Beginnings

Well I am already two days into my trip so I figure it's about time I start this. For those that don't know, I am backpacking and couch surfing through Europe for the month of May. My plan has changed a lot since first conceived but tentatively I will visit France, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland. OK, enough introduction. Let's begin.

03-May-2012 Day 1: Parlez-Vous Anglais?

After a great end of the year sundeck party, I realized two things. 1. My bed sheets were packed away. 2. I still needed to book the my lodging for skiing in Tignes the next day. Having nowhere to sleep for four nights would be very bad. All-nighter it is, great. As soon as I boarded the plane I immediately passed out. No soothing music necessary. One connection in Newark and 12 hours later I found myself in the Geneva airport at 7:45 a.m. ready to release my arsenal of French vocabulary. Unfortunately, I exhausted my arsenal shortly after initial greetings. I was told most people know English in Switzerland. Wrong. I encountered only a few who spoke English, even in the airport.

Originally I was going to head straight to Tignes after arriving in Geneva but the company I booked with had their own coach service so I didn't have to worry about taking three trains and a bus. I wasn't to be picked up until 19:30 so I had the day to explore the city. I knew absolutely nothing about what to do other than that there were free bike rentals available. To my great fortune the Geneva airport has free, reliable Wi-Fi and free maps of the city so I was able to find the shop with ease. 

Geneva, like most European cities, has an infrastructure for bicyclists set up which means bikers actually have to follow the street rules. The bike lanes could be a bit confusing because they would vanish all of a sudden. Also, just because an isosceles triangle on the roads points in a certain direction doesn't mean it is the right direction. In fact, it is the exact wrong direction to be headed. Here are some pictures from the day.

Jet d'eau on lake Geneva

Another shot but further east of the city

across the bay

Place St. Pierre

 So I am giving myself two points for not sticking out like a tourist today. Two people on separate occasions stopped me for directions. Of course, my facade ended quickly as soon as I opened my mouth.

After becoming an expert in the layout of Geneva, I successfully navigated back to the airport to begin my departure to Tignes, France. The chalet I am staying at is British run so it's nice to not have to worry about the language barrier.