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| Beaune, France |
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| Day 6: June 1, 2001, Friday – Paris – Geneva |
Weather à quite cool and breezy (low to high 60’s F). A more relaxed day.
6:30am – Wake-up call
7:15am – Breakfast and Luggage out
8:00am – Leave Hotel
8:00am – 10:00am – Left Paris to head to Geneva, but first a quick stopover for drinks, snacks and most importantly, restrooms
10:00am – 12:00pm – Drive past the Burgundy – wine region of France, and head to Beaune, France
12:00pm – 2:00pm – Beaune, France – This is a French Medieval Town. We had lunch here by ordering sandwiches (big
French roll with ham and cheese) and sitting by the town’s square with the views of the park and the old carousel built 100 years ago. Very lovely town, slower paced, noticeable cobbled streets – narrow streets.Saw the nice ornate décor of the roof of Hotel Due. After lunch, went to a small patisserie to try one of the delicious French Pastries – Millefleur (vanilla custard with chocolate topping) and of course ordered cafe au lait and chocolat (drink). Very French. One of our best stopover places we went to for lunch.
2:00pm – 4:00pm – Head to Geneva, Switzerland. Crossed the Border and given orientation of the country before entering the town of Geneva. Also optional excursions were offered and selected. Switzerland is one of the richest nations in Europe. Famous for its Swiss banks, chocolates, army and knives. Geneva, is where most of the government buildings are and other international organizations reside. Because of this, this city is very multi-lingual and languages which are commonly spoken here are: French, German, Italian and English.
4:00pm – 4:30pm – Stopover for quick break and rest stop
4:30pm – 5:30pm – head to Geneva
5:30pm – 7:30pm - Geneva, Switzerland – Check-in to hotel à Hotel Chavagne de Bogis which is located 10 min. away from the town proper, but very close to the lake. Checked hotel facilities (pool, tennis court, etc.). Nice spacious room – nice scenery, has children’s playground, sauna, pool. Nice facilities, however, room did not have A/C as well, but cooler though. Hotel room was facing the motorway so at night, you can hear the cars passing by even with the windows closed. Unpacked bags and freshen up, and relax before having dinner.
7:30pm – 9:30pm – Included Dinner provided in hotel. This is the first time that all the people in the group had dinner together. Dinner included: salad roll, salmon and rice and vegetables, and fruit cocktail for dessert.
9:30pm à onwards – wrote journal, freshen up, and went to sleep J
| Day 7 – June 2, 2001 – Saturday – Geneva Sightseeing |
Weather – much cooler, a bit breezy – low 60’s F. A bit cloudy during the day.
6:30am – Wake-up call
7:15am – Breakfast – plain breakfast – just bread, croissant, and drinks
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Reformation Monument |
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Jet d'eau |
8:00am – 9:45am – Morning sightseeing of Geneva. Went to United Nations Building, Red Cross building (main offices) and also drove around the city. Saw the Reformation monument. We also saw the Water jet by the lake jet’au that is like a big fountain in the middle of the lake.
9:45am – 11:45am – Shopping – free time to shop around. Went to Bucherer store and shopped for souvenirs, and also got free spoon souvenir of Geneva. Walked around the lake and took pictures of jet-au (water jet). Also walked uphill to go to the medieval section of the town, and also bought Swiss knives for gifts to friends. Very nice day to shop around.
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| Mt Saleve |
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Mt Saleve Lunch |
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| Yvoire, France |
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2:00pm – 2:30pm – Head to the Medieval Town of Yvoire in France (just a few minutes from Geneva)
2:30pm – 4:30pm – Yvoire – very nice medieval French village. Reminded me so much of the stories of Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pinocchio (where the story originated from). Nice quaint village. You’ll be surprised how old the place is and still very well preserved and people still lived in it. Saw old churches, squares, small cobbled streets, and there is even a small boat dock.Yvoire is a scenic little town on the French side of Lake Geneva. The town has existed since the Roman's in one form or another. During the twelfth century it became a feudal holding and in the fifteenth century the sixth count of Savoie fortified the city. Those fortifications can still be seen today. By the seventeenth century though, Yvoire was no longer seen as strategically important in the region and the town sunk into a period of lethargy. Therefore, as the country was changing around it, the town its self had little change. The old part of the town, where cars are not allowed, is a charming little hamlet on Lake Geneva that still reflects its feudal past.
4:30pm – 5:00pm – Head back to Geneva to pick-up the rest of the group and last minute shopping of souvenirs as well.
5:00pm – 7:30pm – Back to Hotel, then two hours of resting, relaxing, walked around the grounds of the hotel
7:30pm – 9:30pm – included Dinner in the hotel again. Menu included asparagus soup, turkey with vegetables and fettuccine on the side, custard flan for dessert and lindt balls from our tour director, Kevin. Met more people in our group.
9:30pm à pack stuff for next day’s travel, wrote journal, summarized expenses for the day, etc.etc… sleep
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