Switzerland - Geneva & Lutry

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Switzerland - Geneva & Lutry, July 2-5

The kind proprietors of our AirBnB in Geneva, Jean-Philippe & Xuong, were most understanding about our late arrival, due to having to change planes in Vienna. We didn't get to the Geneva airport until after 10 pm. Fortunately, they had told us about the free train ticket that tourists can get in the baggage area. This gives you a seven-minute ride to Geneva Centre, and that in turn was only three blocks from the apartment - very convenient. At 11:30 pm J-P & X gave us a snack and a quick tutorial on Switzerland along with advice for catching our boat the next morning. Great hosts! So far, experiences with AirBnB have been positive. Hosts advertise their apartments or rooms online, and you arrange your stay with them through the central website. The customer and host feedback keeps things honest.

On the 3rd we caught the CNG paddle wheel boat from Geneva to Lutry, about a three-hour slow voyage. It was fun to have a different mode of travel, given good weather, and we could take in the view: mountains on one side of the lake and terraced vineyards on the other. Many thanks to Daina, who spent a semester in Lausanne, for suggesting we spend some time here! Our hotel in Lutry, Le Bourg 7, was just a short walk from the dock, a cute little inn with just a few rooms, located in the old, cobblestoned part of the town, just across the lane from the temple.

With bad weather predicted soon we were eager to get out and walk through the vineyards as soon as possible, so we made a (poor) quick decision to get to neighboring Cully by taxi and from there to take a little scenic tram ride up into the hills and hike down. The cost for the ten-minute ride was about $30, and we realized afterward that the train went to the same place and would have been free given our Swiss Rail pass! The joys of clueless traveling. From then on things got better, since the tram ride was fun and the scenery couldn't have been better. Grape vines cover every square inch of available land, it seems, and they are carefully tended in neat rows and sectioned off by stone walls into small, irregular terraces that cover the whole hillside north of Lake Geneva. The sun was hot, good for grapes(!), and I was feeling the effects of two short nights, but I could still appreciate the special nature of this place.

Culture shock: Swiss food prices. We had been warned! We had made a reservation for lunch on the boat, but when we saw that it was going to cost $60 each, we decided to make do with $7 sandwiches instead! The lowest price we saw for restaurant dinners was about $25, and $60 or $70 is more typical. Even the McDonalds we saw in Lausanne charged $13 for a hamburger. On our first night in Lutry we managed with a crepe take-out place right on the lake shore. Our meal there with a very generous salad came to about $25 for two, so we felt pretty lucky, and you couldn't beat the view! We splurged on a more complete meal the next night at the Cafe de Riex, duck in a wine sauce with chanterelle and smoked fish appetizers. That was on the Fourth of July and was appropriately accompanied by fireworks (a booming thunderstorm).

Perhaps my favorite activity here was our early morning hike up above Lutry early on the morning of the fourth. It was cool and cloudy, with lots of bird activity and few people around. We followed little meandering paths including one which dead-ended at a recent mudslide! More vineyards, more lake/mountain views. I could get used to that! After our breakfast, Wayne downloaded and led us on a historic walking tour of Lutry.

The afternoon of the fourth was spent in Lausanne, most of it in the company of a guide named Sylvie who took us all around the old part of the city. Our favorite part was the cathedral de Notre Dame with the largest pipe organ in Switzerland. Lucky for us, the organist was rehearsing. Although it was not our favorite type of music (something modern and dissonant), it nicely showed off the power of the organ!

One of the most photographed attractions in Switzerland is the Chateau de Chillon on a tiny rock island at the eastern end of the lake. Built in the 11th or 12th century and following, it is a fascinating place to visit, especially the nasty dungeon in the cellar! We stopped in on our last morning in the area and tried to restrain ourselves from taking hundreds of photos, but it was tempting. I also liked the cookbook dated 1420 calling for 100 oxen and 130 sheep!

Now on to Zermatt..

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