You don’t pass up $500 flights to France, so in August I bought my tickets and started getting excited for my trip across the pond to visit mostly France and a little bit of Switzerland.

My trip this year included flying into Lyon (mostly just as a starting point and a place to sleep the first night) and then took a train up to Geneva, Switzerland to visit family. I photographed a few families while in Geneva, and from there I took a bus to Annecy for 2 nights. Onto Lyon by train for another 2, and then back home. A short and sweet trip, packed with beautiful views and good reads.

The photos I took on my trip far exceeded what is below, but I pulled out my personal favorites and hopefully they give you a good idea of the cities I got to visit and places I was able to see while there!

 

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Traveling solo can be so incredibly wonderful, but it can also be a chore. Take, for example, the self portraits I attempted while I was there. Each was a struggle and maneuvering the remote was not my strong suit. But I usually got the selfy I was looking for.

 

I have been taking pictures of doorknobs of many of my trips, and this one was no exception. Here is the collection of unique doorknobs I documented while I was in Annecy and Lyon. Because, holy wow. The US has got nothin’ on these beautiful and intricate pieces of art. Why don’t we put this much thought into our doorknobs in the states?!?!

 

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And now onto more documentary photos of my trip… beginning it all with a “first day of school” photo in my aunt + uncle’s front yard in Geneva. I was about as tourist-y as they come that day. The second photo is looking from their back window up at the Saleve (their backyard mountain), and the rest are of what I believe would be considered more “Downtown” Geneva. At least a small portion of it.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

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Next was Annecy. A popular tourist city about 40 minutes from Geneva (by car). I took the bus (2 hours) and was pleasantly surprised by the trip. I didn’t take any photos of the landscape – mostly because of the glare of the window – but also because I was having such a nice time just soaking in the ride. The bus dropped us (all 3 of us on 30 person bus) off at Gare d’Annecy (the Annecy Train Station) and it was a short walk to Old Town Annecy where I was staying. After a few attempts to get into the wrong door, I found my AirBnB and crashed for the evening to resume tourist duties the following day.

First photo is from the front door of my Airbnb. Second is the front door of the “apartment building”. The building in the middle of the canal was a prison a long long time ago, and the last photos of of Des Jardins Street : )

And so the story is told of my time in…

ANNECY, FRANCE

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After 2 nights in Anncey, I made the short walk (made a little longer by the detour of documenting Des Jardins Street) to Gare d’Annecy where I got on my last train to Lyon. My time in Lyon wasn’t long, but I met a cute pup on the train (whose owner I randomly ran into in Lyon. Once you see how huge Lyon in is the panorama photo you’ll realize how crazy it is that I ran into the same person twice) and hiked my way up to Basilica de Notre Dame Fourviere when I got to take in all of Lyon all at once and it was awesome. I snagged a photo, but it really doesn’t do it justice, so you’ll have to visit to see if for yourself.

I was only in Lyon for 1 partial day and 1 full day. I stayed in an adorable AirBnb (that I would highly recommend staying in if you find yourself in that corner of the world) and after my trip up the hill to view the city, I spent the evening in my apartment scrolling through photos of my trip.

First photo is of the train pup taking a snooze – or trying to at least. The following photos are of the Airbnb. And then a few snapshots of Basilica de Notre Dame Fourviere and the view from the hill it sits on.

Enjoy photos from…

LYON, FRANCE