Switzerland in Stripes

Joyce Leslie Striped Dress | Express Military Jacket (similar here) | Urban Outfitters Backpack | Aldo Sandals

Last fall Express had a red & navy striped dress that unfortunately some celebrity was photographed wearing and it sold out like hot cakes. I called every NYC store on a daily basis for two weeks and no dice. The weekend before I left for Europe, however, I found myself wasting time in Joyce Leslie...the sister store to Necessary Clothing (shown here, here, here and here) and both of which have a target audience about a decade my younger. There she was...pretty maids all in a row in white/black, navy/light blue and navy/red for the nice round price of $12.66. It's a little shorter than I would prefer but that affords the possibility of pairing it with jeans like shown above in Switzerland or yoga pants last Sunday morning to run errands.

After Italy, we headed north for the next leg of the European Vacation in Switzerland. The first of two days was in Geneva. It was rainy and pretty chilly so we spent the day ducking in and out of little cafes and restaurants while walking around the city. We started out walking around Old Town and Rue de la Fontaine (my favorite street in the city), which was full of little tea rooms, antique stores and art galleries.

{Rue de la Fontaine in Old Town Geneva, Switzerland}

We then walked through Geneva's shopping district and stopped at La Tour du Molard, a charming little bar inside a clock tower with a series of small landings two or three chairs each and great views of the city. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon so luckily the place was dead and we had some one-on-one time with the owner of the restaurant, who went into detail about the local wines and a (free) Swiss cheese platter before providing an extensive list of restaurants in Geneva (will update my Pinterest board with these). By this time it was 5:30, the locals were getting out of work and started filling up the place.

{a selection of Swiss wines and cheeses at La Tour du Molard}

{one of many small landings in the tower}

Day 2 was supposed to be spent in Chamonix/Mont Blanc but the dense fog put a damper. We then decided to take a two hour train to a small town outside Geneva called Montreux. Started the day with a morning hike before spending a large portion of the afternoon at the over 1,000 year old medieval castle, Château de Chillon, a swim at sunset and concluding with a traditional Swiss dinner of steak frites and fondue at Le Chalet.

{positioned on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps: Château de Chillon}

{chevron walls and chandeliers inside Château de Chillon} 

{one of many courtyards in Château de Chillon}

{fondue at Le Chalet in Montreux}

{sunset swim}

{snow capped mountains peaking through the fog at day's end}

{a serene Swiss sunset}