Last Day: Back in London

After getting all of our stuff together in Geneva, Remy, Brian and I went to an amazing Italian place for lunch and each enjoyed an individual pizza that was as authentic as it gets, outside of Italy. We then headed into downtown Geneva and hung out at Le Brassiere across the street from the train station for an hour, until my train to Paris departed at 4:16 pm. Brian and Remy left to hang out by the lake for the afternoon before Brian's night train to Venice.

The train ride through southern France was unbelievable. Every curve brought a staggering new view of tree-lined mountains juxtaposed to deadly precipices of sheer rock.

Once in Paris, I had to quickly find a subway line that would take me from Gare Lyon ("Station Lyon") to Gare du Nord (the station where my Paris to London train left just 75 minutes later). I made it, without much time to spare, and boarded my train to London after going through a surprisingly detailed customs exercise with the U.K. authorities in the Gare du Nord station.

The train ride to London was rather dull, especially in comparison to my prior scenic excursion to Paris. Whereas Geneva-Paris offered breathtaking vistas, Paris-London offered a rag-tag family coming back from "holiday" and the ear-popping joys of passing through the Chunnel. Having had 2.5 hours to think it over, I decided that British accents make people sound like they're whining, whereas French accents make people sound like they're educated. (Sorry to any Brits reading this).

Once in London I hopped the Picadilly line several stops from St. Pancras (where my train arrived) to Earl's Court, where I made a reservation at the local easyHotel. I had heard about the "pod-like" nature of the EasyHotel business model on CBS's "Sunday Morning", or something of the like, so I figured I would give it a try. It is actually quite nice - albeit small. It is brand new and offers everything you need to stay the night, only in minimalist version. I would recommend to anyone traveling on a budget, though their locations are limited: EasyHotel.



My flight back to the states is tomorrow at 7:30 am, so I will be signing off now. I have enjoyed keeping the blog of Brian and I's trip and I hope those of you who have read some of it have enjoyed it as well. It was an extraordinary experience.

Geneva: Day 3

For our third day in Switzerland, Brian and I hung out around Geneva, tasted the local food, checked out the main shopping streets (watches everywhere), and relaxed lakeside. Remy met us after work near the Geneva train station and we went out for dinner at a fondue restaurant to celebrate our last night of this leg of the trip.

I leave for London via Paris on the afternoon of the 19th, Brian will take an overnight train to Venice via Bologna the same night.

Switzerland/Southern France - Day 2

After heading to the grocery store and the boulangerie (bakery) for some breakfast croissants, quiches and lunch supplies, the three of us drove up to a lookout spot about 1/3 of the way up the local mountain for breakfast. Then we drove to Annecy, France (about 30 minutes away) and spent the day walking around the scenic Lake Annecy in the Alps. Annecy is reputed to be among the most beautiful places in the world - and it didn't disappoint.


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View from breakfast:





Annecy:

















For Adrien:

Geneva, Switzerland

After taking a 7-hour train ride from Amsterdam to Basel, Germany, and another 2.5 hour train from Basel to Geneva, Switzerland, we have made it to St. Genis-Pouilly, France (outside of Geneva) where we are staying with Brian's friend Jeremy, a PhD student from Boston University who is living in Geneva to do research at the world's largest particle accelerator.


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Amsterdam, Netherlands

We got up early this morning in Brussels, packed our bags and headed down to the town square for a Belgian Waffle breakfast. I ordered mine with ice cream and chocolate sauce (apparently not as unusual as it sounds). It was delicious.

We then made our way to the Brussels subway to get back to the Midi Station in order to catch a train to Amsterdam. We met some people from Australia on the way, heading to Paris, and struggled along with them to find the train station in the city center, which was largely unmarked and underground.

We are staying in Amsterdam just for one night. We just a sub-par dinner at a little restaurant near one of the many canals that make up the city. Then we headed to an Internet-cafe to check back into the real world for a few minutes (we no longer have the luxury of Adrien's wireless apartment).

Tomorrow morning we are booked on an 8 am train to the border between Germany and Switzerland, but we were unable to book a second train to Geneva, as of yet. Once we get to the border (Basel, Germany) we should be able to get another train and make our way to Geneva to meet up with Brian's friend, Jeremy, who has been living in Geneva for a couple of months and is studying advanced physics at a particle accelerator.

With all of its canals and historic buildings, Amsterdam has the potential to be a beautiful city, populated by a remarkable number of bicyclers; however, the excessively liberal Netherlands laws regarding narcotics and prostitution attract a notably unattractive clientel. All in all, Amsterdam is a beautiful place to visit, but not to make a home.

Tomorrow will be our longest day of train traveling. Once in Geneva, we will have two fulls days (17th and 18th) before I head for London on the 19th for my return flight on the 20th, and Brian heads for Italy on the 20th.


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Brussels, Belgium

We left for Amsterdam on the 14th and decided to say in Brussels, Belgium for the night, where we had to switch trains. Brussels was not too impressive - rather rundown and dirty, but the center square was magnificent. We walked around the city quite a bit at night and enjoyed dinner right on the 16th century square, which was populated by quite a crowd all night long because they are having a festival that features hundreds of thousands of tulips laid out in a pattern in the center of the square.

We stayed at the Van Gogh Youth Hostel in Brussels which was not too bad, but we had to share the room with two French guys, a German guy and a Turkish guy, who were all a bit odd.


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Paris Day 5 (Last Day in Paris): The Catacombs & Notre Dame

On our last day in Paris, we went to the Catacombs and took a tour of Notre Dame. Later that night we went out for a crepe dinner with Adrien, and then took one last late-night walk around the city.

The Catacombs:







Inside Notre Dame: