Женева. Отель Лидо. Лозанна. Аннеси. Монтре. Шильон. Geneva. Hotel Lido. Lausanne. Annecy. Montreux. Chillon.

Geneva. Hotel Lido. Lausanne. Annecy. Montreux. Chillon.

Somehow unexpectedly, without any preliminary hints, there was a need to spend several days in Geneva. Flying Swiss Air, economy. Aircraft A-320, service on board is good. True, the food was so-so, something quite economical, but upon arrival they were treated to delicious branded chocolates. The flight was delayed for an hour, without any comment or apology, silently, as if it were in the order of things. According to Domodedovo employees, the crew was late for departure due to traffic jams. The plane is very comfortable, the distance between the seats allows you not to feel disadvantaged, by the way, I didn’t notice in a business class plane, we entered through the front door, all the rows are the same.

Arrived. We went out to the Swiss side of the Airport, in the baggage claim area we somehow sorted out the machine for issuing a ticket for an electric train to Geneva station. Tickets are given free of charge with a time limit. I think 40 minutes. In 10 minutes we reached the Geneva station and went out into the city. Without any problems, we found the Lido hotel booked in advance. Why him? Yes, as it happened, we sent a request to the hotel chosen by the scientific poke at Booking, received an answer - they say, come, everything is in order. All that was required of the Hotel was a convenient location, and positive reviews. The location is really, really good. Very close to the railway and bus station, and 10 minutes from the Lake. So, the hotel is a very modest, tiny hotel (two stars proudly flaunt at the entrance) with small rooms, apartment type, the furniture inside is extremely Spartan. But I was pleased with the abundance of sockets in the room, all camera phones can be charged at the same time  . It doesn't happen often. There was some strange bedding, under it the body did not breathe at all, apparently 100% synthetics, but snow-white. Breakfast is more than modest, a dining room, 25-30 square meters with a dozen tables, food is offered sausage cheese, cereal, very tasty and fresh bread, butter, and coffee, tea, cocoa, jams and jams. We didn't have breakfast on the first day. Throwing things in the room, hurried to get acquainted with the city. The weather was generally not bad. There was no rain, no snow, above zero. Along the Boulevard Mont Blanc we reached Lake Geneva, and along the Mont Blanc bridge over the Rhone we went to the central historical part. The fountain did not work, which upset us somewhat. But the abundance of swans and ducks off Rousseau Island cheered us up. It was interesting to watch them swing gracefully on the water. The funny thing is that in this place the Rhone has a very strong current. Up close, it is clear that in order to sway so slowly, they have to work hard with their paws. We looked at the flower clock, with the world's largest second hand. I must say that in November the flowers grow there are soft and discreet - a seasonal feature  But the English Park was green, elegant and well-groomed, although not very large. In my mind, it's more like a square than a park. The wind on the embankment blew terrible. We got cold and decided to go to the central part of the city. We got to the Cathedral, the Town Hall, Bourg de Four Square with cute old houses, sat on the longest bench in the world, walked through the central square, looked at the Reformation Wall, in general were. Then they stupidly got on the tram, since the Hotel provided us with travel cards for public transport in Geneva, for the entire stay, and drove around the city. Without any purpose, we went out at a large shopping center, looked at what was there and how much, the assortment and prices were frankly pleased. We also had lunch in some Chinese cafe with a buffet. It was quite tasty, but the bill for 60 francs for two seemed excessive for an institution of this level. Yes, by the way, we bought a SIM card from Sunrise, specifically for Internet traffic, the tariff for 5 days at 500 MB per day is 20 francs. They stuffed it into a tablet, and immediately navigation and Skype appeared, and all the advantages of the Internet.

And then the thought came to my mind - why not go to Lausanne? We quickly got to the station, experienced a lot of "pleasant" sensations trying to buy tickets for the train to Lausanne in the machine. The piece of iron was extremely reluctant to switch to English, striving to communicate in French every time. For some reason, refusing plastic and some cash francs. Accepting the Raiffeisen Bank card with persuasion, she graciously gave us round-trip tickets. 42 francs. For one. Gms. Travel time to Lausanne, less than an hour. Lausanne seemed to us more interesting, livelier and more unusual than the official, business and non-tourist Geneva. The smallest city in the world with a subway! As many as two branches! Multicolored, pretty small houses, everything is clean around, flowers, lawns, vegetable gardens with zucchini tomatoes in the city, carefully cultivated plots of land, very nice and touching. We quickly reached the embankment, were impressed - it’s worth coming here for the sake of it, it’s very beautiful and unusual, we went to the Olympic Committee, bought all sorts of souvenir rattles at the Oushi bazaar, admired the Lake and took the subway to the city center. Along the promenade, people ride roller skates and bikes. I immediately wanted to join them. We wandered around, looked there, the central part is very picturesque and unusual, multi-level interchanges, metro, ramps and at the same time cathedrals and palaces, ancient architecture . . The majestic and solemn cathedral of St. Francis, Notre Dame, in general, walked around and examined everything they could. The legs were already moving, we took the metro to the station and drove back to Geneva, to the hotel. For one day of impressions was more than enough.

But in Geneva in the evening, the problem is to find a working store, only at the station, you can buy something to eat and drink. And something is coffee, hot chocolate, baguettes, hamburgers and EVERYTHING!!! ! Another thing that caught my eye was the abundance of people from Africa on the streets, many citizens who I classified as an Albanian-Romanian ethnic group, somewhat far from “creative” professions. I'm afraid that, like from any others. There was some confusion. What are all these brothers in mind doing in conservative and not very welcoming to immigrants Switzerland? Nafig they are actually needed there? Who sent them out in such numbers and why? Walking on a rake, apparently, is an international fun! Nobody wants to learn from other people's mistakes. Well, these are thoughts out loud.

The next day, early in the morning, after a quick breakfast, we hurried to the bus station (5 minutes from the hotel) and bought tickets to Annecy. There and back 31 francs from the nose. And we went in a convenient, comfortable bus to French Venice on the shores of Lake Annecy (or Annecy - as I did not understand correctly). Travel time is an hour and a half, because. different villages call in, the distance is about 40 km. The entire central part is pitted with canals, the buildings are almost on the water, ramp bridges, passages, swans, duck geese in the canals. All this feathered brotherhood feels very at ease and calm here....We fed the swans in the canals and on the lake itself a few baguettes of white bread. Very uplifting! The swans snatched the bread right out of their hands and pretty much ruined their gloves with their “toothy” beaks, almost to the point of being thrown away... Well, at least they were wearing gloves - they would have skinned their hands. After wandering through the old streets, walking along the lake, we thought that it would be nice to go to some cafe to eat. Yeah. Here we never guessed right, apparently it was the lunch time and literally all the eateries were just packed to capacity. Yes, I must say that the Christmas markets were already open, and you could buy a glass of delicious hot mulled wine, sweets, cheeses and sausages right on the street... sometimes your eyes ran wide. Right there, on the street, they heartily ate oysters - the freshest, with lemon juice and dry wine. 1 Eureka, a fairly large oyster. It was very tasty and unusual. The heads of cheese bought there lived in the refrigerator for quite a long time, at home, and evoked nostalgic feelings... We liked it in Anesy, probably more than in Geneva. A marvelous lake, the majestic Alps surrounding the lake, a calm small town, friendly people who are not in a hurry to go anywhere, on the streets we met a very Big and Kind Dog, with the permission of the owner we hugged her a little... Probably such dogs saved the unfortunate travelers on the St. Bernard Pass. Prices are much more loyal than in Switzerland for almost everything. We could not resist shopping, the things are very high quality and not expensive, the children bought very cute little things as a gift. The day spent in Annecy added unforgettable impressions to the common piggy bank. Highly recommended to visit.

There was one more day of stay, and we decided to shine it on Montreux and the Chillon castle. Yes, here it is, thinking out loud. On the Internet, there are often statements about the optional payment of travel. They say never no one, no way, no one... So, it is highly recommended to pay for public transport, and not to experiment, ticket control is constant, both in public transport and in trains, controllers are completely devoid of a sense of humor and resemble mechanisms, chatting away and sneaking away is not if it works out - a fine of 100 francs. And take my word for it - it's cheaper to pay.

The train from Geneva to Montreux and back cost 43 francs per nose. Arrived quickly and without problems. In Montreux we walked along the embankment, went to Montreux Palace, went up to the room where Nabokov lived and worked for the last 17 years of his life. There are no comments here. The Palace is the Palace… God forbid we live in such conditions for 17 years… We stood at the monument to the inimitable Freddie Mercury… The words from his farewell song “I'm a man of the world and they say that I'm strong, But my heart is heavy, and my hope is gone. . ”

We walked around the quaint park near the embankment. . . Palm trees under the snow. . . figurines of plants, monuments to various outstanding personalities. A very beautiful embankment along Lake Geneva, the smooth surface of the water is gloomy and solemn, just about these days 40 years ago, smoke from a blazing casino spread over the water, “Smoke on the water, And fire in the sky…” Deep Purple captured the name Montreaux in minds of millions around the world. The Swiss Riviera, like a magnet for creative people who have never lived and worked here, is unlikely to find a second place with such a celebrity-rich history. . . A very non-standard development of the town, beautiful buildings, with an idea, the Alps. . . everything is somehow very calm and thorough, without fuss and show-off, the sign of quality and eccentricity simply hovers in the air. Immediately, near the embankment, they boarded a bus and drove to Chillon. Again, an ambush with tickets for travel. There is a ticket machine at the back of the bus, speaks French, constantly asks something, it didn’t work out with him - he ate a fair amount of money, he didn’t give tickets, after which he “froze” tightly and stopped showing signs of life. The bus driver, seeing our futile attempts, called us over and said that he saw that the machine was not working, stand next to me, if there is a control, I, they say, will get rid of the fine... It’s not far to go there and literally in 5 minutes we were in place. Castle. It was built on a rock, on the lake itself, and controlled the only road along the shore. Entrance, in my opinion, 8 francs. I must say that almost everywhere, without problems, Evriki was accepted, the only thing was that there was practically no difference in the rate, no one remembered about the official 20%, at best 10%.

At the entrance to the castle, natural medieval soldiers meet, inside the entourage and stylization of the Middle Ages, women walk, children run, all in appropriate clothes, meat is fried on the fire, something is cooked, someone is training in archery, goats graze in the paddock , soldiers are trained in fencing with swords - in general, a complete immersion in the past. Inside the castle, the rooms keep the atmosphere and the general way of the past centuries. There are old games - of course, everything is connected with the development of reaction, coordination, and general physical condition, and, probably, so as not to go crazy from sitting in a stone bag... On one of the walls under the plastic, Byron's own autograph, he sang the castle in the poem "Prisoner of Chillon". There is also a gallows, right there a pole with a chain on which this very prisoner, a fighter for the independence of Switzerland, spent more than one year. In general, everything is for real. In the dining room you can eat, try old dishes, as they were prepared in the old days, sit at massive tables, around the elements of life of bygone eras. Cauldrons, pots, ladle bowls, what the hell, and a bow on the side... You can climb stubbornly for quite a long time around the castle, move from level to level, and climb higher and higher, we, on principle, climbed to the very top of the highest tower and from there photographed the opening landscapes and paintings. The weather, however, let us down that day, from time to time very sensitive snow charges hit. Having walked and climbed around the castle, we walked a little in its vicinity, along the lake, and went back to Geneva along the same paths. Due to the weather, we did not take the cable car up to the mountains. What mountains, when nothing is visible at 50 meters? It is a pity that we did not manage to get off in Vevey and stand at the monument to the Great Little Man - Charlie Chaplin. This is a big flaw on our part - we need to fix it  . There was little time left before departure, and it was completely spent on Geneva. This time, upon reaching the shore of the lake, as if by order, the famous Geneva Fountain turned on, a column of water hit several tens of meters, not to say that it was beautiful, but still one of the hallmarks of Geneva. Near Rousseau Island, swans, ducks, and other feathered creatures were fed a fair amount of white bread. Further along the embankment we reached the monument to Elizabeth of Austria, the unforgettable Sisi from the Habsburg dynasty, stood nearby, remembered. The thought arose that this lady was haunting us - we met her when we were and admired the views and the general atmosphere in her palace in Corfu, then we met her while sightseeing in Vienna, and now we met her in Geneva. Well, it's all lyrics.

It was Sunday and very little worked, even eating during the day is a problem. Very beautiful and high-quality things were visible in the shop windows - and everything was closed! Villainy rule. There was nowhere to buy even watches for gifts to relatives and friends. It's in Switzerland! Somehow they bought watches for children, and some souvenir nonsense.

While looking for a place where you could eat not only sandwiches, it got dark. We arrived at the Palace of Nations at dusk. It was too late to go inside, we looked from the street, touched the famous giant chair with 3 legs 

In general, on Saturday and Sunday it is better not to get into such cities, you feel out of place. In Moscow, almost around the clock, you can buy and eat anything - just pay, right there, the day off is sacred! Although, if, nevertheless, in honor - Moscow, rather an Asian city in this regard. Europe is not China or Turkey, no one lives anywhere in their stores and does not trade around the clock. I remembered the Spanish Islands - if a store is open after 7 pm, or in general something is open and lit, then a Chinese is certainly sitting there, and not just one, but with the whole brood, or a Hindu in a turban. The locals strictly observe the work schedule. They will probably burn out on this in the end. But be that as it may, Geneva, and that small piece of Switzerland and France that we managed to visit this time, left the most favorable impressions. If you have any questions write