While I’m stuck on traveling, I thought I’d finally post about one of my favorite trips ever, an impromptu trip to France and Switzerland.

The story starts at a nice family gathering in the Smoky Mountains, a popular destination for Yoder vacations for our yearly family vacation attempts. I had been thinking about the next place I’d like to travel, and mentioned questioningly to my mother if she’s like to travel to France to visit my sister Felicia who was studying there (in the culinary/pastry arts). And…she answered yes without any hesitation!

The reason this yes was such a surprise to me was because my mom has mostly been a homebody for the entire length of my life and hasn’t done much outside of motherly things and keeping the five of us kids alive. So going on a trip half way across the world with her was a bit unheard of. That surprise of a yes and the opportunity to adventure with my mom to a place that I had been wanting to go to for a while immediately took my Europe travel plans from tentative to planning and looking at dates to make this happen.

From that first moment of clarity to planning to going to so many beautiful places, this really turned into one of my favorite times. Switzerland might be my favorite place that I’ve been so far with its expanse of mountains and remarkably quaint chateaus.

Below are a few of my favorite photos from my trip, starting out with my favorite swimming spot in the world, to cute scenes from right outside our airbnb, to my sister’s graduating class, and so many beautiful sights from Yssingeaux, Lyon, Geneva, and the French/Swiss alps. Hope you enjoy this little time capsule!