Switzerland switzerland

I've been here for 4 months now, and I'm glad to say I feel at home!

It's fairly easy to navigate the city- and I think I might love it.

Especially now, at Christmas time. The streets are eerily quiet, and the city's submerged in fog. In fact (my family might get tired of hearing me say this) but when I'm outside I feel like I'm walking in a dream. Did I mention all the christmas lights? Whimsical.

My gorgeous friend from Lyon visited me for this first (extended) weekend of Christmas break, which was a great opportunity to spend time with the camera while exploring. 

Boréal Café

Lac Léman

Record Shop

Place bel-air 

We mostly spent time traipsing in the streets, but also went thrift shopping, record shopping, and to explore cafés and restaurants (yes, it was slightly expensive- but the mochaccino I'm drinking is worth it). 

Christmas is in two days, and as much as I love foggy weather, I am longing for snow. The snow is playing hooky. Where has it gone? It is not even in the nearby mountains, which is alarming given that my family going skiing in one week (actually, if I'm to be honest I'll admit I am sort of relieved- this means we can take walks instead (more photo opportunities!) and sit around in Chalets while I read my book).

xx

Home is Where the Heart Is

(I got back from the States last Saturday. This post is late of a week, but hey, life gets in the way sometimes.)

This trip to the States was the best trip ever.

Can I even begin to describe how depressed I felt the first few days back in Lyon? Seeing my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles after such a long time was wonderful. Every single one of our 15 days was fun. 

When I'm in the States I have this strong sense of belonging.

People often ask me, "Where are you from? Which place feels like home to you?"

I don't always know how to answer. I say, "Well, definitely not Kenya, where I was born. I love visiting the States and Argentina, but I've never lived in either of those countries. I've lived in France for almost my whole life. So the logical answer would be that Lyon feels like home, because it is my home." 

The thing is, I don't feel French.

In this latest trip to the States, I started identifying what the excited rush I experience every time I step off that plane in the US really is.

It's the sense of home.

Anyway. Here are some of the pics I took. :)

Fall was just beautiful in my grandparents's neighborhood!

After four nights at my grandparent's house, we went to Frederick to visit my Aunt Stephie, my Uncle David and my little cousin Layla for a few days.
This is a vegan sandwich I ate at The Orchard, a restaurant downtown. It had tofu, hummus, and veggies... it was FAB. If, by chance, you ever end up in Frederick, eat at The Orchard.

While in Frederick we went to a pumpkin patch. Believe it or not, I had never been to a pumpkin patch before.

The park in Frederick was definitely in the Halloween spirit. 

A few days later, we left Frederick and drove to Kensington where my Aunt Lesley, my cousins Alex and Stephie (not my Aunt Stephie), and my Uncle Charlie live. Stephie, a great baker, made these really cute cupcakes. She is so creative! I just had to take a picture. Or three. ;)

 

One night we went out for Ethiopian food. 

After Kensington we returned to my grandparent's house. Since they live so close to DC, we had several outings.

We went to the Holocaust Museum,

followed by a cupcake stop. Yes, many cupcakes were involved in this trip.

These last two pics were taken on the 31st, before I went Trick-or-Treating with my cousins.

This is the pumpkin I carved with my grandpa's help. Isn't he cute?

I hope you all have a nice week end! 

A hiking week in pictures

I could write a long paragraph about my time in the mountains...
But I have a feeling you don't want to hear about the different goats I encountered, and the time I spent listening to my irritating mountain guide rave on and on about every single flower that was on his path.
Yes, indeed, one day I had a VERY annoying mountain guide who turned a 5 hour hike into an 11 hour hike. But that's another blog post all together.
Other than that I had a very nice week hiking in the french alps. And it was a great opportunity to practice my photography! I'd like to share with you the best of the pictures I took.
What do you think?

 

Le Mont Blanc

 

 

I can't believe school starts in one week! I can't believe I am starting 9th grade! I can't believe how fast my summer holidays passed! Where did my summer go? Heeeeeelp!

Do you feel the same way? Please let me know.

I think I'll do a yoga session to relax.

Enjoy your last days of summer everyone :)

xx

 

 

P.S: Can you spot the frog in this picture?

Climb every mountain, follow every stream...

Happy 19th of August!
Yes. I know. The 19th of August isn't a special day. But today was pretty special to me!
Because how many days in a year do I get to hike 20 km in the french alps and then enjoy a luxurious moment at the spa overlooking the beautiful snow topped mountains?
(By the way, one of the mountains in our view is the M.Pourri, which translates to Mount Rotten... Haha)
We arrived at Ste Foye la Tarentaise on Saturday afternoon after a three hour jam packed train ride from Lyon. That night we ate out at a cosy-cute chalet restaurant where the food was delicious and we had a great time. Until now, yesterday and today consisted of a nice long hike followed by a relaxing moment in the spa (which children under 16 are banned from... nobody respects that, of course ^^).
I can't write more right now because I am being called for dinner... so have a wonerful 19th of August everybody. :)  

My first camp experience

Hi everybody! What have you been up to here in the blogosphere?
Can you guess why I don't know?
I was at camp!
For the first time ever!
I returned on Saturday after an exhilarating week of catamaran, paddle surf, kayak, night activities and dances, card games, pranking, ice cream testing and much, much more. It was honestly so much fun. I met some amazing people and lived crazy moments which I'll never forget.
Like, what do you do when your roommates bring guys into your bungalow at two a.m and keep you up with their loud talking until 4 a.m? And when the subject of their conversation is YOU and how inferior you are to them?
You sneak out of your window movie-style is what you do. Then after telling on them and getting them busted for the rest of the week you plot the pranks you're going to pull on them on the last night.
Or what do you do when some drunk guy approaches you on the beach at night and tries to pick you and your friends up?
You tell him to get lost then you track him down the next day and make friends with him after you've informed him how wasted he was.
The list of crazy first-times is too long to write. So take a look at all of these pictures instead.

Catamaran

We did a lot of Catamaran. It was such a blast! the biggest part of the sport, I believe, was all the giggling and screeching when big waves appeared and we thought the boat was going to tip over. Haha. :)


Night at camp was game time! The camp counselors did a really great job of organizing different hilarious activities and themes for every night.

Left to right: Bailey, Me, Nolwenn, Penelope, Jyoti, Marie

From left to right: Célian, Bailey, Me, Maxime, Thomas, Penelope

 

 

 

Bailey and I took pictures with our camp friends, especially with Penelope, a girl I wish I had around all the time. 

From left to right: Me, Penelope, Bailey

 

 After we were done packing up our bags and cleaning the bungalows, Penelope, Bailey and I went to the beach bar and ordered the BEST ice coffees I have ever tasted. They were SO good.

 

Ice Coffees

And last, creds to Bailey for this picture! I just love it.

Port Grimaud

 

 

 

When the time to leave the campsite came I couldn't hold back my tears because I knew I was going to miss all these people so much!
How is it possible to become so attached to a group of people in just one week? I never knew that leaving Port Grimaud would hurt so much...
This was first time EVER at camp and I had no idea how fast a week could pass!

 

 

 

 



Paris, oh beautiful Paris

Today's post will be about my time in Paris.

Our appartment is in the 11th "arrondissement" (=neighborhood), but we were on the go and touring in many other places.

The arrondissements of Paris

We wandered around the Marais (3rd and 4th arrondissement) a lot, one of the most beautiful and most touristic neighborhoods of the city. One day we saw this performance artist conducting a "time machine". He got a lot of attention and it was quite hard to get a picture without somebody standing in front of the camera or shoving me out of the way.

 

 

The Marais has a Jewish stretch with five or six different felafel shops, where you can get a sandwich to-go or sit inside the restaurant. Personally, I think the to-go is the better option. You can find plenty of places in the Marais to sit down, whether it's on the steps of a monument, or a bench in the park...  you can just eat while walking. Plus, to-go is much cheaper and it's funner to have the fillings put in the bread then to have it spread out on a plate.

These felafel sandwiches are SO GOOD and just thinking about them is making me crave one, big time. By the way, if you specify that you don't want sauce in your sandwich (there isn't that much anyway) they're vegan. :)

 If you visit Paris this should definitely be on your list of things to do.

 

 

 

 

There were several vegan restaurants that I wanted to try and we only got to eat in one (which is in the 11th arrondissement) but I'm happy we got to fit that in, at least. It's called SOYA and it has a really groovy atmosphere... and yummy food:

We got a big spread with hummus, roasted veggies, beetroot dip, tzatziki, tofu and best of all the tofu-mint dip. It was amazing. I want to replicate it.

My brother got couscous with seitan and tofu, which was really, really tasty.

I got a salad of roasted veggies and quinoa and this pesto-sesame-sauce-thingy which I can't really remember apart from the fact that it tasted amazing.

One day we crossed Paris all the way to the 16th arrondissement (it felt like a totally different world from our neighborhood) to see some old friends. On the way we stopped at the American Library where I got five different books and a bunch of Friends DVDs. Then we proceeded to the 16th. We toured a little: we saw the statue of liberty (which honestly was much less interesting and pretty then the one in NY) and we strolled on the new walkway along the Seine.

 

 

One of the things which makes Paris so beautiful are the architectural details. Like the face over this window, for instance. You can find these on the façades of many buildings.

Other than touring my mom and I went to one or two yoga sessions per day and when it got too hot we spent time at the pool with my brother too.


Unfortunately, at some point during the trip my camera started freaking out and I couldn't take anymore pictures... I was planning to snap away at anything interesting I saw but therefore I was not able to. :(
I cannot tell you how many times I pulled out my camera to take a picture of something while we were out and then remembered that my camera would not co-operate. Kind of a drag, but I lived. ^^