Syd & Astrid's Down Under Adventure: La Belle Geneve

On Nov 7-9 Syd and I took our last Europe mini-break (just the two of us) to beautiful Geneva Switzerland. It was a very metropolitan city in that it had many languages represented (German, Italian, French and English), and with it being on the border of France, French was the language of choice. Our friend Astrid has lived there for years and highly recommends it so we thought we should check it out.

The first night we flew in late, but were instantly impressed with the fact that we got a 'free' train ticket to town, and the train ride was only 6 minutes! We thought we could really get used to this free travel stuff. As it turned out, we could! Because when we checked into our hotel, they gave us a free travelcard for use in all Geneva transport for the entire weekend! Very strange, but very welcomed! ;o)

On Saturday we spent the day exploring old town Geneva, and of course the main shopping street. We didn't buy very much as the Swiss Franc and the clothing prices were not very cheap at all, even against the British pound! We loved how the streets in the old town were in layers, some higher and lower than others. And there were many narrow stairways leading to different streets so it was quite neat. Oh, and did I mention the cafes and chocolate shops everywhere?

We loved the sights on the main lake - Lake Geneva (or lac leman). In the middle is a very famous fountain landmark called Le Jet D'Eau. Five-hundred litres of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140m by two 500kW pumps, operating at 2,400V, consuming over one megawatt of electricity! Its quite facinating to watch - and makes a great picture opp!

Some crazy people were even swimming in the lake! I mean, ya, the weather was 14 degrees, but the lake cannot have been warm! Though it was VERY clear - look at the swan underwater below!

We were really impressed how the pier was so people friendly though, and had swimming and diving docks off of it, and even beaches where people can feed the swans! My swan didn't look too happy, but they were the friendliest swans we've ever met.

That night we went to dinner in the cool restaurant in our hotel that looked like a real Swiss Chalet (no not the fried chicken place that Canadians know of!) - with St. Bernard dogs and mountain murals everywhere!

We both got a tasty cheese fondue and some wine and I have never been so bloated in my life! But it was soooo good! They had a live band there that yodelled, played the matterhorn, and even played the bells!

The next day we took a train to the other end of the lake to a town called Montreux. It is a cute lakeside town with nice restaurants, and beautiful views of the mountains. We decided to walk along the lake to the castle, called Chillon Castle, and it actually ranks among my top 5 castles in Europe! It as first of all, one of the most picturesque.

Right on the lake, right next to the mountains, had cool turrets, and so fun to explore! It was one of those castles where most of the rooms weren't finished, so were mostly bare stone, so it allows you to visualise what it was like back in the 1500s. The place was completely open, no areas were closed off, and you could explore different stairways, courtyards, passageways and even the keep!

The view from the keep was breathtaking. 360 degree views of the lake and the mountains. It definitely helped that we were there in the autumn and had the red, orange and yellow colours as a backdrop.