Evian... the town of sparkling mineral water

In the 1800's, the mineral water in this beautiful French town was found to have 'astonishing curative qualities' so they started using it for medicine. Now Evian is the home of the famous spring water, as well as Europe's largest themed casino (which we went inside to use their potty).  The ferry across the river was beautiful! And now that we bought the kids their own Swiss 'Junior Travel Cards' for $30 each, they can ride any form of transportation (bus, train, ferry) for free for a year!

We thought of you, Sterl, when we saw these huge piston turbine engine crank thingies that were turning the  paddle wheels that kept the boat moving... we knew you could've told us all about them. 8-) Talk about a legal case waiting to happen... you'd never see something like this in America - totally open with no net covering or anything -- a kid could fall down there or drop a toy and mess up the pistons. We were careful though ~

Best way to tour the town - the cute little 'Petit Train' tour that took us down the cute cobblestone roads!

And what exactly is this statue?!? Looks like a wooden pterodactyl with a rider...

Look at these gorgeous hydrangeas bigger than our heads!

Back in Lausanne, the center of town has this amazing waterfountain area... everyone just hops in and swims!