Hello Switzerland!

All in all, today was just a big day of travel. We had to be ready to go--checked out and everything by 10 AM Paris time, which wasn't too hard. I'd packed most of my things the day before, so I just had to have breakfast, finish getting ready for the day, and then throw in the last few things into my suitcase.

Breakfast, as always was awesome. I treated myself to 2 pan au chocolats today (don't worry, it gets even better).

We got on the bus, and we were off! We were going to have class to discuss some of our readings and homework, so I used most of my free time at first to finish the reading assignments. It all has to do with a book called Made to Stick, and the book is actually really good. Its a great read for anyone trying to communicate an idea.

The countyside outside France is absolutely amazing. The fields are so green, and today the sky was beautiful, which totally added to the whole experience. France, je t'aime.

We drove for a few hours and then had to stop for a half hour and wait for the driver. I guess that all the drivers in Europe are part of a union or something and that their minutes driving and speeds are tracked. IF they go too fast, or if they drive too long with out taking a long break (30 minutes +), they can be fined 1500 euro (over 2000 USD). So..we waited, and then made it back on the road after a while. Craziness.

After a few hours of traveling (and class), and of course grabbing some awesome pictures of people sleeping in my group, we arrived in a small midevil town called Dijon. We would have a few hours to get food and explore. A couple of us jumped off the bus, and we were off. Right next to where we parked, there was this great little park that had some awesome statues in it. I went in to explore, and while I was taking pictures, a kid came up to one of the other guys I was with and asked him if he was from Provo. Of course, he said we were, and so he started chatting with the guy. His name is Nathan, he is LDS, and he lives in Dijon, but his siblings go to BYU. How random is that! We chatted with him for quite a while. Such a nice guy! He thought we might be from BYU because the side of our bus has this big sign on it that says BYU EUROPE BUSINESS TRIP (even though its not actually us...but was a group from before us.) It really is a small world after all!.

While in Dijon, we found a place to eat. I got this awesome baguette sandwich called the specimine...it had beef, cheese, tomatoes, onions DIJON mustard, and ketchup. It was really good! I'm glad I went that way for lunch. Yum.

Then we got to walk around. The architecture is, as always, so ornate and awesome. I guess dijon is known for some of its roofs, and it didn't dissapoint. We had the chance to go into a few of the churches as we walked around, and they were all gorgeous. The Stained glass is beautiful and was a real treat to see.

Time was running out and we had to start heading back to the bus. When we were looking for lunch, I passed this bakery that sold pan au chocolats. Since they are pretty much my favorite french pastry, I had to go and get one for dessert...especially since I hadn't had (2) already that day haha. So I went back for one, and what did they have? A MAXI PAN AU CHOCOLAT! Man, I was in heaven. It was HUGE! And not much more. So I bought a big one...and a small one for good measure. I had planned to save one for later, but it didn't last very long. I shared it and ate the rest. Man, it was good. I LOVE FRANCE!

Back to the bus and I finally got a chance to nap for a little bit. We had class again for another assignment, and after a few more hours of bussing around, we finally made it to Lausanne. The city kind of takes you by surprise. As you come into the city, you can see the mountains in the back, and they are absolutely gorgeous. After getting checked into our AWESOME hOtel (quite small, but still pretty darn cool)...pictures later), we took the (kind of) metro down to the waterfront. The professors bought us all an ice cream (they owed us for being late one day) and we got to take fun pictures. We had an amazing sunset, and just enjoyed being so close to the water. If I can, I really want to take a boat ride, because the scenery is so stinking awesome.

After a while of just chilling (we counted it as FHE), we started heading back to the hotel. A few of us were hungry, so we looked for a place to eat. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to make it through the few days were here because all the cafe's are in the 20-30 dollars (after conversion) PER MEAL. Most of the places were closed anyway. So, we found a mcdonalds and had a party. :-) I've now had McDonalds in NYC, France, and now Switzerland, so I am confident I'll be able to have McDonalds in each country on our trip. haha. Even Mcdonalds was expensive. It cost more than $6 for a regular cheeseburger and a snack wrap. It tasted good though, so I guess thats what matters.