Day two in Geneva started as a very warm, sunny Saturday.

Glorious Day!

If you missed part one, you can read it all here.

The temperature for Geneva was actually due to be a whole lot warmer than back in the UK and I had prepared for my trip by buying snow boots, so I didn’t slip AND a big duvet style coat.

Completely not needed, but I had packed them just in case as I prefer to be over prepared. The coat was very handy on arrival, Friday evening as it was a little chilly but I was unsure if I would need it for the day ahead.

The bedroom had been roasting all night and I had kicked the duvet off more than once or twice. Boo said she had done the same with hers, so I decided I would ask for some extra sheets when we went down for breakfast.

Whilst we had been given a twin room, the huge beds were pushed quite close together, however each had its own sheet and duvet, but only one throw/drape which was across the bottom of the bed, making it look nice.

As we left the room, the cleaner was outside, so I tried to ask for two extra sheets. I had no idea what bedsheet was in French, and I thought she asked if I wanted a Peignoir which I thought was a dressing gown.

I didn’t want any more warm clothes but didn’t know what to ask for. Thankfully there were some sheets on her trolley and I was able to ask for two to be in our room.

We headed down for breakfast which is usually very good in most European Cities. We were not wrong in this case either.

Croissants, Pain au chocolate, Pain aux pommes, custard Danish, Pain aux raisin, brioche, fruit, yoghurt, muesli, cheese and sliced Continental meats were all laid out on a large buffet area.

Jugs of milk, mango lassi, orange, apple and tropical juice were readily available. The waiter enquired as to whether we wanted tea or coffee and I greedily snapped up a pot of tea.

There was also a hot buffet with three sections filled with sausage, scrambled eggs and baked beans.

I took a portion of each and then added a small plate with a couple of pastries on to round off the meal. A glass of juice was added and I tucked in.

Whilst eating, Boo and I discussed what we would do with our day. There was a walking tour available at 1100 and we have really enjoyed those in the past.

Given my knee is temperamental, I can’t usually manage a full tour but I start off and then when I have had enough, I sit in a cafe or a site of beauty and Boo comes back and finds me at the end.

I agreed to give it a go and so we went back to the room and packed a bag with necessities such as camera, cash, water, and sunglasses.

The hotel had given us a QR code which gave us free travel on trams, buses, boats and more. We walked two minutes to the tram station at Mole and hopped on a tram to the location of the walking tour, which was on one of the islands in the middle of the river.

When we look for tours, we usually choose a free tour. This is because you get much better information, tips and advice as it is expected that you ‘tip’ what you think the tour is worth once it ends.

Our guide was called William and he explained that he had been doing the tours for a little while, whilst at University. He told us that the tour was very leisurely and would tell us of the history, background and current life in Geneva.

We started off in the square and William took around 30 minutes talking about Geneva in general and I was actually quite glad about that as it meant I could sit down and listen.

He also told us of a revolution and pointed out a statue set high up on a wall. Questions were asked and eventually it was time to move on.

We walked at a slow pace which worked out well for me. Through the City we went, visiting the New Square where there was a large statue of a man on a horse. This was surrounded by museums and a theatre on two sides and a large park on a third.

Walking into the park, there were large chess sets, a beautiful cafe, and a boulevard of trees. It really was very picturesque and as the pace was slow, it allowed me to get some photographs.

We headed towards a large sandstone monument featuring four stern men. They were very pious looking and had bibles in their hands.

William went on to explain that the main man was Martin Luther, the Father of Protestant religion in Switzerland. This eventually evolved into Lutheranism.

Swiss followers were taught to aspire to the Good Life; work hard, pray hard and spend Sunday with family. This meant that their life was quite hard, devout yet dull.

I am sorry to say that this also made Geneva a little bit ‘ordinary’ in its stylings, buildings and attitudes. Plain sandstone, with little decoration seems to be the main designs everywhere you look.

We even went to a Cathedral which was Protestant; St Pierres.

Apart from a glorious pipe-organ, it too was plain with simple stained glass windows as the only decorative feature.

The tour carried on to one of the oldest privately owned houses in Geneva which is now a museum; Maison Tavel.

This was spread over several floors and whilst there was a lift, I was exhausted so chose to sit down and let the others go and check out the artefacts.

Once the museum was done, it was pretty much the end of the tour so we asked William the best way to get back to Lake Geneva and also the flower clock. He helpfully told us which trams to take but also said it was only a few minutes walk away.

We wandered through the main shopping area.

What Geneva lacked in ‘pizzazz’, it more than made up with an abundance of high priced shops; Tiffanys & Co, Cartier, Patek Phillipe, Gucci, Prada, Montblanc and of course, Rolex.

All of those were way out of our price ranges so we walked on down to the flower clock which was situated in front of Lake Geneva.

Now, it was a stunningly gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky and warm at around 16 degrees. I had taken my big winter coat, but had to shove that into my rucksack as it was far too warm.

Heading down to the lake side, we had decided to go for a ride on the yellow water-taxis that criss-cross the lake.

Called Mouettes, there are four ‘lines’ that go repeatedly through the day. We jumped on M1, the route from Molard to Pâquis. These are usually every 10 minutes.

Changing at Pâquis, we hopped onto M3 which takes you all the way back across the lake to Genève-Plage.

This took us past ‘The Jet’ and gave us views of Mont Blanc which I eagerly snapped away at.

There was another view that we saw that I totally didn’t expect!

Half way across the lake was a stone ‘pier’ of sorts. There were a couple of buildings on there including changing rooms. Obviously I knew immediately that this was for people to use prior to swimming in the lake.

What I didn’t expect was some people coming out of the rooms totally naked before walking down to the edge of the pier to dive into the lake.

To be honest, I wasn’t so shocked about the fact that most were naked, more so that it was early January and whilst the sun was shining, it wasn’t that warm!

The lake however is probably the clearest body of water that I have ever seen. You could see right to the bottom even at night.

Given that there are thousands of boats, windsurfers, swimmers and other craft using it daily, it is pure and crystal clear.

We criss-crossed the lake for about an hour which enabled us to eventually get seats on the section outside where it was easier to get high quality photographs.

Eventually it was time to get off the boat and we had an hour or so to kill before our reservations at one of the top rated Fondue restaurants, Le Gruyèrien

Situated a two minute walk from the Plainpalais tram stop, the restaurant is designed in a rural chalet style with cute black and white cow motifs.

We were sat at a table for two, next to longer rows of tables. Within a couple of minutes a large gas style trivet was placed on the table.

There are a few options for fondue; some made with Champagne, others purely goats cheese, whilst the standard is Moitié moitié; a combination of 12 Gruyères and Vacherins, served with artisan bread and small boiled potatoes.

I was really looking forward to the Fondue as in my opinion, ‘Cheese is Life’, and Boo pretty much feels the same way.

Ordering Planchette de viande séchée Suisse for my starter, a platter of thinly sliced meat which was very Parma ham like in texture. This was accompanied by small gherkins and silverskin onions.

Boo and I had opted to share a large Moitié moitié fondue and a waiter came over and lit the gas trivet. They also placed a large basket of artisan bread down and I started ripping chunks apart, preparing for the fondue.

A few minutes later, a waiter arrived with a very large saucepan which was placed on the gas trivet and I was drooling just from the aroma.

Even though it was steaming hot, we both grabbed pieces of bread, placed it on the fondue fork and dipped it into the molten cheese.

Marvellous Meringue

Cramming it into my mouth, I sank down into cheese heaven.

It was the most amazing cheese experience I have ever had. The cheese was burning hot, stringy/elastic, flavoursome and very very moreish.

The boiled potatoes were wonderful, but if I am honest, I was just happy with bread.

Lots of bread!

Eventually we ran down to the very last dregs of the saucepan. This had started to darken and get a little ‘crusty’.

I was quite excited about the last bits, but one of the waiters (who were constantly buzzing around) grabbed the almost empty saucepan and disappeared with it.

Sad times!

However, I was soon smiling again when he returned with the pan scraped  and presented the caramelised ‘curds’ which were chewy and just bloody lovely.

I have to admit to being completely full however I stupidly had a look at the dessert menu and was completely swayed by Meringues de la Gruyere.

Before you think the Swiss have gone mad and made cheese meringues, even they are not as strange as that!

The dessert consisted of artisanal meringues served with a huge bowl of fresh cream from the same cows that produce the Gruyère cheese, along with some fresh raspberries.

Even thought I was completely full from the main course, I had to give it a go.

And give it a go, I certainly did.

The large pot of cream was chilled beautifully and almost had the consistency of thick luxurious yoghurt. But it was the meringues who were the stars of the show.

Almost caramel in flavour, I shoved huge heaped spoons of the cream on the flat underside and dived in.

Whilst a different product entirely, they had a similarity to honeycomb in that they were light, pitted with holes, chewy and toffee like.

I was in literal heaven and I had to finish off every single morsel.

We paid the bill and headed out in the cool, fresh alpine air. Our tram came along 2 minutes later and we rode it to the main centre before swapping lines and jumping on number 15 to Mole, which is where our hotel was based.

Most places looked like they were already closed for the night, so we headed into Hotel Kipling, where I purchased a couple of soft drinks from the bar to take up into our room.

Ru-Paul’s drag race was calling us, as was my cross-stitch design.

And yes, before you say it, I am old!

Till next time,

SPSG xxx