Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts

another swiss train photo just because


Genève

Geneva is beautiful, quiet, and quaint (particularly the Vieille Ville, old city, which I loved).

It was interesting how similar and dissimilar it was to other European cities I've spent time in or visited. The commonalities are obvious—beautiful streets steeped in history, public transportation, monuments and parks, old buildings, shuttered windows, and delicious food (Movenpick pistachio ice cream, for instance).

As for what made Geneva different—there are plenty of tourists by the lake admiring the jet d'eau (jet of water) but apart from this, but still Geneva struck me as a sleepy little city, business-like and home to so many important organizations—headquarters of international companies and organizations of every sort. I took a tour of the UN headquarters there, which was another highlight.
The above photo was taken just outside the front door of the house in France where we were cat-sitting for a few days (ha). I loved this house with its juxtaposition of rustic stone and modern features and fixtures (it really reminded me of this house).
oh. my. raclette. (and the goat cheese with the endive salad was creamy and perfect.)
The night before we left for Paris, I loved hanging out in Chambèsy, near M's apartment. We brought our picnic dinner of smelly (but yummy) Camembert, bread, and pink grapefruit juice ("pour boire la vie en rose," as one bottle put it. love.) to an elevated bench situated just off M's walk to work. The view of the lake was beautiful and I loved our walk through the quiet neighborhood with its Swiss country houses (we stood on a park bench to admire the above house over its tall hedges. then as we hopped off the bench we saw signs saying something about 24 hour surveillance—perfect). The rolling farmland outside of Geneva is the exact opposite of the mountains further east, but oh so beautiful and peaceful.

Lauterbrunnen

Really, what can I say? Switzerland is beautiful. I took a train from Geneva to the Lauterbrunnen Valley (by way of Interlaken!), consequently leaving French Switzerland for the German sector. This little valley in the Swiss Alps is everything you would expect it to be—fields of cows with bells, hilltop churches, waterfalls, and wildflowers. And mountains, of course. The mountains were spectacular, and the funicular ride up to the higher-up towns was incredible (albeit fear-of-heights-inducing).
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