We headed into Geneva to look at the old town. There were lots of shops with electric trams flying past. It had a very similar feel to the old towns of Luzern and Annecy which suggests that they were established at a similar time. It is great that these places have been retained as they are a beautiful piece of history. Geneva’s main icon is the water fountain. Set up in 1891, it fires an impressive 500 l/s of water to a maximum height of 140 m in the air. It is estimated that there is a total of 7 tons of water in the air at one time! Will and I bought Switzerland tee-shirts and a flag.
We discovered that it was easy enough to get into Geneva, but getting out proved to be difficult, even with a map. We eventually escaped Geneva’s clutches (after a good half an hour) and found our way back on the road we came in on, but we took another wrong turn and started heading towards Annecy. We managed to avoid the toll road, but got lost and then stuck in a traffic jam coming into Annecy. Just when we were about to scream some nasty swear words, we stumbled across a road we recognised and we were on our way home. These are the two hours I would most like to forget in my life…
We stopped in to the E.Leclerc (a local supermarket) and finally found what Lou had been looking for since she left Tahiti – a Pierrade Raclette, a form of stone grill with little containers to melt cheese in. We came home and decided that, after what we’d been through, we’d have an evening swim in the pool and enjoy a nice meal on the new Raclette with a bottle of wine.