. And other times where we were in the middle of the largest crowds and still in a kiss, or Landon's arms we felt like it was just the two of us. This man is my dearest friend and I could not have asked for anything more than to explore and experience the world with him.

I have never before seen such crisp and translucent water in all my life. We are sitting above 8-10 feet of water here and it looks like a foot or less because you can see straight to the bottom. That gorgeous Alp water felt like we were in a fairy land. 

Landon on his swim. It was pretty cold! You can't see it here clearly, be he could barely breathe the water was so cold. 

Landon had to finish up some work at the hotel after our swim and I went exploring the medieval town. 

Then I went back to grab Landon and we were off for another swim! 

Unfortunately the clear skies and warm sun went away as soon as we changed into our suits and instead a large storm passed us by. We didn't want to lose any time so we decided to swim in the storm! Below you can see the storm clouds coming over the mountains. 

And the choppy water. 

And then the sun came out once more.

After we got our fill of swimming we drove to Geneve, Switzerland so that we could catch a small glimpse of that gorgeous country! We walked around the city, admiring how clean and beautiful it was. And were blown away by the city's central river! I have lived in many cities with rivers running through them before like London, Paris, Washington DC, Dublin etc. but never before have I seen a clean city river. This water was like the water in Annecy! You could see straight to the bottom and it looked so crisp all you wanted to do was dive right in and  drink it! 

We were absolutely in love with their water spouts where you could gobble up fresh water from the Alps. I have never tasted anything so good!

Even their money sparkled it was so clean! I couldn't believe it!

In the evening we wandered around a little carnival on the banks of the river and ate the most marvelous ice cream, Swiss Movenpick. 

The next day we drove into Marseille to drop of the car and take a plane to Barcelona. The last leg of our trip. I knew I would miss seeing rolling hills and castles from the car window.

Barcelona we were in for less than 24 hours and we were pretty tired. So we grabbed some groceries for lunch at the beach and went swimming for hours. 

After a long nap we went out for dinner in the city - Paella and shrimp. 

So delicious.

The next morning we flew back to the states. While we were in line for customs in Philly I cried. I couldn't help it. Everything I want my life to embody is so easy to do with the support of European culture. Their way of life is what I dream my life to be like. I missed it dearly and couldn't wait to go back. Someday soon I hope. 

Our travels summed up:

Weeks of Travel: 4.5

Countries Visited: 7

Cities Visited: 49

Museums: 2

Roman Ruins: 2

Live Music Listening: 5

Hikes: 9

Swims: 9

Bodies of Water Swam In: 5

Castles: 16

Trains:18

Buses: 6

Planes: 10

Ferries: 2

Bikes: 1

Canoe:1

Paddleboards: 1

Cars: 2

Camping Days: 7

Nights Slept In Car: 2

Days Without Dinner: 5

Days Without Breakfast and Lunch: 8

Sunburns: 3

Mosquito Bites: 7

Gelato Scoops: 34

We are so grateful we had such an life-defining experience. 

The City of Lights

Paris! We are almost all done with travels this summer! No trip to Europe would be complete without beautiful Paris. We spent two days in Paris sleeping, a bit during the day, meeting up with our dear friends Elizabeth and Philip, and stopping at some of my favorite places. Mr. Finter really fell in love with this city and it made me so happy! We got in late at night and took the metro to Ile St. Louis where we had dinner at a cafe and watched a clown play tricks on the people in the street. We had Boeuf Bourguignon, French Onion Soup, Baguette and Creme Brulee. It was heaven. 

The next morning we got up early and went through Notre Dame. 

Then we walked along the Seine to an outdoor market. 

We stopped to rest at the Tuileries Gardens and relaxed in all sorts of beautiful places!

Then we went to Angelina's. They have the best sipping chocolate in all the world! It is basically equivalent to drinking a French chocolate bar. Absolutely divine! Intoxicating in fact!

We also enjoyed some Macarons!

And the BEST part of the day, we met up with Elizabeth and Philip! They were also traveling all across Europe this summer. Elizabeth and I spent hours and hours planning our trips together and since French food and culture have always been so much a part of our dear friendship we absolutely had to meet up in Paris! 

It was so hot in Angelina's greenhouse room that some chocolate granola I had in my bag burst through the ziplock bag and ended up everywhere inside. Some covered the lens of our camera for a couple shots before we noticed! But look a goat in the park! 

So excited to see Elizabeth!

At the Louvre.

Nina and Landon!

Philip was hunting all over Paris and Europe I think for these famous mosaics hidden up high and in small corners! 

We went up north to enjoy another open air market. 

Then we headed our separate ways for a nap before we met up again for dinner. Dinner was a Parisian picnic beneath the Eiffle Tower. 

 The above photos are all credit to Philip Hurst, an amazing photographer! See more of his work here.

Then we went to the ballet! In Paris! A dream come true! We saw Cyrano de Bergerac.

Afterwards we walked around the city all lit up. And made our way up to Montmartre where we watched the Eiffle Tower sparkle and ate some divine desserts. 

Saying goodbye! Another of Philip Hurst's. 

It was so sad to see them go! Elizabeth and I had become the dearest friends in DC and when we said goodbye in Paris it was goodbye for the next three years while Philip attends law school in Virginia and we moved to California for work. Hopefully they end up in California soon or we all move to Switzerland!

Our second day in Paris Mr. Finter and I hit a threshold. We were supposed to go straight to Switzerland, but we were absolutely exhausted. So many nights without sleep and so many days running around in the heat that it finally caught up with us. We decided to book our little place for one more day and relax. We spent the day sleeping until mid afternoon and then we made it to the Louvre one hour before closing so Mr. Finter could literally run through it. Mr. Finter's favorite things were Egyptian relics and the statues. 

And of course we stopped to enjoy some more ceramic yogurt. 

We spent the evening listening to a live concert in Hotel de Ville while eating the best ice cream on earth, Switzerland's Movenpick.

And that was it for our time in Paris!