Day 10: Rolling through Paris

We had a noon flight from Geneva to Paris. We picked up breakfast near our hotel in Lausanne, and made the ½ hour drive. Got gas near the airport. I think we spent a little over $100 on gas to drive 881km. Parking turned out to be the major expense of having the car. But it was worth it to have the freedom to move about on our own schedule.

I needed to find the VAT refund desk. It seems it was purposefully put in a place almost impossible to find. We asked 4 different people and got 4 different answers. It required going to the international terminal, which of course was separate from the terminal we needed, which was just for flights to France. I was determined not to sacrifice the refund, and eventually found it. The official behind the desk didn't speak English, took my forms, grunted and stamped them. I had thought that Ellen's Thomas Sabo purchase was also large enough to qualify for a VAT refund, but it turns out we weren't provided with the right forms by Sabo. Oh well.

The flight to Paris was fine. We got our luggage and got on a airport subway to the hotel area. No signs were visible for Hilton, so it took us awhile to figure out where it was, but once we did, we were able to walk our luggage over there, check-in and drop our stuff off. Next, Paris!

Finish line for Tour de France

We took an express train from right near the hotel into the city. We had debated going to the left bank or Champs de Elysee. The Champs won, but boy were we in for a surprise when we came out of the Metro. We were coming up about 1 hour before the cyclists arrived for the finish of the Tour de France. There was a huge crowd, police everywhere, big screen tvs showing the cyclists. Just the mess we weren't looking for. So we walked away from the crowds, came across a nice view of the Eifell Tower, and hopped on a bus to the Left Bank.  Careful readers might remember an accidental run-in with the Tour during our vacation last year.

Ellen is at home on the Left Bank, having lived there with her parents. We walked along the Seine, enjoying the views. We stopped at a cafe for coffee for Ellen and a beer for me. Having had Swiss and French beers throughout, I decided to drink my favorite Pilsner Urquell since the cafe had it. They also offered free WiFi, so we used our iPod Touches to catch up on email.

Notre Dame

We then went into Notre Dame, just as the 6:30 service was starting. We got to see the procession, the incense being spread and the monseigneur smiling at the children. It is such an impressive building, it was extraordinary to see a service in progress. The pews were filled, and flat panel screens mounted throughout allowed all to see the service.

We had trouble deciding about dinner. We looked for a few restaurants that Ellen had researched, finding one, but it was closed on Sunday. We finally decided on a French restaurant in a touristy area. We both had forgettable meals, but struck up a conversation with a woman dining alone next to us. She was a education professor from Western Illinois University, in Paris for a conference. The conversation improved the overall experience of the meal.

We walked along Rue St Michele as the sun started to set. We then took the 35 minute train ride back to our airport hotel.

All that's left to do is find some breakfast out by the airport and take our 1:30pm flight back to Dulles.

Day 9: It is the Matterhorn....trust me!

Day dawned clear this morning, or at least much clearer than yesterday. I opened the door to our balcony and could see the tops of the mountains!

We ate a little for breakfast, but had gotten up at 6:20 so we weren't that hungry. We walked down to the Gornergrat cog railroad station and bought our tickets to the top. We were on the 8:00am train, which left right on time (it is Switzerland). At the first stop, some adorable friends joined us!

The Matterhorn.  Or some of it.

Only trouble was, when we got to Rotenboden, the next to the last stop, they announced it was the end of the line, everyone off.  Seems there were electrical problems further up.  Only problem was, there is NOTHING at the Rotenboden station.  No indoor building except the bathroom.  There was a view of the mountains, including most of the Matterhorn.  But there was not another train coming by to go down for more than 1/2 an hour.  So we took pictures, watched the hikers march off across the mountains, and shivered.  It was 28 degrees and snow flurrying!  I know that must sound good to those in the DC heatwave, but for us it was cold.  Eventually, the station manager felt sorry for Ellen, me and 4 Japanese tourists and allowed us to go into his office.

We got on the return train and rode back down to Zermatt.  It dawned on us that we had paid to go to the top but hadn't, and there is a 10 Swiss franc difference per ticket.  We went back to the window, and got our 20 franc refund!

We went back to the hotel, packed up and got a cab back down to our car.  Back on the road again, this time to Lausanne.

We got to our hotel, the Hotel Angeleterre and checked in.  A nice 4 star hotel, but we had been spoiled.

Lausanne city hall

Our hotel is in Ouchy and the whole Lausanne/Ouchy area is one big hill up from Lake Geneva.  So we asked about public transport, and found that our hotel is right next to a metro stop, and easily navigated up about 5 stops to begin the walking tour.  Saw the normal churches, squares and a nice town hall.

We stopped at a cafe recommended by Rick Steves and had a delicious hot chocolate.  We then took the subway back to the Ouchy.  While the Olympic Museum was closed fothe day, our hotel was only 200 meters away, so we decided to walk down there.  I'm glad we did.

There are lots of sculptures on the grounds, and they had the Olympic record high jump and pole vault heights displayed.  Pretty amazing to stand next to them.  They also had shot puts out.  I could barely lift the men's one.  Randy Barnes must have been some beast (and undoubtedly hopped up on steroids).

We had tired a bit of Swiss style food, and luckily found a Japanese restaurant, Ichiban just a block from our hotel.  We shared teriyaki chicken and beef, sat outside as it got cool, and enjoyed our last evening in Switzerland.

Day 8: Raclette for 1 at a table for 2

Not sure many will get the Trick Pony lyric reference, but since many have been piling on via Facebook about cheese, you can rest assured that Ellen got her raclette.

The one danger of vising a one-trick pony (ha, I tied in the previous reference!) town is if the pony is sick...or in this case, rained in. Today was a chilly, rainy, low cloud kind of day.

That meant going up to the mountains to see the Matterhorn was a waste of time.  And you knew that in advance because the train and cable car carriers provide live webcams of the view from their destinations.

So we checked back from time to time, because at one point in the afternoon a small patch of blue and the sun popped out.  But it was short lived.

So what did we do?  The only real options were to walk up and down the main thoroughfare and to shop.  So we did.  Except for chocolate, we are done with our souvenir shopping.  So if my kids are reading this, rest assured that you are taken care of.

One other option is the Matterhorn museum.  So in the afternoon, we did that too.  They tell the story of the first 7 climbers who reached the summit.  Unfortunately, 4 slid to their deaths an hour or so later.  And they have the broken rope in the museum to prove it.  I liked a letter from Teddy Roosevelt that described his climbing the mountain.

After the museum, we took advantage of the facilities the hotel had to offer.  They had steam rooms, relaxing rooms, and hot and cold showers.  Ellen dared me to take the cold shower, where ice fell from the ceiling near by.  The water started at jets by your legs.  I screamed when it added jets at the midsection (but only because I wasn't expecting it).  A few seconds with all the jets was plenty for me.  It was invigorating though!

Dinner tonight was perhaps the best of the trip.  We ate at the Stockhorn Grill.  At least this time Ellen got the main course she ordered.  Which is not to say tonight's dinner didn't also have its own element of uncertainty and danger.  Ellen did have raclette, which they serve for one.  They brought out a plate of already melted cheese, so she didn't get the full experience of the cheese melter thingy, but she had bread and potatoes to dip into it.  She tried to tell the waiter how excited she was, but he didn't speak much English.

The danger came in with the main course.  Ellen ordered the rack of lamb for the two of us.  It was 77 Swiss francs.  When the main course was delivered to the table, the owner mentioned something about a second plate of meat.  I heard it, Ellen didn't quite catch it and wasn't sure I heard right.  But after we finished our main dishes which were small but adequate in sight, they cleared them.  We were then brought full plates again, including the sides.  Ellen started to worry that she had ordered 2 orders, meant to serve 2 people each, and that we'd be staring at a bill for 144 francs.  We both agreed that we would laugh hysterically if that were the case.  Ellen felt a little better when the couple at the table next to us go their second plates of chateaubriand.  It was just unusual for us to have the food cooked separately and include a second set of side dishes.  Alas, we were billed only for the 1 order, and Ellen will be allowed to speak to waiters still.

We are going to take a look at the weather in the morning and see if a trip up the cog railroad to Gornegrat would be worthwhile.  We are on the road again tomorrow to Lausanne.  The attraction at risk is the Olympic Park and Museum, but that pales next to actually seeing the Matterhorn.

Day 7: There's a hole in my glass

Today was an incredible drive from Lazerne to Zermatt. We knew we were driving south and it was mostly not autobahn driving, but not sure I was prepared for mountain driving the way we experienced it. And I'm also not sure that the way we drove would be the how we would have gone utilizing a map, but we relied on the GPS which gave us a tremendous experience.

I know for certain I have never taken as many hairpin turns as we did today. To climb the mountains took a lot of downshifting and the downhills were sometimes harrowing. Only one near-death experience where we rounded a turn and a truck was half in our lane. There was a solid wall of rock mountain to our right, so no escape. Hoping I closed my eyes, I do know that we avoided disaster.

We stopped a few times to take in the views. Once we walked along the top of a dam, nearly at the top of a mountain. The water again was green, showing minerals from glaciers. Just beautiful.

The drive took about 4 hours.  Zermatt is a car-free town, so to get to our hotel required us to park in Tasch.  We took a cab from there into Zermatt, and then were met by a horse-drawn carriage to get to our hotel, the Mont Cervin Palace.  It is the only 5 star hotel on our itinerary, and the splurge is the result of a very nice bonus that Washington Post Digital provided.  

Zermatt is a touristy town, with hotels, shops and restaurants...and that's pretty much it.  We here to see the Matterhorn, but that is now looking a bit iffy as the weather was not clear today, and is not supposed to be clear tomorrow.  In fact, I'm writing this to the sound of steady rain outside.  We walked a bit up and down, scouting out restaurants for while we are here.  Most interesting site was the local cemetary, which was unusal in its colors and adornments. 

Dinner tonight was at Julien, a restaurant in a nearby hotel.  Ellen had a veal dish, and I had lamb.  What became hysterical is that only when the diners at the table next to us got their food, Ellen remembered that she had ordered a lamb dish, not veal.  She told our waiter, who laughed with us and apologized.  Ellen had especially wanted the palenta that came with it, so the waiter brought her some palenta.  To further apologize, he brought us a local after dinner drink, something clear and strong with a pear in it.  The waiter also gave the title of the blog.  As he refilled our wine bottle, he told us the locals would comment to a slow to act bartender that there was a whole in the glass, obviously the cause of a drink that needed refilling.

Thanks to all of those who let me know they have been reading the blog.  It is helpful to know who is reading and heck, that ANYONE is reading.  I recently emailed my son how he was enjoying the blog entries, and he responded "there's a blog?"  And we are Facebook friends, so I'm guessing he's deleted me out of his news feed.

Day 6: Luzern

We got started today with a walking tour of Luzern. Like so many European cities, it is divided by water, with many bridges. Two of the bridges here are wooden, dating back to the 1300's. One unfortunately caught fire in the 90's and has been rebuilt. They both feature paintings mounted above the walkways. One bridge told the history of the city. The other had skeletons in each painting reminding you that we are all going to die. Cheery!

Ellen lunched at a department store eatery, where we could sit on the roof. It was another hot day, temperatures around 90. We then decided that a pedal boat ride might be fun and rented one on Lake Luzern for ½ an hour. It was tremendous fun, nice views of the city and other boats, with wind coming off the water.

In the afternoon we went to the Rosengart Museum, which has a large permanent exhibit of Picasso paintings and sketches. It also featured some impressionist works, and we both enjoyed it.

It rained before dinner, so we ate our first meal inside a restaurant since we got here. We ate at the Fondue House, with Ellen having cheese and potatoes fondue, and I being a non-cheese lover, had soup and salad.

The rain cooled things off for a bit, so we walked along the water after dinner, but the heat and humidity soon came back.

Tomorrow we are off to Zermatt where the high is only to be in the 50's. The weather might be iffy, but we are determined to see the Matterhorn, or as much of it as the weather will allow.

Day 5: Zurich

First a couple things I forgot to write about yesterday. Ellen found herself a great gift at Thomas Sabo in Bern. She got a charm bracelet watch, with 4 charms (I remember 3 of them: an E, a boy & girl and an airplane). It looks great, and Ellen likes bracelets with “stuff.” Second little purchase we made was an 1/8” mini-plug to RCA adapter. It might not sound like much, but it allows us to use the mini-plug cord I brought and attach the adapter to fit the red/white plugs in the car. All that is a long way of saying, we can now listen to the iPod in the car. Having driven in Europe before, desperately searching for English language music, it is hugely important.

We checked out of our Bern hotel this morning and made the drive to Zurich. It was about an hour's drive, made a little longer by one rest stop. While we are used to seeing little stores, markets and restaurants at the stops along the interbahn, this was the first one we had seen that had a sex shop. Right immediately upon entering. Not sure how or why the Swiss choose to make those purchases while on the road, but more power to 'em.

We arrived in Zurich, and just had to park. I had been frustrated in Bern by seeing parking signs with a name I presumed was of a garage and a number of spaces available. You'd pass such a sign, then not see another directing you. Only after being fooled several times did I realize it was telling you how many street spaces were available in a parking district. Eventually we found a garage, carefully recording it's location, as we had some difficulty in Interlachen finding the garage we had parked at.

We did a combination of the Rick Steves and Frommers walking tours. Zurich is the most urban city we had been in so far. You could see the banking influence, and felt the residents were not quite as warm as we had found in other towns. The train station was a colossal building, quite impressive and unlike almost anything in the USA.

The highlight of the tour was probably the Fraumunster church, which houses several Chagall windows he designed late in life. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed, but here is what they look like.

Maybe the highlight really was the Sprungli Cafe. They feature “Luxembergerli” macaroons fashioned to look like hamburgers. They sell them in many flavors, we tried citron and chocolate. Yum!

One of the treats of Zurich is water fountains throughout the city. These are pretty, artistic ones, but featuring drinkable water that sometimes required some agility, but nevertheless refreshed you for free.

Late in the afternoon, we made the 45 minute drive from Zurich down to our next hotel in Luzern. We are staying in a quaint hotel named the Hotel Romantik. We walked across to the other side of the river for dinner at the Rathaus Brauerei, a brewery-restaurant. I had a pilsner beer and salmon, Ellen had a glass of wine and a salad. We then split a small chocolate gelato, walked around a bit, then headed back to the hotel.

Day 4: Rivers and Lakes

Interlachen means “between lakes.” It is the land between the Lake Thun and Lake Brienz in central Switzerland. We made a day trip out of a drive first to Thun, then to Interlaken.

Breakfast was in the hotel this morning, a rather standard European breakfast of cereals, croissants, bread, fruit, eggs, cheese and juice. It was served nicely on the 1^st floor of the hotel.

I had noticed the green water of the Aare River in Bern yesterday, and immediately recalled one other vacation where we saw green water. It was our trip to Alberta, and the reason for the green water was rock sediment scraped by glaciers. That was my first thought yesterday, and Ellen's research today confirmed the source of the Aare is glacier water. We saw the pretty green water all day in the lakes and rivers near Thun.

We enjoyed having the car today, as we headed towards Interlachen, but then decided to take in the quaint town of Thun along the way. After a brief stop there, we drove just along the southern edge of the lake, which gave great views of mountains and cottages built into the hills.

Interlachen is mainly a touristy town. We walked the main street, picking up a gift for Andrea (who probably isn't reading this, so the gift was a &*())^&%$*^%^). We saw dozens of paragliders in the air at one time, then walked to the park where they all landed (is that what you did, Tulasi?). There were great views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfaujoch mountains, with Jungfaujoch still snow covered. Lunch was from a grocery store in Interlachen.

We arrived back in Bern around 5pm. Dinner tonight was at the Rathskeller Restaurant, where Ellen had a peppercorn steak and I had perch on a bed of spinach. Both were delicious. We walked down to explore the train station because, well, Ellen likes train stations.

Tomorrow we are off to Zurich for the day, then to our next hotel in Lucerne.

Day 3: Out of Reverse

What a difference a cool room can make! We did much better on the sleeping at the Hotel Cornavin. It was right next to the train station, so we checked out, wheeled our luggage across the street and got the train to the airport to pick up our rental car. The train ride took about 7 minutes to the airport, the only stop on the line. Had we known how easy it was (and if we thought we'd have been able to locate our original hotel easily), it would have been much better to have taken the train originally.

We picked up some baked goods at a supermarket at the airport (why don't we have options like that back home), and then picked up the car. We had chosen a Mercedes A100 class car, but found that the “or similar model” got us a Renault Scenic 1.4. It's fine for our purposes, and had a trunk large enough to hold both of our suitcases.

We had bought a Garmin Nuvi 275t recently because we needed a GPS for the kids car, but wanted one that had European maps before. In prior driving vacations, we had frequently had problems finding our hotels in city centers, since maps often don't give that detail. So we plugged the GPS in, put in our hotel in Bern and away we went.

Beautiful drive between Geneva and Bern. We decided to stop around lunch in Fribourg. We parked near the church in the centre city. It was then that I realized that I hadn't quite figured out how to get the car in reverse. Most sticks it just requires pushing hard to the left, sometimes pushing down and to the left. This was no longer an idle curiosity, as I had parked in a space leaning downhill and directly behind another car. We took the manual out of the car, but it didn't seem that either the French or the German explained anything about reverse. Ellen was worried, but I was sure it would work itself out. Just wasn't sure how.

We took a quick walk through the church, then walked through the town. Since it was Sunday, not much was open. We found a creperie that was open, and enjoyed a pleasant lunch outside. Going back to the car, Ellen decided it might be better if she wasn't it while I figured out exactly how to get the car in reverse. This was a good decision for all parties involved. First hope going back to the car was that the car in front had moved. It hadn't. Playing with the gears awhile, it was clear that pushing left or pushing down then left still left the car in 1st gear. So there must be something else that does it. Careful examination brought my eyes to a black ring just below the gear shift knob. I found that pulling that knob up was the secret to moving the gearshift over to find reverse. Then hard on the gas while letting go of the clutch allowed me to back up uphill and get out of the space. When I pulled around the church to pick up Ellen, the first thing she did was look for damage on the front bumper. Psych!, there wasn't any!

We drove about ½ an hour to Bern. The GPS got a little confused with the small narrow streets when we approached the city centre, but driving in circles soon allowed us to drive through the square to the hotel street. It was a familiar feeling to not be sure if you were allowed to be driving in mainly pedestrian areas, but the GPS soon showed the finish flag and we pulled up. We are staying at the Hotel Savoy, just a block off the main square. We have a nice air conditioned room, and well, we've learned that that is all that really counts.

We soon headed out on a Rick Steves walking tour of the city. Bern is the capitol of Switzerland, so I was glad the tour included the parliament building. With any luck tomorrow, we'll take a tour. Here's me in front of the parliament building.

We saw the normal churches, towers, clocks and fountains of European cities. We also say the apartment house Einstein stayed in for two years. Bern is bear in German, and Ellen wanted to see the official Bern bears. We walked across the river just 15 minutes before their den closed and saw the dad bear who was beating on the door of his cage, unaware that the bear union had committed him to be on display until 5pm. Mom and 2 baby bears were on the other side of a fence, probably because of dad's temper.

Having been here 3 days now, we had adjusted enough that we were ready to start drinking again. So we had an afternoon cafe drink, that we love to have while in Europe. Why don't we do that in the US? I'd love to sit on a square in the sun for ½ an hour and have a beer every day!

We then walked back to the hotel, looking for a restaurant recommendation. Many restaurants in Bern are closed on Sunday. We got several recommendations from our hotelier, which was a good thing because the one she recommended most was closed on holiday for the weekend. So we dined outside at the restaurant of Hotel Bern instead. We had been told they specialized in traditional Swiss dishes. We both had veal, mine breaded and Ellen's in sauce. Both were delicious. Include a ½ litre of wine and chocolate mouse for dessert, and we were happy.

Day 2: No Longer Hot and Bothered

We had to make an adjustment immediately on this trip to save our sanity. While no a/c sounded bearable when we checked in, we didn't count on an all-night night scene outside the hotel. That gave us a choice of sweltering in silence or just being extremely hot but listening to voices, car horns, glass breaking and street fights. Needless to say, neither of us slept much at all, and we woke up realizing we needed to change hotels. Luckily, with a few clicks on Ellen's iPad, we had a room at the Hotel Cornavin a block away at about the same rate, with a/c but no internet. If you can't actually sleep at a hotel, then it really doesn't serve much purpose.

Determined to still make good use of our only full day in Geneva, we grabbed Frommers and headed out for a walking tour of the city. This took us over Lake Geneva for the first time to the Left Bank of the lake. One of the highlights of Geneva is the Jet d'Eau, the fountain sending a stream of water almost 500 feet into the air above the lake. You can see it from many points around the city, so it helps with navigation as well. The old city also had it's interesting points. In the USA, having a Washington slept here sign shows off older towns. Here in Geneva, the Tour de I'lle has a sign commemorating a visit by Caeser in 58 BCE. Has Washington beat by a bit.

We had a sandwich and salad for lunch at a little shop near the Hotel de Ville. That sustained us for a walk of over a mile to the United Nations Palais des nations. Originally the home to the League of Nations, it now serves as the European home for several UN issues, including human rights and weapons non-proliferation. We took the one hour tour, and enjoyed seeing the meeting rooms and hearing the history. Ellen gave quite the press conference as you can see.

We used the Geneva Transport Card provided free by hotels to take a bus back to the train station near the center of the city. I then decided it was time to look for a watch. We visited the Bucherer store near us, but were told that only the other shop handled Tissot watches. The salesman said we had 35 minutes to make the 10 minute walk to the other store and make a purchase before it closed. This walk took us again across the lake to the Left Bank. I picked out a watch and bought it, happy with the purchase and that the store took care of all the VAT refund paperwork.

We tried to find a restaurant recommended by Frommers, but found for a second time that their map of restaurant locations was not created with navigation in mind. After wandering to and fro, we had tested the endurance of Ellen's feet and patience. We stopped for directions at our old hotel (shhh, we didn't think the night clerk wound know!). Armed with a city map and a pen line to follow, we made it to the restaurant, only to find that it was closed on weekends. We then decided to find the closest decent looking place, plopping down at an Italian restaurant, Au Petit-Chalet. We both had pasta and enjoyed the food and not walking for a bit.

Back at our chilled new hotel, we found that they wanted 20 Swiss francs (almost $20) for a day of internet access, to which we replied, “I don't think so.” So this blog entry will keep on the netbook until the next time we are connected.

Tomorrow (Sunday), we pick up our rental car and head to Berne.

Day 1: Getting Started

Our Switzerland vacation is underway! Today was a travel day, so no pretty pictures or anything very interesting to report.

Thanks to profligate spending by all members of the family on our American Express account, we flew from Dulles to Paris business class. As much as we appreciated the reclining bed seats and better service, it was access to the clubs that really paid off. We got to Dulles a little early (surprised?) so instead of buying a burger or other airport food, we had little french sandwiches, fresh fruit and Perrier.

Our flight to Paris was a 10pm departure, which we liked better than the normal 6:30-7:00pm flights. It meant we ate before boarding, so once we we took off, we skipped the dinner and tried to get to sleep right away. Speaking of boarding, don't know if it was unique to this flight or to Air France in general, but it was a tad bizarre. They announced pre-boarding of "babies and the disabled," then made no more announcements. People started lining up and boarding, so we eventually got in line.

Ellen slept pretty well, but was troubled by a recent cold that made for congestion and ear pressure on the flight. I had trouble falling asleep, resorting to watching 1/2 an hour of "The Bachelorette" on my iPod to put me to sleep (an admitted guilty pleasure). Brief ad for the Tivo Premiere, I love being able to move content off the Tivo using free iTivo software that not only transfers the content so that it is iPod ready, but also strips out commercials!

We landed in Paris around 11:45am local time.  We had a little over 3 hours for our connecting flight to Geneva.  We took advantage of our previous business class status to use the Air France Club at Charles de Gaulle Airport.  That got us again free food, drink and internet access.  And what could be more important than being able to check into the airport on Foursquare?  That is a rhetorical question, by the way.  It was while at the airport club that we got the news of the great MoCo earthquake.  I've lived a solid 34 years in Montgomery County and never have I even considered the possibility of an earthquake.  Ben says he was shaken awake by it in Bethesda, which is kinda cool, considering that no damage seems to have been done anywhere.

Only a one hour flight from Paris to Geneva.  Too exhausted to contemplate figuring out public transport, we jumped into a cab for the 20 minute  drive to the hotel.  We are staying at the Hotel Strasbourg Geneve, which is what we will call it instead of referring to the fact that it is part of the Best Western chain.  It is a block from the train station, maybe 3-4 blocks to Lake Geneva.  It's only downside is that it doesn't have air conditioning, and of course we arrived to record heat.  Normal high should be in the 70's, it was 92 today.  It is supposed to cool off, and we are only here for 2 nights.

After a brief rest and reading period, we used Fodor's to pick an "inexpensive" restuarant. We ate at Jeck's Place, and had a delicious meal.  Ellen started with dumplings, I had a spring roll, and we shared a beef in ginger and onions main dish.  We dined outside, since the restaurant wasn't air conditioned anyway.  In the shade it was comfortable.  Getting used to how expensive everything is in Switzerland is a good idea, because that's how it's gonna be.

After dinner, we walked down by the lake and got a sense of what the waterfront looks like.  Fancy, expensive (and air conditioned!) hotels line the shore on our side, and buildings with watch manufacturer names line the other (not sure what is actually in those buildings yet).  Seeing all the watch stores all over town, I'm all of a sudden thinking my souvenir from this trip is going to be a watch and not a swiss army knife.  Who needs a knife?

Back in the hotel now, waiting hopefully for a cool down sometime soon.  Tomorrow is our one full day of sightseeing in Geneva, we then pick up the car on Sunday and start our driving tour of Switzerland.  Promising pictures from here on out.

Anyone traveled previously in Switzerland and have any recommendations on things to do?