Lyon, Lucerne, Geneva Marathon

A few short trips, and some other random pictures

Bike ride around Cologny areaPeter really likes sleeping on the floor instead of his bed, for some reason
Divonne les Bains -we walked around this little town in France, just about 15 minutes or so away from Geneva.Along the lake they had a "Planet Walk". This is the sun.
Kenny made an Easter robot bunnyFondue at Bains de Paquis with Paige
Kenny's class played soccer together on a few Wednesdays (normally a day off school). He loved it and was sad when it was over.
In Lyon - interesting metal grille work on a building in the Place BellecourFree Ben and Jerry's ice cream at the Place - they must have given away a whole truck-full!
Walking around Lyon
Very nicely done fruit marzipan candiess
These cookies at the same store LOOKED really good, but tasted blah.
In our hotel roomA little open air mall at the Place Bellecour - the vendors were selling stamps
On our way out to Parc de la Tete d'Or - beautiful park, with free zoo, botanical gardens, etc
This little tunnel under the lake to the little island in the middle was, unfortunately, closedBeautiful grounds
We rented a pedal boat
Peter enjoyed this little horse/bike combo racetrack. He really got into trying to pass other kids
Inside the conservatory at the botanical garden
We were very lucky - we actually saw this venus fly-trap (the one in the middle) close on an unsuspecting insectHighlight of the visit to the park for the kids - the bumper boats.
On our way back home we stopped at a very quaint and touristy medieval town of PerougesWe bought a few of these - basically big sheets of flat baked bread, with sugar sprinkled on top, which carmelized
Interesting old "store fronts"
On the way back we avoided the highway for a bit. I love these tree-lined roadsThe first place winner at the Geneva Marathon. It was on the Mont Blanc bridge close to our apartment, so we went to see the action.
... And here he is crossing the finish lineThe first time I've seen this - there was a drone hovering around the finish line.
We took a walk from Nernier to Yvoire - two towns along Lake Geneva
Mother's Day presentsA few pictures from around the UN
Great views in the beautiful grounds
I went on a trip to Lucerne, just me and the kids, when Eric was in the US. On the train ride there - FINALLY we encounter a train with a children's compartment! It was noisy but the kids had fun.Getting ready to take the cablecar up to Mt Pilatus, close to Lucerne
At the top, these birds were very aggressive if you had any food at all. They swooped within inches of your fingers, and anything dropped was gone in moments.
The views at the top were great. We picked a good time, too, there was a short window of nice weather.
Not a place I'd like to hang out!
The wildflowers were just starting to grow where the snow had melted
I had planned on taking this train - the steepest cog-wheel train in the world - but it ended up you needed to take a ferry to get to that one.On the way back, we stopped at a huge playground. This is the beginning of a huge slide
What a setting!
Views from the cablecar ride down. I like the look of lots of the Swiss apartments that I see - lots of greenery incorporated into the design, and very efficinent yet human-scaleAt a very contemporary styled McDonalds in Lucerne
Walking to our hotel, with some chocolate milk containers that I bought so the kids could get the Migros promotional tops, which were all the rage at the school.On our way to the Transportation Museum in Lucerne
In the Transportation Musuem
This site kept the kids busy for a good hour. It was designed like a kid-sized container shipping demonstration
This man's wife asked us if she could take a picture of our kids. At first I thought - she wanted a to do us a favor and take a picture of the three of us, but no, she wanted a picture of her husband and herself with my kids. A little strange, but okay.
This was a hit - the kids really enjoyed trying to run up it.
From one of the towers in the old city walls
Peter's class at school did a "sports day", where they spend the whole day on activities such as races, ball throwing, etc. They were very lucky - it was a sunny day, sandwiched between a lot of rainy days.