Summer '23 (PT. 2) - FR/CH/IT

Bonjour, Hallo, Ciao! This was the next part of my summer when I visited France, Switzerland, and Italy. This trip was another teen tour I went on and again, I loved it so much, and I recommend trying a teen tour if you love traveling!

---

Day 1: We flew into Paris and met the whole group once we arrived. Then, after we checked into our hotel, we visited and climbed L'Arc de Triomphe! I have been to Paris before, and I have seen the Arc de Triomphe, but I've never climbed it before, and it was different than I would've expected. There were lots of spiral staircases to get up to the top, and once you get to the top, there's an inside part with a gift shop and then an outside part with a 360° view of Paris! Overall, I do recommend this if you're willing to climb a ton of stairs! After this experience, we went to dinner.

Day 2: This day was our day trip to Versailles! It was very big and pretty to see when we first arrived and went inside. It was also a very fancy feeling inside. My favorite part about the tour was the bedrooms. They were very elegant and realistic and they were very cool to see in person (The history of all the rooms was also very interesting!) After lunch, we climbed the Eiffel Tower! We walked up to the first floor, hung out, then went back for dinner.

Day 3: Day three was the day we visited, and did a scavenger hunt in the Louvre! We were split up into teams of 4, given a list of paintings that resemble things, and we also got to walk around and explore! By the time we were done at the museum, it was time for lunch. after that, I got the chance to go back to the hotel and rest until dinner. After dinner, we took a boat ride on the Seine to see the Eiffel Tower at night (which will always be so cool)!

Day 4: Transfer day to Interlaken, Switzerland.

Day 5: Canyoning day! This was a crazy day because I did something I never thought I would do. I loved canyoning, repelling, jumping into cold water, and climbing bridges, it was scary but so much fun! Later in the day, we rode the Harderbahn Funicular to get to the top of Harder Klum Mountain! It was such a beautiful view of Interlaken, and where I learned that Interlaken means "between lakes". The dinner that night and one of my favorite dinners of the trip, was on a sunset cruise! We got to eat on the boat, see many sights on the lake, and take so many cute photos!

Day 6: Day trip to Lauterbrunnen! Day 6 was a day trip to another beautiful Swiss town. We also went to Schilthorn for more amazing views of the mountains! Then we went to Birg, the James Bond restaurant for lunch, and Trummelbach Falls!

Day 7: Transfer day to Cinque Terre, Italy, and beach day!

Day 8: We did a crazy hike this day to Vernazza! It was so beautiful (and so Pinterest-like also)!

Day 9: Montalcino day! This was one of my favorite days when we went to an amazing house/vineyard in Tuscany! We all took a cooking class, got a private tour of the vineyard, and then got to swim while looking out at the hills.

The house and vineyard are owned by a very nice family with cute dogs too! Overall, it was such a cool experience! Finally that day, we drove to Florence, the last destination on the trip, and that night we went to the Ponte Vecchio at sunset!

Day 10: On Day 10, and our first full day in Florence, we went to the Academia, Mercato Centrale, Florence's leather markets, and Pizzale Michaelangelo.

Day 11: On our last full day of the trip we visited the Uffizi and climbed the Duomo. Finally, we got dressed up for a fancy Italian dinner!

So, that was my trip to France, Switzerland, and Italy over the Summer of 2023. Thanks for reading!