Weekend at Genève

My course won't start till the 2nd of August, so I am left with nothing much to do in Chambéry. Having done all I have to do, and I am so frustrated I can't find an additional courses to fill my time, and it's been so cloudy and rainy ever since I paid for that one month pool pass.

So I decided to spend my weekend in Geneva, and it's only about 1hr 20 minutes from Chambéry. Mattias said he'll finish his exams by Friday, so I could go over on Saturday. With his help, I found a nice place to stay at Youth hostel, and it costs me only 27CHF (that's about RM89) per night with breakfast inclusive! Of course it was a 6 bedded room, but it wasn't a problem at all, you get your own private locker to put your stuff in. Plus, the shower room is really good too with a power hot shower.

I arrived Geneva at about 9:30am and Mattias was already there waiting for me. That's really sweet of him considering that he partied all night long till 4 am the night before! We took a stroll around town, then met up with his friend Antoine (hope I got his name correctly). Then we drove to Evian (yes, that's where the Evian mineral water comes from!), back in France to watch the golf tournament, Evian Masters 2006. How funny. I have never been a fan of golf, neither do I know how the game works! :P Mattias explained to me a little so that I was not completely lost. Anyway, I did enjoy myself a lot, and I got to see Michelle Wie up close! (well, quite close)

We were suppose to take the boat to Lausanne, but unfortunately timing was not right, so we went back straight to Geneva instead. While I checked into the hostel, Mattias took a train to Lausanne to get his car. At night, after dinner, we took a stroll in town and stopped at a bar where 2 girls were dancing Sevillanas. Oh I was so tempted to dance as well, though I have completely forgotten what the steps were :P Later that evening, Mattias and I joined his friends, Andy and Rob at the Pré Fêtes de Genève.

The next morning I had to check-out by 10am, and Summer, a girl I met at the Youth Hostel, joined me. We went to the Cornavin train station to put her stuff in a locker, then walked to the Tourist Office to get a map of the city. I smartly thought I was suppose to leave from Gare des Eaux-Vives (whatever gave me that idea???!?!?) , so we walked to the closest park to have picnic. On the way, we stopped at Baby Plage, so that Summer could take a dip in the lake. As for me, I didn't want to be all wet and sticky in the train, so I stayed nice and dry and under the shade. Mattias joined us later about noon time, and then when casually we talked about the train station:

Mattias: Are you sure you are leaving from Gare des Eaux-Vives??
Me: Erm, I think so....
Mattias: Shouldn't you be leaving from the same train station that you arrived?
Me: It's NOT the same station??????
Mattias: Nope, you arrived at Gare de Cornavin.
Me: WHAT?!?!?

Ok, I got a little panic there (just a little), as the other station would take approx. 30 minutes walk from the plage. Lucky for me it was still early, and I had ample time to walk back. LUCKY for me, I didn't find out 10 minutes before the train leaves....*phew* or else I'd have to take the next train home. Hmmm...come to think of it, it wouldn't have been too bad at all, it was really nice to just sit by the lake :D

The Geneva photos are stored in my Europe Tour album.