Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen

Grindelwald is a beautiful area in the alps know for magnificent skiing and beautiful peaks housing the Eiger Glacier. We decided to visit Glacier Canyon early in the morning for this stop and it felt like we had the canyon all to our selves. It was here that we got to drink glacier water (ahhhhh!), feel the glacial mist, and walk over the rushing river. The sights were magnificent.

We had the chance to walk out on a net secured over the rushing water of the glacier. Everyone was brave enough to do this as it was kind of scary, but by the end we were all very comfortable with it. Of course, Oliver, Ansel, and Jess were the bravest of all, it hardly even phased them.

Here's the fam on a warm August day with jackets on because of the coolness of the canyon. At one point, one could climb up to this glacier (I visited it in 2000 and it was awesome!), but it has since receded faster than they can build a tunnel to it and all you can see is the glacier in the distance.

The kids loved this photo-op at the entrance of the glacier. Apparently, a Swiss woman used to sing at the entrance of this place, and now it's Ansel. He is really good at the playing the zither.

Afterward, we went on a hike up and over the valley. Crossing a very high bridge that was over the very river we had just visited.

We hiked up and up and up, all while taking in the wonderful sights.

At the top, the view of the valley was just amazing!

We were really excited to ride the alpine coaster up at the top, but the rain began to pour just as we were about to buy tickets. Deciding it would probably pass, we played for a bit at a zipline up top, and rode afterward. 

The rain let up, and we all loved riding the alpine coaster a couple times. Once finished, the sun was out and the top of the mountain was teaming with tourists, so we headed back down. Again, the kids were great hikers on a long hike and ice cream was a welcome treat.

We got back to our car as evening began. The views never ceased to amaze.

The next day we set out again, but this time to Lauterbrunnen to visit Trummelbach Falls. I couldn't get enough of this place. One of my favorite stops.  To begin, we took a ride in a funicular up near the top of the mountain where the waterfall begins.

Water was rushing through the mountain at such force that the noise was immense! The power of nature at this spot was exhilarating and all I was doing was watching it!

Look at that water behind us. It was so neat. For those us familiar with the slot canyons of the western United States, it was very similar but instead of sedimentary rock, this was granite and gneiss.

After we took it all in, we ventured to the bottom to relax a bit. While relaxing, Elsie found a very large, Swiss worm. She reminded me of a time, when Ian, at about the same age, picked up a very large, German worm.

We decided to venture out farther in Lauterbrunnen for some more sights and found another beautiful, though slower moving, waterfall. We watched paragliders sail and land in this lush valley, as we played and joked and took in the summer sun.

As we finished up our time in Switzerland, we made sure to take a photo with our favorite bakery mascot who we drove by daily. We named him "Bakery Man" and here he is in all of his gluten glory. We went so far as to give him a jingle, "Bakery Man, Bakery Man, no one makes bread, cakes and biscuits like he can!"

Next up: we head back to France and this time, to Paris.