Yvoire & Evian, France, and Geneva, Switzerland

 On a following day and we drove to Yvoire and Evian for more sightseeing.  Yvoire was one of the highlights of our entire trip.  If you like medieval, visit Yvoire, on the south shore of Lake Leman, which is a scenic village with the rare virtue of convenient parking.  You are probably familiar with Evian water; this town is the site of the gushing spring where it all started.  It is a comparatively recent city; the oldest buildings are only about 200 years old.  I took few photos at Evian; other than a pleasant lakefront area, it was not noteworthy in its somewhat typical modernness.  I understand that a tour of the Evian plant is available.  The city is on the south shore of Lake Leman (French name) also called Lake of Geneva.  The north shore is Swiss territory which we have visited on a previous trip.

Typical building in Yvoire.  Okay, that is not a 'medieval" TV antenna, but they have kept much of the heritage while making it a 'lived-in' village.

Lots of stone walls and enclosed gardens.  I wonder if those walls may lend protection from cold north winds sweeping off the lake.

On the left is a hotel, but you can see that much of nature has been preserved.

Another beautiful wooden power boat with harmonious details.

                                    

Great reflection of the sailboat masts; no wind and a good day to stay at their docks.

We debated visiting the touristy mountain town of Chamonix which is fairly close but were afraid that we would discover just another location with too many tourists and no parking; plus, at this point we were limited for time.  Snow-clad Alpine peaks, including Mt. Blanc were visible from our location. 

Yvoire waterfront with appropriate architecture and authentic wooden fishing boats.

 

Yvoire town gate (some upper works missing).  I had to wait until most tourists, and a delivery van were finally gone.

Aren’t vacations supposed to be fun and relaxing?  This trip, although rewarding, has felt like a continuous series of challenges.  Our time in Geneva provides a good example.  Driving from our Hotel L’Arborescence (9 total rooms) near Annecy to Geneva, the plan was to refuel at a petrol station along the way.  We encountered zero petrol stations!  Negotiating an interminable series of roundabouts and urban complexity, our first stop was our Hilton hotel to drop off luggage and get our Geneva public transport passes (common throughout Switzerland).  Next was to drop off our car at Hertz airport car rental. 

We were supposed to return our Volvo with a full tank of gas, but it wasn’t worth the hassle to drive around looking for a petrol station, and the Hertz people were good with receiving the car near empty of fuel.  They even deducted one day from our rental because we were two hours early for the return.  Next, we needed to find a public bus headed for central Geneva.

Not much else besides this cathedral and some cobblestone streets remain from the old section of Geneva.  If you want the latest in shopping experiences, I am sure you can find it here.

I knew that central Geneva was near the river, but we wanted to explore the old section, not the pricey retail stores.  We found the ‘old town’ (look for cobblestone streets), but it proved to be small and not noteworthy.  Alternately, we toured a museum of practical art (exhibits of furniture, staircases, home design, and other implements).  We struck up a long conversation with one of the guards there. He was from Portugal, and we discussed the history and attractions of that country.  He would like to return to Portugal, but the job market is better here in Geneva.

Jet d'Eau with its constant stream of water.  Note how high it goes in comparison to the masts of those sailboats.

Next was a tasty and expensive lunch followed by a walk along the harbor visiting more attractions.  The 'Jet d'Eau' is a major focal point at the city waterfront.  It is a fountain in the harbor projecting a stream of water 140 meters (460 feet) into the air.  Continuing our walk, we passed the English Garden, crossed the Pont du Mont-Blanc (bridge), passed the Brunswick Monument, and arrived at what (on posted maps) was a TI, tourist information center.  All we found was a ferry terminal.  Ferries from this location travel to many parts of the lake.  On a previous trip to this area*, we took a ferry to Montreax at the far end of the lake and then returned by train.

*see September 2021 entry, Lausanne and Lake Geneva

Asking at the ferry ticket office, we were told that the TI was located at the transportation center about 8 blocks northwest, uphill from the harbor.  Following GPS directions, we found the TI, got our bus directions, (bus #5) and were dropped off close to our Hilton hotel.  One last problem: a huge convention center, Palexpo, stood between us and our hotel. GPS stated it would take 24 minutes to walk around the periphery of this building to our hotel.  We tried to enter the building but were refused: a pass was needed.  Then I realized that one partial level of the huge building was a parking garage.  We took stairs to the parking garage and were able to pass through the complex on that level to get back to our hotel, saving 15 minutes.

Every action we took during our day in Geneva required a new decision.  Our vacations tend to be informative, enjoyable, but not too relaxing.  When you go on your own, filling in the details as you travel, this is the situation you face.

Lake Leman ferry boats are very old side paddle boats that have been well maintained