What a different vibe Geneva is. Still lots of bicycles – but here they all wear helmets and cycle with purpose and direction. We noticed a lot more “serious” bikes, less-to-no “Jessica Fletcher” type with the front basket and wide seat, and more scooters. We walked across Pont Mont Blanc into the the town and up to the Cathedral on the hill., stopping for a coffee and croissant before heading back down to the lake. What I found totally unique were the public fountains with drinkable water and the public taps and pumps along the roads. We went down to the lake and walkind along to the Jet D’Eau.
To much exploring had found us on the wrong side of the lake, missing the water taxis and our bus for France leaving in 45 minutes. What followed was a harassed uber pick up and lift, a dash into our accommodation, rush paying of the city tax, grabbing suitcases and us arriving at the bus station as our bus was leaving …. but that was not the only thing that was leaving us …Greg left his only other pair of shoes (his trusty vellies) sitting quietly on the window ledge in the hotel.
What followed was a couple of hours adventuring to Annecy in France. This involved two trains, a bus and numerous head shakes, but ended with a very helpful and understanding ticket conductor (we knew we had the wrong train ticket, but …) and a comfortable bus journey into France.
Arriving in Annecy we picked up our rental car and made our way to the hotel. Driving on “the wrong side” of the road is no joke. Cars seem to all come out of nowhere and pedestrians are the worst … And there are always lots of people and many are indecisive. Heads down and following google maps …
Our hotel was lovely and HAD A LIFT ! and our family travelling group joined us – things were looking up after our hectic morning, and so off we went to explore Annecy.
What a beautiful town. Annecy is a picture-perfect Alp town, lying on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, it’s nickname as the “Pearl of the French Alps” could not be more perfect. After getting a baguette and dinky wine for lunch we headed off towards the parks overlooking the lake. It did not take us long though till we headed to one of the many paddle boats they have on the lake and into the crystal clear water we headed. The water temp was just perfect and we whiled away a few hours just messing about on boats, jumping and swimming in the lake. Messing About In Boats ….
That afternoon had the serious job of scouting out a potential rugby viewing spot as the opening game of the RWC was scheduled (France vs All Blacks) . After popping into a sports pub (who was setting up for a crowd) we settled on a restaurant sitting on the walkway looking into another sports pub. What a fun fun night that was. The pub across the way was watching feed that had a 30 second lag so that added to the general hilarity of the evening. Too add to the magic evening France won! what a night some of those patrons must have had as we walked home after another lovely day in France.
Pink Farm Chick 