Sunday, August 29, 2010

Highlights from Julie's Camera

Here are some of the highlights from the pictures Julie took.

Me in Zurich:


Me in front of the sign at Jungfraujoch:


Me at Schilthorn:


Moench and Jungfrau (with Jungfraujoch in between):


Same vantage point but zoomed in on Jungfraujoch:


Julie and me at Schilthorn:


Hiking down from Schilthorn, with Moench and Jungfrau in the background (that's me down below):


Before we hiked down from Schwarzsee, we goofed around with some pictures of the Matterhorn:



Julie's family and me having a drink in Chamonix before dinner.


Also in Chamonix, a toast before Raclette:


Another picture of the rainbow in the waterfall at Sixt Fer a Cheval:


Another rainbow, this time zoomed in a little:


And finally, me in Annecy:

Friday, August 27, 2010

Paper Published

My first paper has (finally) been published!

This is a picture from the journal's website.

Coming Home

After taking off from Geneva, I took one last picture of Mont Blanc:


Then I went to sleep. I woke up somewhere over the North Atlantic near Canada, where I took this picture of waves.


The tip of Cape Cod:


I sometimes like to take pictures of towns, then figure out what they are later. For instance, Peekskill, NY (looking from the north)!


Downtown Cleveland:


And finally, some rain clouds in front of the sunset:


All in all, it was a very good trip!

Grenoble

On Wednesday, I toured around Grenoble with Julie and her Mom. Here is the Olympic torch from when Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics, known by most Americans (or at least me) as the Olympics with Peggy Fleming.


While we were strolling around old town, we saw some children riding in these tricycles, which I thought were funny:


Grenoble is also known for its cable cars, which take you to La Bastille.


From there, we had a great view of the city.


There was also information on the history of the city, the Bastille, the surrounding mountains, and the Olympics. Here's Schuss, the first Olympic mascot:


For dinner, I tried another French specialty, ravioles. For dessert ...


chocolate mousse! Yum!

Annecy

On the way from Samoens to Julie's hometown of Grenoble, we stopped in Annecy and walked around the old town.



For lunch, we had crepes. Mine had andouille sausage, which tasted nothing like it does in the U.S.! Julie tried to warn me when I ordered it, but I thought I knew what it was. It tasted like a cow smells.


I finished it, but I don't plan on ordering the authentic French version again!

After lunch, we walked around a little more, and the sun even came out for a little while. I liked this building/island, the Palais de I'lle. The first picture was taken from the other side of it.

Samoens, Day 2

The next morning, we shopped at this French bakery


for breakfast:


Then, because it was cloudy and rainy, we stayed indoors most of the rest of the day. Dinner started with a round of saucisson


and finished with fondue!


Once again, everything was delicious.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Samoens

We spent the night at Julie's family's house in Samoens.


The next day was a busy one! We all walked into town, where they were celebrating the anniversary of the region of Savoie voting to annex themselves with the country of France.


Here I am with (L to R) Julie's uncle, aunt, and mother.


We also strolled around downtown Samoens. This was one of my favorite streets, with the mountain Criou in the background.


Later in the day, Julie and I drove up to the Col de Joux Place, known as a famous leg of the Tour de France.


From there, we had a nice view of Mont Blanc (now obviously the tallest peak) and Le Buet (the brown, angular peak in front).


We spent an hour or so picking blueberries!


Once we thought we had enough, we did some more exploring of the Samoens region. Here I am at the Cascade du Rouget:


We then went to the Sixt Fer a Cheval (the Sixt Horse Shoe), named because mountains and cliffs surround you on three sides.


We caught the late afternoon sun making rainbows in some of the waterfalls:


Then it was back to the house to prepare dessert. We picked 813 grams of blueberries (of which I probably contributed 200 grams!):


After dinner, I had my picture taken with all the French delicacies: wine, champagne, cheese, bread, and fresh blueberry pie:


Chamonix

We were met at the train station in Chamonix by Julie's mom, aunt, and uncle. Chamonix is in a valley next to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps (the round white hump near the middle of the picture):


Nearby is the tongue-shaped Glacier des Bossons:


We walked around the town of Chamonix:


stopping for the occasional picture:


We stopped for drinks near a statue commemorating the first ascent of Mont Blanc:


Then we had Raclette for dinner!


A little charcoal oven melts the Raclette cheese, at which point you scrape it off and eat it with potatoes, cuts of meat, or bread. It was delicious!