Swiss Exchange Trip Week 6 - Gruyeres and La Mer de Glace

I'm currently sitting on my bed listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack because all the photos from the past week put me in such a fairytale mood! As I'm writing this I only have 5 days left in Switzerland! The mood of the entire trip has become very desperate as those of us on the trip try to fit in as much as possible before our departure. 

Last weekend is a great example of said desperation. I did something every day of the weekend, and even skipped school on Monday to fit even more in.

Saturday we started out by going to Aquaparc, which was a really cool water park with about 10 different slides as well as hot pools and saunas. For anyone from Christchurch it's very similar to QE2 (Before it fell down). Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there, but it was a lot of fun. I think it's a great family activity and totally recommend it.

Next on our weekend agenda was Gruyeres. I, along with my host father and a couple of other girls on the exchange, drove there sunday morning. The drive was beautiful as per usual. I love going on drives in Switzerland because it is such a different landscape to anything we have in New Zealand. I also love going on drives here because we always end up in some beautiful village, and Gruyeres was no exception. I felt like I had been transported into a disney movie. I made everyone stop every five seconds to take another photo because it was all so beautiful!

We toured the well maintained castle  before having fondue and Gruyeres' well known meringue and double cream for lunch. We completely stuffed ourselves, making the most of some of our last Swiss treats. 

Before heading home we also toured the Cailler chocolate factory. Once again I didn't take photos, but this was a really good experience. I didn't actually see that much of the factory, but I did learn a lot about the history of chocolate, and I got to eat a lot of chocolate (you finish the tour in the tasting room).

Last on our list was Chamonix, France. It took about an hour to drive from Geneva to Chamonix, and I find that so crazy, you can just drive to another country! You can't drive anywhere else when your in New Zealand.

When we first arrived in Chamonix I thought it couldn't get much more beautiful, nestled in the French alps with stunning views in any direction. Of course the view got a million times better when we actually took a train into the mountains. I wish my phone camera was better, because the photos I took do not do the view any justice. I had never seen such steep, jagged mountains in my life, it hardly looked real! Once again I felt like I was in a fairytale (actually I felt like I was in a barbie movie).

From the train you can take a gondola down to La Mer de Glace - the famous glacier. Each year they did out little tunnels/caves which they then open for people to walk through. I had never actually seen a glacier up close before then. It was so much more blue than I imagined, and so smooth to touch.

 Ending it with a very durpy picture of myself having the tie of my life in the glacier. I really can't believe this whole experience is actually coming to an end. No matter how hard I try to slow down, the days seem to be flying by faster and faster. I know that I will come back here (hopefully this time with my family), but it's never going to be like this again, and so I'm savoring every last moment.

Amesmames xx