On our way to Zurich, Switzerland we made a couple of stops. First to the castle in Chillon which lies on the Lake Leman.

Chillin' at Chillon

The oldest parts of the castle have not been definitively dated, but the first written record of the castle is in 1160 or 1005

People use to sleep sitting up and then would take care of their bathroom business next to their bed

From Chillon we went to Gruyeres where we felt like we were in the Disney story “Beauty and the Beast.” The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson. This city of Gruyeres is also known for its cheese, although I don’t know if we tried it or not.

Belle should be at the fountain singing while a sheep comes up to her

The Gruyeres castle, one of the most prestigious in Switzerland, towers majestically above the medieval town.

More photos of Chillon and Gruyeres

We arrive in Geneva with still plenty of sunshine. Our hotel was on the 3rd floor of a building where we had to walk through a little cafe area. One of the funniest sayings we heard was when a lady asked my 25 year old brother, “Are you waiting for your daddy?” Robbie stayed with the car since we unloaded in a “no parking” area.

The Jet d'Eau...the cities most famous landmark. Shoots up 459 feet

All of the tulips were in bloom in Switzerland

Switzerland is known for making watches/clocks. They even make them out of flowers

The Cathedral of St. Peter. They wanted $25 a person to enter...we didn't go inside

The streets literally lights up at night with various sayings in different languages

The United Nations of Geneva

One of the conference rooms at the UN ... important people make big decisions here

Human Rights meeting room...seriously cool ceiling

Robbie promoting peace at the UN in Geneva

Broken chair in front of the UN...with protesters there when we visited

Fountains in front of the UN kept Mason busy and wet

Red Cross was founded by a Swiss business man

Red Cross / Red Crescent museum is across from the United Nations

More photos of Geneva

One of the coolest parts of our European vacation was sleeping at different locations. Matt chose some places that are off the beaten path…like Grignan, France. He found this AWESOME Bed & Breakfast at the base of a castle. We stayed at “La Demeure du Chateau.” It felt a bit like a castle itself and had some incredible views.

View from our bedroom

glass bridge in our family suite

Walking up to the Grignan castle...short distance from our B&B

Rebel on top of someone's roof...they shouldn't have their roof the same height at the street!

Ninja on the roof...glad he didn't fall through

Farley family in Grignan, France

After walking around and maneuvering through the narrow streets of Grignan we loaded back up in the car and headed to Grenoble…2 hours away. I must say that everyone did very well in the car, and we spent a lot of time driving to different cities. With an iPad, Android tablet, laptop, cell phone games, music and beautiful scenery we were all entertained in some form. Matt had the brilliant idea to bring our car charger that has an American outlet and a power strip. We were able to charge many devises all at the same time and keep everyone happy.

We didn't have to worry about a converter with this set-up

We had beautiful weather in Grenoble. The city is surrounded by mountains and is known in France as the “Capital of the Alps.” We parked at the plaza and got some lunch and ate on the grass near a fountain with mountains all around us.

The kids liked playing in the water after they ate

We walked to a great tourist spot called the Bastille. But in order to get there, you need to ride in the “Grenoble-Bastille Cable Car”. At the top you can look out over the city and stand in awe of the mountains that are all around you. From the top we could see the arena that was built for the Olympic Games in 1968. This was the city where Peggy Fleming won gold in figure skating!

Europeans lay around when the sun comes out

Egg-shaped cable cars known to locals as "Les Bulles"

View of Grenoble and the Isère River from the Bastille

On our walk back to the car we stopped at a park so the kids could play before we stuck them back in the car for another 90 minutes before we reached our next destination…Geneva, Switzerland!

More photos of Grignan and Grenoble

After a good nights sleep, we were ready to explore Toulouse. Our first tourist spot was the Church of Les Jacobins. It was just at the end of the street that our hotel was located, so it was a short walk.

The Church of Jacobins is the burial grounds for Saint Thomas Aquinas

Cool mirror around a pillar in the Church of Jacobins

Beautiful stain glass windows all around the church

Our next stop was the Saint-Sernin basilica (the largest romanesque church in Europe). The floor plan is in the shape of a cross and it had parts that dated back to the 4th century. But most were from the 11th & 12th century.

This Romanesque building is considered to be the biggest in the western world

Toulouse has the 3rd largest university in all of France. So we saw many college students walking and riding their bikes or scooters. We let the kids run around in front of the Capitole de Toulouse a bit after they had to be quiet inside the churches and before we drove an hour to Carcassonne. Our first place to visit in Carcassonne was the castle.

Farleys in the front with our castle in the back

This castle was not like any other castle that I had visited. There was an outer defense wall with a mote around it and then a whole town inside. There were lodges and stores all along the street until you got to the actual castle. There was also a cathedral within the walls of this fortress where some priests were singing and they sounded amazing.

Map of the Carcassonne castle

After walking to and from the castle, we were all ready to have some lunch. We found the plaza and devoured our sandwiches and then let the kids run around and enjoy their time in Carcassonne.

This is how Mason enjoyed spending his time

We all loaded up in our car again and headed for our next location (3 hours away), Grignan, France

See more photos of Toulouse and Carcassonne