Not wanting to go on holiday abroad this summer and preferring to go off-season, my cousin and I decided to spend an extended weekend in Switzerland, especially in Geneva.
We plan to leave from Saturday 9 to Monday 11 July 2022.
We took the train at Gare de Lyon on Saturday 9 July at 10:17 am and arrived in Geneva at 1:29 pm.
Day 1
ur hotel was located a 5-minute walk from the Gare de Genève, which was convenient.
We were very well received at the Hotel Auteuil Manotel, a 4-star hotel. The room was ready and accessible before check-in time, which allowed us to enjoy the day longer. The hotel is very nicely decorated and very chic, we even got free transport cards allowing us to take the bus and tram in the city.
After checking in, we went to eat at La Casa Nostra. I had artichoke cream penne and a Bellini and my cousin ordered salmon linguines and a Tiziano. The waiter who took care of us was really special, he was trying to make jokes but it didn’t fit the character at all because he wasn’t smiling at all, it was very weird.
After lunch, we walked around the city.
We entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Geneva to take several pictures.
We continued our walk through the city until we reached the Place du Molard.
After our walk on the Place du Molard, we landed on the Place de la Madeleine, and its beautiful cathedral, where we bought some delicious bubble tea to refresh ourselves a bit by the stifling heat.
We then went for a drink at La Potinière before returning not far from the hotel to eat a fondue at Pipo’s Café.
Day 2
Pour la première fois depuis que nous voyageons ensemble, ma cousine et moi nous sommes accordées une grasse matinée. Nous étions vraiment fatiguées, c'était donc amplement mérité, d'autant que la fondue de samedi nous a donné mal au ventre.
Nous avons donc quitté la chambre vers 12h et sommes directement allées déjeuner plutôt que de prendre un brunch comme nous souhaitions le faire. Nous avons quand même d'abord joué les stars au bord du Lac Léman avant de nous diriger vers le Café du Centre, rare restaurant français aux alentours (il y a énormément de restaurants italiens ici).
J'ai pris un risotto aux chanterelles, un délice, et ma cousine des crevettes.
L'assiette de ma cousine semblait tout droit sortir d'un restaurant gastronomique de par la quantité du plat (4 crevettes et de la verdure pour décorer) et la façon dont il était présenté.
Elle avait le choix entre la version entrée ou la version plat mais la version plat qu'elle a choisi ressemblait grandement à une entrée, de plus, le plat du plat était particulièrement élevé pour la quantité. Il fat dire que la Suisse est un pays pratiquant des prix très élevés, mais dans ce cas-là, nous avons trouvé que ce n'était pas du tout justifié.
For the first time since we’ve been traveling together, my cousin and I have had a lie in. We were really tired, so it was well deserved, especially since Saturday’s fondue gave us a stomach ache.
So we left the room around noon and went straight to lunch instead of having brunch as we wanted to do. After that, we first played the stars on the shores of Lake Geneva before heading to the Café du Centre, a rare French restaurant in the area (there are a lot of Italian restaurants here).
I had a chanterelle risotto, a delight, and my cousin shrimp.
My cousin’s plate seemed right out of a gourmet restaurant by the amount of the dish (4 shrimps and greens to decorate) and the way it was presented.
She had the choice between the starter version or the main course version, but the main course version she chose looked very much like a starter, and the price was particularly high for the quantity. They say that Switzerland is a country with very high prices, but in this case we found that it was not justified at all.
After a plentiful meal for me but not at all for my cousin, we went to the Jet d’eau de Genève, a real tourist attraction of Geneva, 140 m high and built in 1891.
We then went for a walk on Lake Geneva, it was nice but not transcendent.
After the walk on the lake, we took the bus to see the Palais des Nations, the European headquarters of the UN where the aisle of the flags of the Palace is located.
We thought we were in the right place but we couldn’t find the Palais des Nations, so we wanted to take the bus back home. The bus driver was as friendly as a prison door. We waited at the terminal, foolishly thinking he was taking a break, so we didn’t want to get close to the bus right away. When we saw him turning on his headlights, we approached him and waited for him to open the doors. He made an exasperated gesture saying, “What are you waiting for to come up?” and then opened the doors and told us that we had to press the button to open them. My cousin told him that we were not from the area and that we didn’t know it didn’t work that way and that he could be nicer. He replied that it was the same everywhere and I told him that no, in France, it didn’t work like that.
Through the windows of the bus, we saw the Broken Chair and so we got off and saw that the Palais des Nations was just behind.
As I said earlier, just in front of the building you can also see the Broken Chair, a 10-meter-high chair with a torn foot. The aim of the 1997 chair was to secure as many States as possible to sign the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines.
We then took the bus back and had a drink in the city centre.
For dinner in the evening, we had food and drink delivered directly to our room.
Day 3
For this last day in Geneva, we strolled around the city and had a few drinks on the terrace.
After a last drink, we went to pick up our suitcases at the hotel and took the train at 4:29 pm and arrived in Paris at 7:51 pm.
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