Geneva_2026

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Lac Léman and Geneva, 2026

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It's been some time, but today was a transition day to Montreux, Switzerland. The train route took me back through (infamous) Vallorcine and the spectacular ride.

Montreux is an upscale town on the east end of Lac Léman. (Geneva is on the west end.) The town has a slight French Riviera feeling with beautifully manicured trees, flowerbeds, and multi-story elegant townhomes. My room looks west out over the lake.

I walked about 30 minutes to the Chillon Castle situated on a small rock island in the lake. I'd had fond memories of the place when the family toured Europe circa 1972. Since then, there have been significant renovations completed, furniture added, and descriptions in both French and English placed on a maze path through the rooms and narrow passages. This the most visited historical place in Switzerland. It's location is on the Via Francigena - an important Middle Ages trading route. It was first built in the 13th century and then expanded over time. In the 19th century it was recognized as an important Swiss heritage with excavations and renovations taking place ever since. It has a connection to Martigny, Chamonix, and northwest Italy as all this area was controlled by the Savoy for several hundred years. This castle was a key place for collecting taxes and in return the roads were kept maintaind and travelers safe.

The walk to and from the castle from Montreux took me along the lake. It's a beautiful walk with spring flowers, interesting sculptures, joggers, kids in strollers, and expansive views of the lake and snow covered peaks. Virtually everyone I encountered were locals or Swiss tourists.

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I'm glad I chose a hotel near the train station. I arrived there this morning but was unable to activite the ticket through the Eurail app because my Mint Mobile service couldn't connect to the local cell service. Mint Mobile and the Swiss cell service have not played well with each other. I walked by to the hotel to use the Wifi then all was fine - sort of. The service dropped several more times during my explorations today but fortunately it rectified itself.

Once in off the train in Lausanne, I wandered toward the water looking for a patisserier/coffee shop. Once I settled on one (there were many), I managed to order using my poor French. Sadly, or maybe for the best, the clerk spoke to me in English; the French clerk spoke English and the English guy (me) spoke French - bizarre.

I managed to fill my water bottle a couple of times through the day at public fountains. The fountains were easier to find than a bathroom. I paid to use a bathroom.

I enjoyed the exibits at the Musée de l'Eysée. There were three visual shows. The first was the works of a photographer/writer, Ella Maillart, who traveled Asia between 1930-35 capturing sepia images in Mongolia, China, and Japan. The second was an award winning photojournalist, Luc Delahaye, who produced digital composite works. This was quite fascinating. He effectively became a painter where instead of a brush he created powerful images telling a story from bits of many photographs using digital technology. I found it compelling. The third show used video to explore the servitude of creating today's media technology. The message being to free yourself from it.

I found the old city of Lausanne to be very hilly with steep ups and downs. I enjoyed someone practicing the pipe organ in the Lausanne Cathedral. My, those pipes fill the church with sound! Especially the bass notes - wooboy! I eventually made it to the Sauvabelin Tower. It's a wooden tower about 100 meters high affording a wonderful view of the city, the lake, and the mountains.

A gentleman named Rudy arrived at the top of the tower and immediately wanted to share his pleasure of the views. He spoke to me in French then switched to excellent English when I couldn't respond. Turns out in 1987 he and his wife spent time in Provo, Utah, training to be missionaries. He did two years of missionary work in Montreal, Canada. He is a very outgoing gregarious Swiss man.

Once back in Montreux, I enjoyed watching the light from the setting sun on the building, art works, and people strolling along the lake walk.

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Laying in bed at the wee hours of the morning I could hear what I thought was thunder. That seemed far fetched given my location didn't seem conducive to thunderheads. But there was this distinctly rolling deep pounding sound reminiscent of thunder. It kept going on and on which was also a red flag.

When the morning light started to fill the room with a gentle grey light I rose at looked out the wind toward Lac Léman. Ah, the source of the sound was revealed. Last night I looked out upon a lake of gentle water with waves that barely shimmered in the light of the setting sun. At the time I marveled at its calmness and contemplated the quiescences. But this morning the lake had become a roaring turmoil of waves akin to two young siblings sinking ships in the bathtub creating waves that drenched the bathroom floor. The pounding thunder were those waves hitting the 'lake wall'. And 'but'! It was raining. Arrrgh, my walk was short to the train station, yet I would be exposed to it and I didn't pack a jacket for rain. I had flash backs to Lake Como where I become very wet making my way to the ferry.

There was no rush this morning. The day was only meant to travel the 1-1/2 hour transfer from Montreux to Geneva by train. So I enjoyed a delcious fruit patisserie and coffee at the shop next door. Then with bags packed, I watched for a sign the rain had let up some. The walk to the train station went relatively dryly benefited by the light rain and scattered cover along the route. I let several trains pass to avoid getting to Geneva too early. Once there, I found a bus and squeezed onboard with my bulky backpack and skis struggling not to be too much of a nuisance to the regulars. The hostel wouldn't let me check in until 3PM, but I was able to relax in the community room and catch up on things - like writing the blog.

Despite a heavy drizzle, I borrowed a broken umbrella from the hostel and made my way on the bus system to see the Patek Pilippe Museum. Patek Pilippe is a Swiss maker of fine mechanical watches. I was a bit dumbfounded when I discovered a queue to go in that reached around the corner of the building. I stepped into it. Then I looked at what else in the area I'd marked in Google Maps as a place to visit and saw that within two blocks was the Musée d'ethnographie. Hmmm, do I stand in this line in a drizzle to see products of jewelery that I have no intention of buying at a cost of $15CHF. Products that are a marvel of engineering and craftsmanship yet more status symbols than of any real usefulness. So I stepped out of the queue and walked the two blocks to the museum.

Only as I write this do I see some irony and parallelism between the two museums. The Ethnographic museum was filled with cultural artificats. There is no reason the Patek Pilippe watches couldn't someday be in this museum reflecting a cultural item of this society.

The free museum was only on one floor of a new modern building. Surrounding buildings must contain many other objects for storage and study. There were three things that stood out for me. There were examples of simple stick shapes used to aid Polynesians in their navigation of the southwest Pacific. These are a far cry from the phone I held in my pocket with GPS capability, yet those people traveled very long distance on the open ocean. The second thing were art pieces made from 'ghost' nets - lost fishing nets and related debris. The third thing was an exhibit of 12 ~5 minute long videos each of individuals explaining the importance to them of some artifact in the museum. The artifact was placed next to the video viewing area. The point was that museum artifacts are more than relics, they have a story, someone has/had a memory of the item, someone used the artifact, it has/had meaning to someone. The individuals stories often felt clumsy, rambling, and inconsistent. Still I found myself moved by why these artifacts resonnated with them and were important to them. It was an exhibit seeking to open the viewer to diversity and understanding of different cultures. This exhibit felt at home in a city we often hear about in connection with negotiations between peoples to settle disputes.

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I awoke before my two other roommates. I went out in search of coffee. Being Sunday many places that looked enticing were closed. I found one about a 15 minute walk away. The neighborhood I traveled through was full of 5+ story condos. It turned out to be a chain based on a place for people focused on betting. Two elder men order coffees and chatted. Two others came in and one played a lotto type machine. I had an espresso leaving feeling a little unsatiated.

My next mission was to make my way to CERN. CERN is the acronym for the French name 'Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire'. It was founded in 1954 with the objective to study nuclear physics. It has been expanded to study particle physics. In that pursuit, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built northeast of Geneva and started operating in 2008. It is the most powerful particle accelerator in the world accelerating protons to 99.999999999% of the speed of light in a ring underground and 27km in circumference. The two opposing beams of protons are collided at four different types of detectors around the ring. And like two cars crashing headon, the crash debris generated is studied to better understand just what matter is comprised of. One can arrange for guided tours. I elected to visit the exhibitions and listen to an hour long presentation. Both were magnificantly informative and entertaining. I spent four hours there.

The grocery stores were closed as were many of the restaurants. I found a pizza place that turned out to be reasonably priced, fast, and delicious. The food scene in Geneva from what I've seen thus far could use with something. Burger King and McDonalds look popular and seem to be setting the standard. I'll keep looking...

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I found one! A coffee shop that suited my tastes for the flavor of coffee and the ambiance, Oh Maritine north and immediately adjacent to the Geneva Cornavin train station. It is colorful, lively, and well attended without feeling crowded.

And so began a day where I discovered the other half of the city.

As I walked from the hostel to the coffee shop this morning, I was forming the impression that Geneva is Switzerland's equivalent of Marseille, France; a city with much of the population struggling financially and loads of graffiti. That remain true for me, but after I crossed under the railroad tracks at the Geneva Cornavin station a new city emerged to me.

I first visited the Musée d'histoire des Sciences. It's a small two story building once the center for studying near earth celestial bodies and time. It now houses a beautiful collection of historical instruments used to measure our physical world. It stands in contrast to CERN I visited yesterday with the most modern instruments. I loved the craftsmanship and seeing the tools that helped expand man's knowledge.

I made my out to the end of Jetée de Pâquis. Then I enjoyed the watercolors of Robert Hainard at the Quatier Libra SIG on an island in the Rhone river. Many of his works were inspired by moonlight focusing on the fauna along the Rhone.

Then I discovered the haute (high end) section of Geneva and the old portion of the city with it's myriad of small roads going up and down through old stone buildings. I'm looking forward to exploring this portion of the city more.

I spent time sitting in the Cathedral of Saint Pierre Geneva and reflecting on this trip. I return to the U.S. in less than 48 hours. I'm ambivalent about it. There is the expression that 'home is where the heart is'. It's been some time since I've had 'heart' which is perhaps why I find myself adrift exploring the world.

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I tried another coffee shop this morning - it was ok though not someplace to repeat.

I walked the 1-1/4 miles to the Ariana museum known for it's collection of porcelain spanning a few hundred years. The museum is housed in a beautiful building. The history of porcelain is given with extra information on Swiss porcelain. The story complimented what I'd learned when in Munich.

The museum is located next to the United Nations facilities in Geneva. There are also a number of foreign offices in the area along with the Red Cross offices and museum.

After a 20 minute bus ride I arrived back in the older section of Geneva and found my way to the Art and History Museum of Geneva. It's collection of art and archeological artifacts centering on Geneva.

Just a short distance from that museum I found a place for a crepe. It was one of the few things on my list of food items to experience. Créperie Saint-Pierre is right next to the cathedral of the same name. It's a tiny place that oozes charm and a pleasant selection of sweet and savory crepes. I enjoyed simple French exchanges with the cook/proprietor. I found the meal a lovely way to say good bye to Geneva, Switzerland, and Europe.