We are Stardust: CERN and Annecy

Apparently the 1st of November is All Saint's Day in France and that means school is closed. That also means long weekend trip. :) I literally waited until the night before to make a decision on if I was going somewhere, so the prices were super high for hotels and flights. I ended up choosing a double trip: 1 day in Geneva, Switzerland for a visit to CERN and 3 days in Annecy, France.

It is in the mid 40s F and raining in Lyon, and to be honest I'm not really that great with cold and damp weather, but everywhere else was more expensive. I booked 3 Flix bus tickets (Lyon-Geneva (18E/2.5 hrs); Geneva-Annecy (5.40E/1hr); Annecy-Lyon (22.50E/2hrs)) and a twin room at the Best Western International Hotel in Annecy (309E/3 nights).



Visiting Switzerland requires using the Swiss Francs instead of Euros, which I dealt with by just using my debit card instead of changing money since I was just there for the day. I took Tram 18 to get from Geneva Central Station to CERN (3CHF) and since you cannot take luggage into CERN I only took my backpack with me on this trip.




After walking around the site for about an hour and a half,  I took the 18 back into the city and walked around.  Geneva is incredibly easy to walk, but wear good shoes to handle the hills. All the museums I was going to do were closed, but I found 2 Starbucks,  multiple McDonalds and other fast food places I laughed at seeing.  I still find it so weird seeing American stores overseas.  Eventually...ok, it was raining and I wanted to sit down for a bit...I found a Swiss restaurant and ate dinner there.



I still find eating alone the hardest part of solo travelling.  I feel the need to talk to someone,  so I normally call home or work online while eating, which is kinda depressing, to be honest. I haven't figured out how to be content by myself if I'm not 'doing' something.

At Restaurant Auberge de Saviese I ordered a half (6) plate of snails, house cheese fondue and a Romanette Lemonade.  Pricey at 45 CHF, but Geneva is expensive.  Comparatively,  the McDonald's hamburger meal was 9 CHF. I refuse to eat McDonalds or any other fast food on my vacation though.





My primary goal for this trip was to go to CERN, which I did, but I thought there would be more to see, so I booked a long stopover. The nice part is I am not in the least rushed, the bad(?) part is that I have 4 hrs until my bus to Annecy and its getting dark and raining. On a humble-brag note, I managed to fit 4 days of clothes, including lunch and rain gear in my normal school backpack, which is not very big. Travel goals, baby. haha

So. what does one do when they have a few hours to kill and its dark, rainy, and everything is closed? They sit at Starbucks, charge their phone, organize their bag, and twist their ankle when they leave. Yup, I not only twisted it, but I really thought I might have broken it. I hobbled my way to the bus station and luckily there were only three of us on the bus to Annecy, so I was able to stretch out and elevate it, but the following morning I took a cab to a medical center, then hobbled to the bus stop and took that to the hospital. I will say, it is super cheap to be stupid in Europe. I didn't have my French medical insurance yet (it came in two days later), but x-rays, the visit, a foot brace, and medication only cost me 100E, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than the US.



I stayed at the Best Western International in Annecy, France, about an hour and a half away from Geneva. Honestly, if you are in Geneva, go to Annecy, it's worth it, but you really don't need more than 1 day to sight see. Go up to the Chateau d'Annecy and take one of the city tours and you've pretty much seen the town. The lake is the best spot for a lunch break, but I wasn't thrilled with any of the food outside of my hotel, which was really good for dinner (don't waste the money on breakfast).















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lille, France, just across the border

Image
My last ISOW trip was to Lille, France, which is literally across the Belgian boarder. This was another day trip, so we only had a few hours (6hrs) to look around. I went off on my own after we arrived around 10:30am. First stop was La Grand Place.  Standing in the center of the squares stands the Goddess commemorating Lille's resistance to the Austrian siege in 1792. In front of the Old Stock Exchange built from 1652 to 1653, is one of the town's finest building. This building is made up of 24 little houses around an arched courtyard. A second-hand book market can be seen inside. On this square is situated the Grand Garde. Coming out the other side is the Theater and the Chambre de Commerce. A walk around gives you the opportunity to see the Musee Hospice Comtesse (which I couldn't find the entrance for) and the Catherdral Notre-Dame de la Treille named in honor of a statue of the Virgin protected by an iron trellis. When you are in the cen...
Read more

Florida: John F. Kennedy Space Center

Image
J. F. Kennedy Space Center on Merrit Island, Florida. It's a place that, for me at least, conjures up memories of childish wonder and awe. A place of space travel, astronauts,  moon walks, and yes, Star Trek. I went back to those memories with a three-day, two-night mini vacation to Cocoa Beach. I would love to say that my childhood came alive again, but to be honest, while there were some interesting things at Kennedy, the overall feeling was one of age and sadness. It felt like a war memorial to the 1980s. The three and a half hour drive from Tampa to Cocoa Beach was uneventful on a Friday morning. We took the toll roads which significantly reduced the traffic and back tracking and only hit rain on the east-side of Orlando. Finding the Days Inn on Cocoa Beach wasn't hard, it's about half-way down the island on the waterfront, right at the Cocoa Beach Pier (5500 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931). The room had a microwave, coffee pot, refrigerator and a large...
Read more

Bucket List

Image
I have a list of countries I want to go to, but I started thinking about the actual things I wanted to do in my life on the plane ride from Lisbon to Miami and came up with these. Some of them I have accomplished, but there are still so many things to do! Dirigible flight over the Amazon Camel ride in the desert Archaeology dig in Egypt Riverboat (steam or wind) cruise up/down the Nile (see pyramids) Climb to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) Ride ponies in Mongolia; stay in a ger Work as a Miko at a Japanese Temple; go to an onsen Walk (or work) on Antarctica Dogsled in Greenland; stay in an igloo Safari in Africa Climb Mt. Kilamanjaro See animals in Madagascar Hot air balloon in Turkey Outback trip in Austrailia Explore Angkor Wat in Cambodia Ride in a boat in the Vietnamese floating market; drink coffee overlooking the market Go to Easter Island and the Galapagos Islands Climb Machu Picchu in Peru Fly in the Sofia anti-gravity plane Stay in a Scottish Castle in the H...
Read more