On arrival into Geneva (Monday, 26 July) I followed the pictures, this was the only option given my French was limited to hello, thank you and maybe goodbye! to find the information desk. Had to join a long line however I was pleased you took a ticket and a seat and waited so no more standing up in a line. Beth had given me detailed instructions on how to get to her place, but I wanted to ensure I was getting on the correct tram. After being served I was off and within 30 minutes was at Beth’s place – the instructions were brilliant!
Had a couple of hours just chilling out, did some washing and tried to fix my iPhone (not possible so will be heading to the Apple store in the morning). Ventured out for an early-ish meal, tiredness was catching up with me from the previous two night sleeps – I was in need of a decent night sleep tonight. Had two drinks, at separate places and enjoying sitting and watching the world go by. It now seemed like it was an acceptable time to eat dinner, even though there were so many people out just drinking. Walked into one place but was told they didn’t do dinner, that's interesting the menu out the front said you did…..no point trying to say anything as the lady didn't speak English and I didn’t speak French so out I went in search of somewhere else. No luck but did locate a supermarket so purchased things for a salad and back to Beth’s to prepare it. Much healthy this way and saves me some money. I hadn’t been in Switzerland long but long enough to notice that things were expensive.
Tuesday morning I had a mini sleep in (anything past 6.30am is a sleep in for me. Let's hope that changes soon) chatted to Beth before she went to work (aah so nice not having to do that!) and relaxed before heading out. I had two missions - fix my iPhone and memory card from my camera (yes this was now playing up). Geneva is a city with trams, so I brought a day pass and was off. Made a stop at the tourist office in the train station then headed off on foot - Apple Store here I come. Walked over the Pont du Mont-Blanc which was crossing over Lake Geneva. Enjoyed taking in the sights including the Jet d'Eau, a very large fountain where the water shoots up 140 metres. It was a beautiful day so the view of Lake Geneva made me want to get in and go swimming. Finally made it to the Apple Store and within 30 seconds my phone was fixed - I was so happy I hugged the women. I was having a shocking day with my electronics so this was great one thing was fixed. Next on my list was finding a camera shop - I was told there had been an error with my memory card and that basically my photos were lost. Triple buggar!!!!
Thankfully I'd taken off my photos from Roma but hadn't had a chance to take off Milan and Zurich. I'm hoping Ange has them as she copied all my photos. A good learning lesson for me - photos need to be taken off either every day or every couple of days.
I hadn't planned anything to see so decided to find a supermarket and head back to Beth's to regroup. Oh my goodness me now my laptop isn't working. It's definitely not my day!! Am hoping when Beth returns she may be able to assist - clearly I need all the help I can get.
After a quick lunch break I was off back into the city centre in search of the Cathedral St Pierre. An impressive Church which had two towers you could go up. Views of Geneva were great from up here.
Walking up and down was a little scary for me but thankfully there weren't that many people around so I didn't feel too squashed in. From here I enjoyed walking around the old town, stopped off at the Hotel de Ville and Maison Travel. Both buildings had great architecture. The Hotel de Ville became famous due to the Red Cross and Geneva Conventions being formalised.
Decided to stop for a drink but was worried how I would communicate, thankfully the manager understood Italian and a few minutes later I was enjoying a coffee while watching the world go by. I was super impressed that there was wifi all over the city, brilliant especially now that my iPhone is back up and working. Now that I was caffeinated I headed down the hill to the Piazza Neuve into the park. There were large chess and checkers games for the public to use. I enjoyed standing watching people play.
Headed back to Beth's and relaxed until she got home from work. We then headed back into the city centre for dinner - yummy Italian on the water’s edge. I was amazed that there were so few restaurants on the lake, you would have thought there would be lots. Home on the tram, I definitely got my monies worth today.
Wednesday I woke super early but forced myself to go back to sleep. Why is it I'm waking early when I can actually sleep-in. I had a couple of hours researching and booking my next destination (Avignon, France) before heading out to the United Nations. Took the tram, so easy, and enjoyed the views. Will have to remember to sit on the same side coming back to so that I'm not looking at the same things. On arrival there is a huge 3 legged chair and water shots overlooking the flags of the United Nations countries. I did the 1 hour tour which I found to be extremely informative. As the UN was on summer break we were able to go into 3 of the conference rooms, one I'd seen before on TV. Our tour guide is a house wife who has been doing this for 8 years, she said she only works when required and that the other tour guides are all students. I found it interesting that there has to be employees from each United Nations country - hmm what work could I do to here????
At the end of the tour I headed back to Beth's, I wanted to make sure there was no problem with my hotel booking for the next stop (Avignon). After a quick break I was back onto the tram to collect my train ticket for tomorrow. Half of Geneva seemed to be buying train tickets so unfortunately it wasn't a quick process!
I read about all the famous chocolate shops so decided to go off in search of one or two. The tourist office gave me a couple of names so off I headed.....had a couple of photo stops along the way before finding one of the famous ones. Wow you need to be a millionaire to buy the chocolate - no purchases for me just looking thanks. They had chocolate in the mold of the Swiss army knife. I continued along my way and within a couple of minutes it was pouring with rain, I took cover in one of the many bakeries and thought it would be rude if I didn't try something. Thankfully the rain didn't last like it does in HK so I was off on my merry way back to Beth's place to prepare for my trip tomorrow.
Packing and sorting things made me thirsty so I headed off to one of the local bars/restaurants. I'd been in there on Monday night but literally walked straight out as I couldn't communicate with the lady - tonight it is going to work!! And hey presto I had a glass of white wine, no use asking which grape! I was just about to order some food when Beth turned up, talk about perfect timing! I was now able to have a conversation with someone with no language barrier. We ordered tapas and were set.
Thursday morning I was up early, didn't want to get in Beth's way given she was going to work for the day so was up before her. We both left together and took the tram :) I got off at the train station, while Beth continued, and as per normal arrived far too early. I am off to Avignon, France via Lyon (for an hour). I'd been told yesterday that I would have to go through some kind of customs/immigration and was a little concerned that I didn't have an entry stamp for Switzerland. No need to worry the customs/immigration people were nowhere to be seen (perhaps too early for them). Boarded without too many hassles, it's like a bull fight when the doors opened - people rushing to get on and get a seat. Given I was sitting backwards I think I might join the fight next time!!! Thankfully for my next train I have a set seat so no need to rush. I was rather surprised we left 2 minutes late, clearly in Geneva they go more with the French time rather than the German time.
The train journey seemed to go very quickly which was great, our first stop was France and I expected someone to look at my passport but alas no. I had a one hour stop in Lyon, enough time to take a walk around, buy a roll for lunch (from the great Paul's) before boarding another train to Avignon. This part of the journey was only 1 hour so time, along with the scenery, passed quickly. We were going super-fast (not that I'm complaining) so everything looked blurry, and no I'm not drunk nor have been drinking (today).
Goodbye Geneva, I’ll return in a few days.
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