Touristy stuff | schwingeninswitzerland

I think we saw more tourists in Paris than actual Parisians. Here are some hints for navigating a tourists Paris.

Since we were an odd number, rather than renting a couple of hotel rooms, we rented a tiny apartment. It was easy to book online and saved us a ton of dough.
Get the museum pass at the tourist office. We bought ours at the train station’s tourist office upon arrival. I only had one person in front of me in line and barely had to wait. It allowed us to skip the long lines at every attraction… and saved us a bunch of money

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Get to the Louvre early. Very, Very early. Bus tours will start arriving. If you encounter them, you will be swept away in a sea of people madly clicking their cameras. Get there early to see the big sights before they finish breakfast and on the bus.
While you are at the Louvre (and other museums), take advantage of the great views from museum cafes. We had an unforgettable coffee with this view. Priceless.
French food is pretty good. Nevertheless like all cultures, a bit of it seems suspect to the outside. While I will eat frog’s legs and snails. I can’t stand the terrines, the molded meat and gelatin. Even knowing that it may result in eating something suspect, I like to eat at restaurants where the menu isn’t in English (or like some super touristy places in Italian, German, Russian and Chinese as well). Do yourself a favor and avoid the loud Americans that will be at the next table over, get off the beaten path and try to find a place without an English menu. Not only will it be more affordable, but you’ll have a more authentic experience. If you don’t you could end up like a friend who paid $52 for a hamburger in Italy. We paid about that for an entire meal that was one of the best of our lives.

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If you happen to bein Paris during sale time (known as Les Soldes), you’re lucky. Markdowns occur at designated times twice a year. Shop away!

We saw the mighty Rhine in Germany. Several rivers feed into it, including the Aare (also known as the Aar). The Aare is the longest river that both begins and ends entirely within Switzerland. It flows from the Aar Glaciers of the Bernese Alps and joins with the Rhine in Koblenz. When they merge, it actually surpasses the Rhine in volume. Seeing the size of the Aare close to its source, I’m not surprised. It flows quickly and is ice-cold. It’s snowmelt after all.

The Evil Genius wanted to stop by and see the Aare Gorge (also known as the Aareschlucht) while we were in nearby Meiringen. We weren’t sure what to expect, but ended up being overwhelmed by it. It is truly an amazing sight.

At the end of the Ice age, torrential runoff water from melting glaciers eroded a deep, narrow chasm. Over thousands of years, the Aare’s tumbling waters continued to erode the limestone rock, further carving out the gorge replete with niches, caves and hollows. In fact, the water gets its greenish tint from tiny particles of eroded limestone. They don’t need to die it green for St. Patty’s Day (unlike the Chicago River).

We entered a tunnel carved from the rock and exited onto a metal walkway suspended over the rushing water. At first, walking over the torrent was a bit unsettling. It didn’t take long for amazement to take over. Isolated in the valley, we only heard the rushing waters echoing off the walls.

The dramatic setting immediately impressed us. Wandering along, we became even more awestruck. Not knowing much about the gorge, we had no idea of its size and scale. It is 1400 meters long (0.87 miles) and 200 meters (656 feet) deep.

At points, it is only 1 meter (3 feet) wide!

Before the walkway was built, the only way to see it was from a boat. The gorge was unfamiliar and frightening. Legend’s about what was in the gorge abounded. For example, in 1814 there was a report of a monster. It’s body resembled that a snake, but with a round head and legs. It allegedly had a big mouth, sharp teeth, evil eyes, and made terrifying whistling sound. Locals called it a “Tatzelwurm.” We didn’t see any sign of this beast. Apparently we are very poor mythical beast spotters. We didn’t see any sign of the Loch Ness Monster when we were there either.

Eventually, the fissure widens a bit allowing you to see some of the cool things erosion has created. There were several waterfalls. The river widened enough to allow us to see rocks and rapids. We even saw a cave that had been converted to military use in the buildup to the second world war.

We saw more evidence of Switzerland’s military preparedness. I’m guessing that wall and door inside the cave isn’t the work of the glacier and this use to contain something other than sand. Just a hunch.

Not surprisingly, the lack of direct sunlight and the icy waters combine to make it a good deal cooler than the surrounding countryside. Who cares, the view is worth it.