where have all the redheads gone...

I am overjoyed to be among trees and mountains again, although I miss the Irish nearly everyday. I spent a few days in Paris, and between getting food poisoning and frequent rainshowers, I managed to see quite a bit of the city. I was more than ready to move on to Annecy, a quaint town in southeastern France with an amazing lake. Everyone there was either training for a marathon, a millionaire or in whatever category I happen to fall in (read: bum). I spent my days hiking in the hills and along the lake. I also daytripped to Chamonix from there, roughly the Whistler equivalent of Europe for you nonskiiers. It...was...unreal. Imagine Jackson, Wyoming at the base of Mt. Rainier. Mont Blanc had some of the gnarliest glaciers I have seen! I am in Bern, Switzerland right now and absolutely love it. It is a cute town that has barely changed in the past hundred years, minus the addition of approximately 400 McDonalds, and is surrounded on three sides by the Aare River. It also has excellent views of the snowcovered Alps. I am going to Munich tomorrow and then on to Vienna and Prague from there. Please pray for HEALTH, as I have a head cold at the moment and would like nothing better than to curl up in bed and sleep for a few days.