The next morning we went off to explore Geneva. We caught the tram into the city. We stopped at a city park and played giant chess. Miss S beat me! She told me her daddy had taught her well, then she added, "well enough to beat you anyway, Mama, but not well enough to beat Daddy,"
It was a pleasure to see so many locals out enjoying the park. There were many giant chess games and giant draughts boards painted on the ground. There were also picnic tables that were printed with chess boards, so could be used to play in the normal way. For those seeking more active a game, there were quite a few table tennis tables provided as well. I loved that the park was equipped with these games, and that people were actually getting together in the park and utilising them. We saw families, teenagers and elderly people all playing games in the park. What a wonderful community-spirited idea.
We continued through the park and headed towards the lake, stopping for lunch in a pub on a quiet corner halfway there. We shared a huge burger, salad and chips, then continued on towards the lake. We took a boat ride across to the other side of the lake. The sun shining on the water, blue sky and beautiful mountain views surrounding the lake made for stunningly beautiful scenery.
Once on the other side, we strolled along the lake edge path for a while, then stopped on a park bench to admire the view, and watch Geneva life go by, and read our books. After a while, we walked back in the other direction until we came to Jardins Anglais, a beautiful garden on the edge of the lake. We watched someone with a giant bubble blower, and Miss S joined in with all the other children, chasing after the bubbles. Then we marvelled at the stillness of a man dressed as an admiral statue.
We finished our outing with a ride along the waterfront, on a solar-powered miniature train.
The next day, we had a bit of a slow start, with a sleep in, a skype session and then a bit of catching up on blog writing. It is hard to keep up to date with my blog entries. With only a few days in each place we are trying to make the most of our time in each one. It's sometimes difficult to find time to have the experience and write about it! I don't know if anyone is actually reading them, apart from my husband, but it will be nice for us to read them and relive our memories at some time in the future anyway. It would be encouraging to spur me on though, if anyone is reading this, if they could leave a comment.
By the time we got out it was pretty close to lunchtime, so we went to an Italian Restaurant and shared a pizza. I am so glad we decided to share one, and not have one each, because it was enormous!
We had a walk around the Old Town and stopped to see Saint Pierre's Cathedral. Beneath the cathedral, there is an archaeological site of previously built churches. It sounded interesting but Miss S saw a picture of a skeleton on a brochure and that put paid to that idea. She thought it looked way too scary to contemplate!
We took a bus to the border of Switzerland and France. We walked over the border, thinking how strange it was that we could just walk down the street and with one step be in a different country. We could walk a few steps backwards and forwards....Switzerland....France....Switzerland....France! But we didn't actually do that. That would have just looked silly! (As if that's ever bothered me before!)
Anyway, I digress, and this blog post is becoming daft! The point of us going across the border into France was to take a cable car up to the summit of Mount Salève. The views across France and Switzerland were beautiful and we enjoyed watching some sky divers launching themselves off the mountain and soaring around in the sky.
We had a bush walk. It started off well, with a decent path, but after about twenty minutes of walking the track started to disappear, and we were having to clamber over tree roots, and pick our way carefully down an increasingly steep incline, trying not to think too much that what goes down, must surely come up! Then it started to rain, and was getting muddier and slippery, so we decided to turn around and head back up to the kiosk for a well deserved cuppa.
Miss S met some French children in the playground and enjoyed playing with them while I had a cup of tea and chatted to their parents. Then we made our way back down the mountain in the return cable car and caught the bus back to Geneva, then the tram back to the apartment.
We went to bed feeling full of excitement and anticipation about travelling to Italy the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment