Lots of Switzerland, and our first day in Paris

Hi all!! So, its been a little while since our last post because we've been doing a lot of moving around. The day after Gina last posted, we went back to Grindelwald and went on a hike that had been recommended to us. It was absolutely gorgeous and gave us a really good view of the Grindelwald valley. We were all very excited to see snow in July, and the cows everywhere were - like everything else - SO Swiss. At the top of the hike (Pfingstegg, I think it was called), there was a roller coaster contraption that was something like a luge. We all went on it - each person got an individual metal sled and you could control the speed as you looped around the mountain side...pretty cool. That afternoon, we went back to our swimming spot in Interlaken, only to discover that the water was much much colder than it had been a few days before. It was no good for swimming, but still a fun spot.
After canceling our trip to Nice, we ended up with one exra night before coming to Paris. This night was spent in Lausanne...maybe not the most thrilling part of our trip so far. We left Interlaken on Saturday morning and took a train to Bern and then to Lausanne. That afternoon Gina and I reluctantly accompanied Megan on a visit to Chateau Chillon on Lake Geneva. The chateau actually ended up being pretty cool....and Megan's castle-quota was finally filled.
The next morning we left Lausanne pretty early to get to Geneva. I'm sad to say Geneva was equally unexciting. We needed to go there to catch our train to Paris, but the train didn't leave until 7pm so we had a day to kill. We shelped for an hour through the pouring rain to visit the UN building but other than that, the day was spent in the train station staying dry. We played played cards on stairs inside until we were forced to move to a plastic bubble (bus stop-style) outside (where we remained for 3 hours). So...fun day.
BUT ANYWAY...that doesn't matter because we are having an AMAZING time in Paris. We're staying in an appartment near Trocodoro, which is right across from the Eiffel Tower. The family we are with have 5 really cute kids and a gorgeous appartment that definitely beats the hostels we've been staying it lately. Yesterday morning (after I went running in the park at the Eiffel Tower....not a bad way to start the day), we walked to the Pompidou, which is the largest collection of modern art in Europe. We had a really good time there and stayed until about 1:30. We found a creperie for lunch and then set off for Notre Dame. Later in the day, we walked on Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. We came back to the appartment for dinner and then, last night, we climbed up the stairs in the Eiffel Tower! The tower has blue lights and a ring of stars on it right now because France is the head of the EU this year.
I'm going to end my post here and Megan or Gina will fill you in on our 2nd day in Paris...I can't believe we leave for Amsterdam tomorrow!!!

-Emma