The first thing we did was purchase tickets for a riverboat tour of the Rhone. We opted for this rather than that of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) since we felt we may be back in the area in the future and would do it then. After the purchase, we went to our hotel to check-in, then walked back through Old Town and to our riverboat docking point. The sun was sweltering. Fortunately, we found the Swiss and the French have been prepared for this weather for centuries – there were strategically placed, constantly flowing, free water fountains ready with COLD drinkable water. Fantastic!
The riverboat ride itself was a bit... unimpressive, but some of the views were nice. The disappointing bit was that you really couldn’t see the sights they had advertised because of the overgrown foliage. However, there were very few other places that would provide the amount of relief from the sun during that day. Not to mention, we weren’t really awake enough to endure loads of walking. It was actually a really good choice. We had to wonder if it would’ve been better to have taken the tour of the lake though...
For dinner, we stopped at an adorable crepe shop for some very yummy, savoury crepes. Unfortunately, we had to head inside midway through the meal as it had started to rain a bit harder than we could feasibly tolerate. The rain was much welcomed on the walk back to the hotel. On our way, we somehow came upon a huge, rambunctious techno festival. The streets were full of oddly dressed people and loads of rubbish strewn about. We felt slightly out of place, but it was fun to walk through nonetheless. Back in the hotel, we passed out almost immediately. Tomorrow was a big day and we weren’t about to sleep in!
Sunday – We enjoyed a simple breakfast and headed out to see an archaeological site of St. Pierre’s Cathedral we stumbled upon the day before. We had about an hour to see the vast remains of many centuries of religious heritage. The space under Saint-Pierre Cathedral contains the remains of the many churches that preceded the current structure: the oldest of these dates from the late 4th century, providing evidence of Geneva's pivotal role in the development of Christianity. After a hurried tour of the site, we headed to the bus that would take us to the border village of Veyrier, Switzerland. From there, we walked across the border and examined possible viewing points for the Tour. We continued walking through the French village and up to the “Telepherique Saleve” to purchase tickets for a later ride. Then it was back down through the country road and over the border to quickly buy some snacks and fill up our water bottle with the potable l’eau. I love those fountains! C’est mervielleux!
We chose a bit of roadside just after a curve with enough straight bits to have a nice view of the cyclists coming toward us. Matt took pictures as I shot video. There would be no time for hesitation or changing modes on the camera. First, the sponsors’ vehicles drove past, throwing samples, blaring music, and shouting in French through loudspeakers... for about two hours. Some of those thrown samples hurt and those people had really good aim! Then came the cyclists. They were going so fast it sounded like a swarm of bees! I had to take a few steps back just to make sure they wouldn’t hit me. They seemed fearless.
After the experience, Matt and I just took a few moments to reflect on what had just happened. It was quick, but it was amazing; the sheer number of them was almost overwhelming. The thought that this was just a short moment of their tour... just fascinating.
After the Tour, we walked back through the French village and up to the cable car ride. The ride itself took about 5 minutes or less. Frankly, that was enough for me – I wasn’t keen on the idea of dangling by two wires from that height. The views were fantastic and well worth facing my fears. Once on the mountain top, we strolled around a bit, watched a paraglider take off from the grassy edge, and took a short hike toward the neighbouring mountain top.
Back down on the ground, we took a short stroll through the Swiss village of Veyrier and hopped on the bus back to Geneva. We stopped at one of the few open places for supper (It was Sunday, you know) where we sat outside and were serenaded by a travelling band (see video). I felt as though we were in a film – as though the “Ratatouille” mouse was about to come out and serve my pasta. No mouse, but we did have a Vietnamese waiter who enjoyed practising his English with us. Just as we entered our hotel, Spain shot the winning goal for the World Cup and all of Geneva began shouting, honking, and setting off firecrackers. The celebrations, especially the car honking, continued until about 4am. Good thing we didn’t have to catch a very early flight in the morning!
Monday – Although we did have a simple breakfast in the hotel, we decided it would be better supplemented by Swiss chocolate. We were right!! We found a highly ranked chocolatier and made some very difficult decisions. This was necessary given the price and the available assortment. I think the favourites were the Champagne truffle (duh), the orangey Jaffa, and the rose-infused Bakara. They all melted as soon as they touched your tongue. Certainly my kind of way to start the day! After a delicious chocolate breakfast in a lovely park with an extraordinary view, we headed back to the hotel to check out and grab our bag. An ice cream and a short walk and we were back at the rail station heading to the airport.
We left Geneva (after a short delay at the airport and an impulse purchase of fondue chocolate) feeling satisfied. Unfortunately, the turbulent flight back including one or two dives was not as satisfying. Finally, we were home in London, safe on the ground with a little bit of Toblerone to spare.
For video - click here!
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