We found out a few days before the weekend that we would get an extra 2 days off for the Prophets Ascension giving us a nice long weekend. It left us little time to plan where to go, so we looked at all possibilities from Thailand, Male, Turkey, etc...and landed on Geneva, Switzerland! It sounds far to go for 4 days, but it was only an hour to Abu Dhabi, then 6 hrs to Geneva. We landed Thu morning at 7 am and just the feeling of crisp, cool 10C mountain air was worth it, nevermind all the wine, cheese and chocolate that we consumed over the weekend!
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| Flying over Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc - EU's highest mtn |
Our plan for the weekend was to spend Thu in Geneva, then cycle around Lake Geneva (Lac Leman dans francis) and spend the night on the north side, around Lausanne. Then make our way back to the city Sat afternoon. Our flight wasn't until 9:30 pm on Sunday which gave us all day to relax before heading home.
We rented bikes from Bike Switzerland as they had brand new BMC street racer road bikes to rent. We stopped by the shop for a bike fit and found out they host a Thu evening social ride. It was a perfect way to test out the bike handling before setting off for 240 km. The social ride was a perfect intro to what we would expect over the next 2 days. There were bike lanes on just about every road, beautiful scenery, rolling hills, and great weather. The social ride was a mix of locals and others setting off for longer cycling trips. One group was cycling through Switzerland and another were making their way to the Mediterranean. After the ride, there was a small farmers market in the square right by the bike shop. We drank wine and got some suggestions of places to stop at on our trip.
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| The social ride took us past the UN headquarters |
Our pre 'race' meal was very Suisse - beer and Fondue! Yummm
We decided to ride counterclock wise around the lake, taking the scenic route close to the lake and off main roads. The homes and landscaping were absolutely beautiful. Geneva just had a week of rain and we lucked out getting sunshine all weekend with flowers in full bloom.
We took our time and stopped at a few towns along the way - Hermance & Yvoire(both walled medieval towns), Thnon les Bain (lunch stop), Evian (original town of Evian water), and Montreaux, where we found a hotel for the night.
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| Roadside fountains can be found in every town. |
The town of Yvoire, France.
Lunch stop in Thonon. It was the busiest cafe and the food looked amazing. Everyone had salads on there table, and I could see why! So good, the French know how to make a delicious salad.
We stayed at Hotel Splendid overlooking the lake and the owner gave us a room on the second floor with a terrace. One of the perks of touring before peak tourist season. We decided to do some climbing on Day 2, up through Blonay and Chatel St. Denis. We passed a few farms and ranches and all the cows really did have bells on them! It's not a Suisse myth, you could hear the chingling in the distance.
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| Even the country roads had bike lanes :) |
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| Climbing up 1000m to Chatel St Denis |
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| On the way down to Lausanne |
We stopped for a classic lunch in Rolle by a castle overlooking the Lake dining on a half bottle of Suisse wine (still had 40km to go;), a baguette, suisse gruyere, and some fruit. Being Saturday, lots of people were out in the parks enjoying the beautiful summer day. The drivers were all very courteous, slowing down and pulling over. People were also very friendly and patient when we tried to use the little bit of french that we know.
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| Jet d'eau puts out 500 L/s |
Top post ! Wish I had done the same.....
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