j + g
october 6-12
hi!
sunday brought on of my favorite people to visit: Jacob!
on sunday afternoon Jacob’s parents dropped him off on their way to germany. in order to fight the jet lag, I gave him a mini tour of leuven! It was fun to be the tour guide for once. we got dinner and gelato (mandatory at penguino). we packed our things + booked our train to brussels airport - we were headed to geneva, switzerland!
walking through leuven at 4:30 am was unexpectedly lively and pretty, however very sleepy. airport security was so much calmer than in the states, + we napped while we waited for our gates. I snuck my definitely too big backpack through the check in… and by 9 am we had landed in geneva!
we spent the morning and part of the afternoon exploring downtown geneva - seeing the big water jet, walking by the lake, and hiking up through hilly neighborhoods to a basilica. we of course climbed to the top of the tower for the view (my 6th bell tower on this trip, but jacob’s first!). we had brunch at the cutest cafe near the lake, with coffees + tartines! there were a ton of tiny birds that had NO mercy and would land directly on your glass. jacob made the mistake of leaving a bit of bread out and they DESCENDED upon our table. it was a delicious yet terrifying meal. I passed out for the hour bus ride to annecy, + we arrived in a picture perfect city.
our airbnb was the cutest apartment in the heart of old town annecy! we did have to climb up like 5 floors of curving stairs, but we would emerge right next to the main canal! we got pizza for dinner + caught up on some much needed sleep.
over the next few days, we wandered the shops + restaurants, sat by the beautiful glacial lake, had the most delicious brunch (it’s been months since I have had a hot breakfast + bacon), + finally went hiking when the rain cleared up! we celebrated our 1 year anniversary a little early, with a wonderful dinner (the perfect steak for me, + perch for him, we shared dessert) we had really hoped to go paragliding, but the weather was never quite perfect! we were told it is likely the most perfect place in the world for it. the canals and lake were the clearest green-blue, with water coming straight from the mountains, pure + safe to drink!
on thursday we tripped back to leuven - very sleepily. friday morning we took a train to bruges to meet up with Jacob’s parents for the day! we tried about 9 different chocolate shops, took a river cruise, + overall had a very relaxing day. it was a great way to end our trip!
this week was by far the most peaceful + least stressful week yet. I’m so grateful to have had him visit, + would highly highly recommend annecy, france to anyone! I will definitely be back in the summer.
