Grand Lyon Vélo

Already prior to leaving for Lyon we read about their city bike system. So we were looking forward to trying it for ourselves and finding out if it worked as well as it sounded like it would. We hadn't been on the city for long before seeing the first city bike station.


The system is clearly used quite a lot. We saw a lot of people biking around the city on the easily recognizable city bikes, and some stations were even prone to being "sold out".


The terminals were able to direct you to the nearest stations with available bikes, and the stations were fairly close (at least in the parts of the city we visited).


We managed to get two one-week subscriber cards and to rent two bikes (despite the terminal switching from English to French halfway through the transaction - boooooohh!) which allowed to cover some more ground on our Sunday in Lyon. The bikes themselves were pretty good - they were a little heavy (sturdily built), 3 speed, front basket, lock, and lights front and back (apparently induction powered). We ended up paying 8 Euro per bike, which could have been less if we had been better at returning the bikes to the system when we stopped for longer times around town. Forgetting for a moment the inability of the system to communicate properly in English, we have to declare ourselves very satisfied customers.

Lyon

It couldn't wait any longer now - we had to go and experience a real slice of France, rather than this silliness of just biking a few miles across the border and back. We decided on Lyon, conveniently reached in a couple of hours from Geneva by TGV (and this without the train going at top speed as far as we could tell).


After a weekend of fantastic weather we couldn't have been happier about our choice: Lyon is beautifully located where the rivers Saône and Rhône join forces (this seems to be a recurring theme) and offers surprisingly many sights, brilliantly landscaped recreational areas - particularly along the river, a system of city bikes far superior to that found in Copenhagen, several lovely neighbourhoods (not least of which the old town), and impressive murals. Overmore, Lyon is considered the gastronomical capital of France.

It seems the old romans rather liked this place too...

Low water in the Arve

Earlier this fall when the news told of torrential downpours in central Europe some concerned readers asked us if we had any problems with the water level in the river right outside our front door. We therefore had to remind these readers that the Arve is mostly a glacial stream and thus the water level is generally lower in the fall. The mentioned downpours primarily served to delay the day when we could see how low the water could be. In fact there are practically beaches along long stretches of the river.

Cruising the Rhône

While wandering around Geneva with Lisbeth's mother we happened to pass the quay where one can take a boat trip on the Rhône - and we decided to try that some other time. We got the chance already one week later, and took it.

Almost immediately after starting we had to pass a lock - conveniently located close to the old pumping station (a building which particularly Lisbeth enjoys beholding). After that the cruise went for a bout an hour in at a leisurely pace to the dam at Verbois. On the way we could enjoy the beginning fall colours on the trees along the river, the odd comment by the guide over the boat's speaker system, a number of bridges (of as many types), and from time to time a view of the Jura in the background. The latter were especially nice since we were so lucky to make the trip on the first (and, as it would turn out, only) weekend in October with snow in the Jura mountains.

Of course it was also possible to purchase a range of beverages and snacks on board, but we were perfectly happy to get by with the "Salt Bombs" (little balls of black licorice rolled in a mix of sugar and ammonium chloride) we had brought along ourselves.

Coco Bay

The many mountains surrounding Montreux have a tendency to shield the place from winds and weather. Therefore Montreux enjoys a micro-climate which is warmer than in Geneva. The palm trees are just a tad closer to each other and there are just more different flowers along the shores of the lake here. Despite this we do find it a bit on the optimistic side to call a residence here for Coco Bay - but we are all in favour of the port-hole equipped mailbox belonging to said property.

Birthday Trip

On the day when it was actually Lisbeth's birthday we started out by eating omelette and opening presents. Afterwards we took the train to the other end of Lake Geneva to spend the day in and around the city Montreux.


The landscape around Montreux is a fair bit more impressive than around Geneva. Not least due to the way the mountains come much closer to the lake on either side. We walked along the lake from Montreux to Chillon, where we spent hours looking at the castle. The castle is picturesquely situated at lakeside and offers gloomy dungeons, windy paths, awesome halls and vineyards. We declined on the offer to bring home their wine, assuming that we'd be paying more for the name than the quality of the wine.

Fall visit

By the end of September we had a visitor from Denmark. It was Lisbeth's mother, Tove, who had decided to spend a long and very sunny (but of course!) weekend with us on the occasion of Lisbeth's birthday. The day before the actual birthday we spent walking around Geneva and we finally got around to ascending the tower of the cathedral. From here we could enjoy nice views of the city - and we could work up some appetite going up and down the narrow stairwells (Tove counted at least 180 steps on the way down).

Mail painting

The Swiss mailboxes that we have wanted to present here have been few and far between. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we can now show you these Zürich mailboxes, on which the decoration is part of a larger artwork.

Trams in Zürich

Like in Geneva, there's an extensive network of tram lines in Zürich. In the coaches we found these lovely pictograms: (1) Do not sit in other peoples' smoke to scrounge their hard earned nicotine (2) Do not be poor NB: Goes for all of Switzerland! (3) Do not be Jack Johnson (4) Do not cut the seat under yourself (5) Sit upright, it is not good for your back to lounge.

Zürich

Although it was nice to be back home, we were on the (rail)road again less than 2 weeks later - this time by train to Zürich for a long weekend. Zürich is similar to Geneva in these ways: It's located at the end of an oblong lake (a little smaller than Lake Geneva), there is a water jet in the lake (much smaller than here in Geneva), and the central part of town is located on a narrow strip of land between two rivers (though Limmat and Sihl instead of Arve and Rhône) which have a confluence in the middle of the city (possibly less spectacularly so than in Geneva). Zürich is different from Geneva primarily by the fact that everything is in (some sort of) German, and that the weather in mid-September was notably colder than in Geneva. Of more positive aspects to Zürich we can mention the train station Stadelhofen, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava - whom we like very much. Moreover we got the chance to meet up with Diego whom Tue knows from his years in Santa Barbara.