Today, I was able to do a little local exploring. Margaret, Jake and I went to a castle about 1 hour from Bern, in Montreux, the French area of Switzerland. The castle is called the Castle of Chillon, and was and its first construction began in the 11th century. The castle was captured by the Swiss in 1536 and used as a depot, and armoury. The castle sat right on the lake, so there was really no way for intruders to get to the castle.

Here are some pictures of the outside:




Once inside the castle, you follow numbers that show you where to go, and explain about that are of the castle. There were dungeons, and prisons, and rooms for every purpose imaginable. In the prison, Bonivard, Prior of St. Victor's, Geneva was chained for 4 years because he wanted Geneva to be independent. He became famous because of Lord Byron, who wrote his name on one of the pillars in the prison.



Here are some pictures of one of the main rooms.




Here is a picture of one of the bedrooms:




Here is a picture of the Coat of Arms Hall. Every Lord that had lived in the castle from 1536 to 1733 had their Coat of Arms on the wall.





Here is a picture of Jake and I standing next to the canon that was used.



The castle also had some very pretty courtyard areas complete with fountains, and plants.







Well, thats all for now. I have more pictures but plan on going to another castle in Thun this week so I will post again after that.

Morzine, France

So I finally was able to see more of Europe, France to be exact. The family I am staying with invited me to go with them to Morzine, France. Morzine is a very big winter attraction, but has recently become popular with mountain bikers, and hikers. It is on top of a huge mountain, and to get up there you must drive on a very small, curvy road. I was very car sick when we finally got there. The town is very pretty! Here are a few pictures of the main town.





While we were there, I was able to try real French crepes. The first night I had chocolate mousse crepes with whip cream, they were fantastic, but very rich. Here is a picture of them.


The boys and I were also able to go on a horse drawn carriage ride. The first time Jake and I tried to get on the carriage, Luke started to cry and scream, but after he calmed down we were finally able to get on. The boys said they were having fun, but I had a feeling they were kind of bored.



One of the other thing we all got to see was a town a few minutes away from Morzine called Goat Town. We went on a day that was colder and had been raining, but on a warm day, there will be hundreds of goats walking around town. You can buy bags of food to feed them, but if you are wise, you won't because once the goats know you have food, you will have them all chasing after you.



But one of my favorite things that I did while in France was go parapenting, or paragliding. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am deathly afraid of heights, so this was a huge step for me. But it was a fantastic experience and I am so glad that I did it. If I had the chance to do it again, I would!! Here are a few pictures of me in the air and when I was landing.






That was about the highlight of my trip to France. This is it for now, but I will post again when I get more pictures.