Friday, July 18, 1980
Awoke at about 06:30 and
arrived in Geneva
about 07:00, 06:00 local time. All of Europe seems to be on the same daylight
savings time except Switzerland.
Found an almost immediate connection to Lausanne,
and from there another train going down around Lac Leman. We got off at Aigle
at about 08:00. We first ate a breakfast of tuna fish sandwiches, and then wrote
postcards. At about 09:00 we went to the post office and I called the Home de
Readaptation where I had an informal job interview. Mary P invited us up to
spend the day and had a maroon Volkswagen bus sent down to pick us up from the
station. A French-Swiss guy named Serge was our driver and he was accompanied
by the French-only speaking Anna. We took a narrow winding road up and up and
up the mountain with the misty but spectacular view all around. There were real
Swiss chalets with wooden carved facades and geraniums in window boxes. We
stopped at an especially big one called Chalet Bellevue. Here we met Mary P who offered us first use of the bathroom. I took a shower first, and while
Terry and Kathy got cleaned up I was given a tour of the Home -- a residential
facility for up to 15 kids with an elevator and accessible bathrooms. There was
a heated outdoor swimming pool, rooms for the staff, and a couple classrooms.
Then it was time for lunch and places were set for us, too. We had boiled
potatoes, salad and cheese, and then ice cream and peaches for dessert. I then
had a talk with Mrs. P about the specifics of the job, and it was left
that I call her with my final decision in mid-August.
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| View from Chalet Bellevue |
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| Swiss chalet in Huemoz |
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| Postcard of a Swiss chalet |
We then took a short walk
through the town of Huemoz, and caught the bus back
to Aigle in time for the 15:16 train to Geneva.
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| Bus ticket from Huemoz to Aigle |
In
Geneva we checked our bags in a locker and took a walk. We saw the Jet d’Eau and many watch shops. We walked a bit through the old part of town with its exclusive shops and galleries.
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| Floral clock in Geneva |
We found a restaurant where in the cellar we had a
Swiss specialty -- raclettes -- a dish of melted cheese with a tiny boiled
potato, and a side dish of pickled onions and gherkins. We weren't sure how to
eat it so we just dipped everything into the cheese. We also shared a Swiss
cheese fondue, dipping in pieces of bread. We were quite stuffed when finished,
but after a brisk walk to the edge of the lake we decided to splurge on big ice
creams at an outdoor cafe. I had a banana split, Kathy had a chocolate sundae
called a Denmark,
and Terry had a Jacques, a fruit cocktail with sherbets. We wandered back to
the station looking for water supplies, since we were low, but found nothing.
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| Map of Geneva |
We went up through customs to await our train and found one sitting there that
should have been long gone. It left for Spain an hour late. The next train
also came in late, and we decided to board it for Marseilles. It left at least 15 minutes late
at about 22:00. We had a compartment to ourselves part of the way, but were then
joined by an Algerian couple who managed to take up more than half the
compartment. The lady slept most of the trip while it seemed her husband ate a
feast. He had a napkin on his lap and food spread across his half share of the
bench. Early in the morning he decided to sleep but tried to keep his feet on
my lap despite my pushing them away. I finally decided to move across to the other
seat, so he "woke" up!
Next: Avignon.
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