Gersau and Lake Lucerne

The very last leg of our journey took us to the village of Gersau, which is in Switzerland right on Lake Lucerne. We had a five and a half hour drive from Nice to Gersau, so it was a long day. We stopped in Como, Italy for lunch and we happened to find a great playground with a splash pad. Etta crawled around the playground and Aven stripped down to her skivvies and got soaking wet on the splash pad. It was a great stop because both girls crashed for the last couple hours of the drive.

Lunch in Como. The one and only time we ate at McDonald's on this trip. I'm pretty proud of that.

Very last gelato in Italy.

We arrived at the home of William and Pia Kochli in Gersau, Switzerland shortly before dinner. This was our third Airbnb stay of the trip and by-far the best. The apartments in Florence in Nice were also Airbnb rentals and we had the whole place to ourselves. That was nice, and all, but staying with locals in their home is far better (which we learned during our stay in Innsbruck with the Ames family).

Pia offered to cook for us for 12 Francs per person per night, which we took her up on for the first two nights we stayed at her house. Absolutely fabulous meals and by far the best deal of the trip, plus the meals came with dessert and great conversations with this lovely couple. My only regret on this part of the trip is that we didn't stay longer. I think everyone should go to Gersau and stay with Pia and William for at least a week. Most people stay in Lucerne and just go to Gersau on a day trip. We did the opposite and I will tell you that we did it the right way. Lucerne was busy and touristy. Gersau was quiet and tranquil and was absolutely stunningly beautiful. There was hiking, swimming, trams to the tops of peaks, and nature walks among other things. We were only there three nights and didn't have the opportunity to do a lot of those things but I would love to go back to this lovely place someday.

This is what we saw from the door to our room. Seriously.

We took the train to Lucerne for the day and went back to Gersau by boat, which was a lot of fun. While we were in Lucerne Etta shoplifted a hat. She's starting her life of crime early. We had just been through a series of 3 or 4 different shops with her in the stroller. Once we finally got out of the last store I noticed she was chewing on a red knit cap. I had no idea which store it came from and didn't have to energy to go back and find out, so we brought home a stolen hat.

A cool bridge we walked across in Lucerne.

Hey! Guys! Here he is! He did come again, but this time he decided to open a jewelry store in Lucerne. Who can blame him, it's beautiful there.

Riding on a boat!

Aven loves boat rides!

Ian looking commanding.

These views were SERIOUSLY everywhere. I was constantly in awe.

Pia's neighbor had baby cows. We saw these little guys the morning after Ian had eaten some delicious veal which was prepared by William, who is a butcher and REALLY knows his stuff. Ian felt a little guilty.

Playing badminton with Aven. Apparently she wasn't as committed to the game as I was.

A cool tunnel down the street from Pia's house.

Why don't I live here?

The best shot at our attempt to get a nice family photo in the meadow in front of Pia's house. The kids were not having it.

My beautiful Etta got to celebrate her first birthday on hilltop in Switzerland.

We had Etta's birthday dinner at an Italian restaurant in Gersau. Their menus had Cheesecake Factory menus beat hands-down.

Ian and Aven with our lovely host, Pia.

This is my "I've been on vacation four weeks and would really like to go home" look.

I'll probably put up a few more trip-related posts after this so I can write about some of the challenges of travelling with kids, but this post concludes our trip. We are VERY glad to be home.