Francophile in the West

Over the weekend, I made a trek to the other side of Switzerland and went from Geneva and French to Zürich and Swiss-German in less than a three hour train ride. One of the things I love about Switzerland is that so many cities and towns are located on rivers or lakes, and they're all lovely. Zürich is no exception; it's gorgeous! I was fortunate to have a wonderful native tour guide and a fantastic host, my new friend Andrea. One of our mutual friends back in Denver had connected us, and he was so right to think that we would be great friends! She and I hit it off immediately and get along so well! It was a pleasure to spend the weekend getting to know her and exploring her beautiful city.  Despite a very rainy Saturday, we walked around town all day, saw many different neighborhoods, and treated ourselves to a delicious lunch of wine and vegetarian appetizers at the Viadukt Market, as well as tasty hot chocolate at the local and renowned Sprüngli confiserie.   ...

My most recent adventure was a trip to the Provence region of France over the weekend with four friends from the Korbel in Geneva cohort. We rented a car after work on Friday, drove to Annecy, FR, where we enjoyed some delicious pizzas for dinner, and then we made our way about three hours south to the village of Malemort-du-Comtat, where we stayed for the weekend. None of us had ever been to Provence before this trip, but I was very set on going, and especially at this time of year. Provence is famous for many things, highest among which is its lavender. Mid-June through mid-August is prime-time for lavender in Provence, and I was eager to experience the region during such a beautiful time of year. Let's just say that our weekend exploring the region did not disappoint!! The scenery, villages, people, lavender, and the whole experience were all amazing. The five of us had an excellent weekend, and we'd love to go back again sometime! The place we found on AirBnB was a...