Switzerland 2015 Day 9 – From Annecy to Geneva

Supposed to wake up earlier but overslept. The tiredness had kicked in and each day it became worse. This was expected especially for long trips, people do get tired from traveling. However, it was much faster for us, as bringing a baby together for the trip was a different ball game altogether.

I went out on the street in the early morning to get a photoshot of the popular photo on the Thiou stream because the sun was not in our favour the previous day. It was really chilly in the morning but many were up and about exercising or moving from place to place. Taking a different route to the same place, I got to shoot some places that I didn’t see previously. Arriving at that spot, I saw a huge truck parked on the bridge casting a shadow over the spot. It wasn’t too bad so I shot and went back.

Morning view of the quiet town.
Morning view of the quiet town.
Calmer waters now gave a reflection of its buildings.
Calmer waters now gave a reflection of its buildings.
Another shot of the most photographed site in Annecy.
Another shot of the most photographed site in Annecy.

My other duty was to buy breakfast and so I went into a Boulangeries Chevallier that had all the beautiful pastries decked out in the shelf. Chose 2 and paid through their auto pay machine. Interesting one.

A nice variety of pastries on offer.
A nice variety of pastries on offer.
Automated paying machine.
Automated paying machine.
Chevallier pastry shop.
Chevallier pastry shop.

Went back to the hotel and called the previous hotels to find out if anyone found my laptop but no one found any. We all then left to visit the biscuit shop to buy more biscuits. After that, we checked out and were on our way to Geneva, Switzerland.

Driving took a short 45mins and similarly as when we left Switzerland to France, there was a immigrations post. There were random checks on some cars and fortunately, we were chosen so we were on our way to Geneva center.

Driving in Geneva was really a bad experience. Similar to Zurich, roads were everywhere, different modes of transport share the road and it was sometimes confusing. The traffic lights were most of the time against me and when it did turn green, it allowed very few cars (like 2 cars?) to go through before turning red again. Cars lined the parking slots on the roads, making the road for travelling really tight in the middle. Twice I hit my side mirrors.

Arriving at the Kipling Hotel, I drove into the garage after bringing down all the luggage as it was advised that there weren’t any lifts from the garage. Maneuvering into the garage was challenging as it was really narrow and as i reversed into one of the parking slot, my worst nightmare happened, I scratched the sides of the door against a yellow pole, resulting in a yellow paint gash on both the door handle and the door.

I was adamant not to drive around in Geneva. At the reception, we were given not only our card keys, but also a day pass for all modes of public transport. That was what we would be using for moving around.

After bringing all the stuff back into our room, our first stop was to go to the old town, by bus number 8 towards Rive and alighting at the Metropole. The bus was similar to the bendy buses that Singapore used to have.

Beautifully decorated room.
Beautifully decorated room.
The bathroom was lovely too.
The bathroom was lovely too.

Dropping off, we walked towards the lake where there was a jet fountain that shot up water really high. People could get closer to it but we didn’t do that and preferred to admire from a distance.

Tram station in Geneva.
Tram station in Geneva.
Water fountain in Geneva lake. One could actually walked next to the fountain.
Water fountain in Geneva lake. One could actually walked next to the fountain.

The old town was just minutes away and it was similar to the other old towns. Walking around the streets admiring the old architecture blended with modern sales of services was interesting. Walked to the garden where there was a long wall of statues, known as the Reformation Wall. There must have been some form of history but we hadn’t read it yet. During that time, there were many stalls and concert stage tentages at in the garden, likely a music event happening over the weekend.

Clock made from flowers.
Clock made from flowers.
Walking uphill in the old town.
Walking uphill in the old town.
Reformation wall.
Reformation wall.

Walked up to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and then back down to a shop called Spaghetti Factory for our lunch. They served quite a variety of Spaghetti which was quite good.

St. Pierre Cathedral.
St. Pierre Cathedral.
Cream based sauce.
Cream based sauce.
Tomato based sauce.
Tomato based sauce.
Spagetti factory.
Spagetti factory.

Went back to return bus stop and boarded the bus number 8 this time towards Appia, the stop where we could visit the Palais des Nations. This was the place where UN delegates met for discussions and even peace negotiations.

Red Cross museum across the UN. We didn't visit this one.
Red Cross museum across the UN. We didn’t visit this one.

We took took the tour at 330pm in English. We were late in joining our tour and one of the staff spoke to us in Mandarin in order to help us. We were taken aback as he was quite fluent in it but it was surely amusing. It seemed that the tours were actually quite frequent, as frequent as every half an hour. It was quite an informative tour that brought us to a few halls where the delegates sit for discussions and negotiations. Bought some souvenirs at the store at the end of the tour before heading back to the hotel, taking the tram number 15 instead, which was closer to our hotel.

My visitor pass.
My visitor pass.
This was where the tour would start.
This was where the tour would start.
In one of the assembly hall. Guide providing some information.
In one of the assembly hall. Guide providing some information.
Beautiful surroundings.
Beautiful surroundings.
One of the exhibits in the UN.
One of the exhibits in the UN.
Another room with evolution of humanity paintings.
Another negotiation room with evolution of humanity paintings.
One of the biggest assembly hall.
One of the biggest assembly hall.
Countries flags in front of the UN building.
Countries flags in front of the UN building.
Huge broken chair exhibit on the street.
Huge broken chair exhibit on the street.

Back at the hotel, it was baby stuff before leaving for dinner. Wanted to visit the Patek Phillipe museum but it was almost closed by the time we arrived at the hotel.

Went to dinner at the end of the street that was part of the Manotel branches, at Hotel Edelweiss. The Restaurant Edelweiss was serving Swiss cuisine with some live Swiss traditional music being played. It was definitely a cosy atmosphere.

Double storey in the Restaurant Edelweiss.
Double storey in the Restaurant Edelweiss.
Special cheese bowl.
Special cheese bowl.

We ordered cheese fondue even though I wasn’t really fond of fondue. The one we ordered was a special one where the cheese was being boiled in a bread pot and we just eat away at the pot. The cheese was in fact quite nice, not the smelly cheese that we thought it was. The entertainment was also interesting where they were cows bells and blowing big horns. The restaurant was quite popular with big groups and therefore reservation was preferred. With that 15% discount that we were given for staying at the sister hotel, it was actually not too bad.

Blowing the long horn as the staff entertained the customers.
Blowing the long horn as the staff entertained the customers.
Our discount vouchers to utilise for our dinner.
Our discount vouchers to utilise for our dinner.

Night time activities had always been dominated by baby care and it was no different. Fell asleep after that.

France 2015 Day 8 – Lyon to Annecy (Venice of France)

The last day of the France leg. It meant that half of our holiday was almost done. The tiredness of the trip was starting to take a toll and today we woke up late.

It was supposed to be an easy day, planned some places to visit but not at all important. In the end, we decided to visit Galeries Lafayette after asking for late check out which was granted to 2pm. The reception advised us to take the tram, T1 line towards IUT which would take us to commercial center at Part Dieu and there was a GL there. The tickets could be purchased easily from the automatic machines and it was 1.8euros for a trip within 1hr of validation, which was done on the tram by inserting the tickets into the validation machine.

Gare de Lyon train station within 2mins walk from the Mercure.
Gare de Lyon train station within 2mins walk from the Mercure.
Tram tickets.
Tram tickets.

Tram.
Tram.
La Part Dieu shopping mall.
La Part Dieu shopping mall.

This mall was considerably huge and using the free wifi and downloaded the app, we sought out the places we want to visit while having lunch at their fast food joint called Quick burger. The burgers was actually tasting better than the other fast food joints. The restroom was a challenge to visit as it was passcode protected to restrict usage to its customers only.

Quick burger for breakfast.
Quick burger for breakfast.

We visited the H&M store and purchased some baby clothing and then Loccitane which was much cheaper than Singapore. After that, went to GL but was disappointed to find out that the store there did not carry Chanel. Understanding from the staff, only the one in Paris did so.

Huge H&M kids wear section.
Huge H&M kids wear section.
Inside the mall.
Inside the mall.

Continue to shop in the pharmacy and Carrefour where we bought Sophie the giraffe for just 10euros. Left at about 115pm.

It was a rush to pack and check out but we managed. Almost had a hard time getting out of Lyon with a slight traffic jam due to so many traffic lights and confusing roads.

The trip to Annecy was fairly easy with a time of about 1.75hrs. Stopped by the service station where there were many restaurants but all were closed as it was almost 3pm. Continued our journey but baby K was fairly cranky today.

The French Alps started to peek out against the horizon when we started to arrive towards Annecy. This was a small beautiful town and we parked at the basement parking of Novotel. It was quite difficult to park as the car was too big and I couldn’t do it parking face front. Check in was done smoothly with an incredibly friendly staff attending to us.

The room was similar standards, as with the Mercures. We stayed for a while before walking towards the old town, going thru Carnot street.

Bedroom
Bedroom
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

The place was quite crowded with quite a number of tourists visiting the area. We stopped by a biscuit shop “La Cure Gourmande” where they sold some really delicious biscuits made from various fruity flavours, Bought some to try before deciding on which to buy.

Inside the biscuit store.
Inside the biscuit store.
Biscuit packaging.
Biscuit packaging.
Generous biscuit fillings.
Generous biscuit fillings.
La Cure Gourmande.
La Cure Gourmande.

Proceeded to walk towards the old town where it was more known to be the little Venice of France. The place was really pretty with the rustic look and the waterways with ducks swimming on it running through the town, along the sidewalks lined with blooming flowers. The backdrop of the mountain completed the this lovely picture that we would normally get to see only in drawings. Downside was there were many people around, i was kinda surprised that many knew about this place.

Cathedral in Annecy.
Cathedral in Annecy.
French Venice.
French Venice.
Streets lined with flowers, restaurants and tourists.
Streets lined with flowers, restaurants and tourists.
Walking between buildings.
Walking between buildings.
The popular Thiou river photospot.
The popular Thiou river photospot.

We actually wanted to visit the restaurant Little Italy for dinner, but on seeing a Aux Creperie Bretonnes La Bolee, we changed our mind and had dinner there instead. Ordered a pancake and a fruity crepe and it was delicious. Left filled and satisfied. Before continuing to walk around, we got ourselves some tasty ice cream from Glacier Des Alpes, where the staff was generous enough to give us another scoop for free!

Inside the Creperie.
Inside the Creperie, homely design.
Ham and egg crepe.
Ham and egg crepe.
Strawberry crepe.
Strawberry crepe.
The creperie on the outside.
The creperie on the outside.
Glacier Des Alpes selling tasty ice cream.
Glacier Des Alpes selling tasty ice cream.

Walked to the lake and it was a little chilly. Again a beautiful sight with the setting sun. Baby K wasn’t cooperating with a family selfie but it was ok.

Swans floating on the calm waters.
Swans floating on the calm waters.
View of lake with shore lined with boats.
View of lake with shore lined with boats.
View of the town in the setting sun.
View of the town in the setting sun.

That was the end of Annecy walk about and 20 mins walk back to the hotel. Rest of the night was the usual, like giving baby K a warm bath after the chilly walk. Again an activity packed day as we would soon leave for Switzerland.