Day 28: Geneva, Switzerland, Hot 27°

OMG! The Bread! 

I made it! I’m experiencing a little culture shock after almost a month trekking through the mountains, hills and mediaeval villages along the spine of Italy. I’ve been in Switzerland a number of times, so everything is quite familiar. However, I seem to have this problem switching my brain quickly from operating in Italian to French. It will get better. I’ve been here about 6 hours and the transition is happening. However, I have to deal with German my last two days.😬

It’s been an eventful day! I had to be awake and on the move very early this morning. I successfully met my host at 6:30 for the short drive to the airport. Through security quickly and then it was just a matter of waiting for my flight to go. Which it did. We took off over the beautiful Mediterranean and headed north. 

I tried to trace my route back along the Via Francigena. There’s Lago di Bolsena to the right which means Rob and I walked all the way across this photo last year. Siena would be far left (north) not in the photo.
Of course, the highlight of the flight was going across first the Italian Alps and followed by the Swiss Alps.
As always, the mountains were spectacular! I’ve passed over them when they’ve been without clouds, but I consider myself lucky to have seen most of the range. A few photos.

Mount Blanc? John what do you think? 



We flew right past Geneva before circling back to the airport (top of photo), and you can see the famous water jet fountain from a long way away. 
Once we landed, I found the train into town only to discover that my Italian data plan was not valid in Switzerland. TIM who provided me with my data plan in Florence was incorrect. I was told I’d have cell coverage in Switzerland. No matter. I’ll just go back to the Stone Age for a few days.😂 I had the foresight to plot route waypoints on my GPS app. Hopefully it will be enough to find my way across to Lausanne over the next couple of days🤞


As I walked through Geneva, it was immediately clear that this is a city for the wealthy. All the huge brand names are here, but it’s the super expensive brands that draw the eye. People are dressed in extremely high end apparel. Clearly not my thing, and I stand out like a sore thumb. Haha, I’ll never see these people again. It’s enough that I’m here and will start walking tomorrow morning.

A bit of this and that as I walked around the lakefront

Jet d’Eau is quite magnificent! I’ve wanted to see it for years. It was initially built to let off pressure from the hydrologics in the area. I’m not sure what that means, but that’s what the sign said.🤔 It was built back in the 1800s, and in the mid-1900s the city of Geneva took it over and built a permanent spot for it. It’s been the symbol of the city for the last 150+ years. It’s like a geyser on a broken oil platform. It’s huge! 


It’s apparently lit up at night, and if I have the energy I’ll walk down for a look. 


Nice story. Due to the early hour of my departure, I didn’t really have any breakfast this morning. So by the time noon rolled around, I was getting pretty hungry. In fact, I was getting a bit desperate. I walked away from the waterfront thinking that I might find a small place to eat that would be less expensive. Remember, I had no data so I couldn’t look for options or assess cost. I saw a nice little place up ahead and went in. A nice lady sat me down and asked me what I wanted to drink. I asked her for the menu and she replied that there is no menu. There was only one plat du jour and it was the same for everyone. Since I was already seated and had no choice I said, OK! She proceeded to bring me out a cold Coca-Cola, a nice green salad and a plate of bread. Not just a plate of bread, but an amazing plate of French bread! Italian bread is OK, but the French and Swiss bread is unbelievable! So good!!

The salad was followed by a nice piece of very tender steak, and pomme frites. There was also a tasty sauce over the steak. My family will tell you that I’ve essentially quit eating beef for environmental reasons. That said, I hadn’t eaten since last night, and I was pretty hungry. So I stuck my moral compass in my back pocket and enjoyed a very good steak.

As I was nearing the end of my lunch, the senior waitress came over with another sizzling piece of steak with french fries and completely re-loaded my plate! I couldn’t believe it. I think she could tell that I was a little depleted today, and she made an effort to try and fatten me up!🙂 Whatever motivated her, it was a very generous and wonderful thing to do. 

When I sat down I had absolutely no idea what lunch would cost. When she brought me the bill it was for Fr.51, or about $75 Canadian. The second serving of steak and fries was definitely not on the bill. I don’t usually tip too often in the EU, but I did today. 

I went for a good long walk around the harbor, and here and there to walk off my extraordinary lunch. 

Believe it or not, an hour later, I was getting a little bit hungry, so I stopped for a gelato. I came all the way from Italy to Switzerland to have a gelato.🙄 Insane! 

I’ve had only had one gelato during my Italian wanders, but this little place high above the ferry wharf had my favourite type, Straccetelli! I enjoyed it immensely! It’s a particularly hot muggy day here, so I found an umbrella shaded little table and chair on the harbour and that’s where I’m sitting as I write this post. 

On my way to this spot I found a route marker in the cement sidewalk. That got my attention! 

The route that I will walk a couple of stages beginning tomorrow crosses much of Switzerland before transitioning to the GR 65 at the French border.  It’s better known as the Le Puy Chemin or Chemin de St. Jacques. It runs all the way to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I’ve already walked most of this route and parts of it twice, including a few stages of it last August while walking the Via Francigena. 

The purpose of this two day walk is to

tie up a few loose ends. By Wednesday the only part remaining to walk from Lausanne to Santiago will be the 2 1/2 week section from Geneva to Le Puy, France. I have it on good authority that Annemarie would like to walk this section as well! It would be nice to complete this 2000+ km Camino! I’ve been picking away at it in bits and pieces since 2013. 

A chocolate wall! Welcome to Switzerland🙏

These boots just have to last 2 more stages, about 70 km. I think they have about 1,600 km on them and many of those on hard pavement. They look ok from the top,
But they have lost their integrity and are pretty much cooked! I’m not sure that they will ever see Canada again, but they have been excellent servants. Super boots! I have one last pair at home waiting for my next adventure. Sadly they stopped producing them during the pandemic. 

I’ll be up and away early. A hot day coming. 

Cheers!