Au revoir, Paris! Ciao, Lugano!

Phase 1 of our European adventure ended today with a flight from Paris to Milan, where we were whisked to Lugano, Switzerland for a three-day/two-night mini-tour. Getting to and through CDG was none of the fun (buying “Speedy Boarding” on EasyJet helped a lot with the checkin and security lines), but the flight itself was perfectly acceptable.

Our local guide, Roberta, met us at the airport; there are eight of us taking the mini-tour, and the others had arrived directly from the US earlier in the day and were resting. :-)

We took a walk along the waterfront before meeting the rest of the group for a guided walk along the waterfront; here are some photos from the walks.

The view from our room at the Royal Splendide
Our hotel from Paradiso
Little Free Library, Lugano-style
Bust of George Washington
Disused Funicular
Chancel of S. Maria degli Angeli
Altar of S. Maria degli Angeli
The Last Supper in S. Maria degli Angeli
Exterior of S. Maria degli Angeli
Linden Alley along the beach
Atlantes (male caryatids)

After the walks, we returned to the hotel for a welcome drink and snack before splitting up and going our separate ways for dinner. Diane and I had a light meal at the hotel bar; it was quite pleasant.

I’m glad we stayed in for dinner, because the weather turned very wet and windy while we were eating.