Riding Around: Mulhouse to Geneva to Annecy

I slept like a log last night and first thing I did was to check what accommodation was available. WooHoo, there must have been a cancellation. I can get two nights 2Ks out of the city centre for $290, way cheaper than what I was looking at last night. Phew.

With that sorted I plan to catch the train to either Geneva or Seyssel where Paul and I stayed in 2003. I’m leaning towards Geneva even though it’s a harder ride because I get there an hour earlier and the whole ride is only mean to take 2h15.

I did some basic packing then went down for breakfast. The breakfast is fairly basic cereal plus a basket of two chunks of baguette, a croissant and a small brioche. I really wasn’t hungry but I managed to eat a large bowl of cereal and all of the baguette, washed down with a cup of tea.

Then I checked out and rode down to the station. I took the bike all the way into the booking office and no one seemed to care, so that was easy. The lady struggled with Seyssel so I went with Geneva as planned. ~90 Euros which seemed a bit steep, but it is into Switzerland…

Train to St-Louis (Basel) – I didn’t have long to wait and then a short trip to the outskirts of Basel.

Train to Basel – Now I’m in Switzerland, only a 7 minute trip to Basel Central.

Train to Bern – Read my ebook. Quite a few tunnels and there is often a barrier beside the train. There were still a few nice views into the country side.

Train to ~~Geneve~~ Lausanne – Each train change had been a rush, between 7 and 11 minutes to the next train and possibly on another platform (Basel a different building). It was a rush to find the bike carriage on this train, far end of the platform of course, but I got in without a problem. And then we sat there, for about 15 minutes. It turns out there is a technical fault but we eventually left. There were a few announcements and then in English they announced that this train would terminate in Lausanne. The conductor came around and told people what to do if they wanted to go to Bern.

We eventually arrived in Lausanne 40 minutes late as we’d had to wait for other trains a number of times on our way here. I rushed over to the other platform and the train was packed, and people had used the cycling racks to put there suit cases. I ran the full length of the train and it turned out there were two 2nd class carriages after the first class. There were suit cases here too but I just pulled them out and then put them back in after the bike was in. Phew.

Train to Geneva – It was a pleasant ride to Geneva and some good views of the lake and mountains.

Once in Geneva I set off out of town and it was actually fairly easy to get out of town, about 30 minutes to be in a country area. From there I got lost once but spent most of the time on a route recommended by Google Maps. It wasn’t the best of routes L There were plenty of bike paths/lanes/shoulders but the road was very busy. I’m sure with a descent map I could have found a longer but quieter route. Oh well.

One surprise, Col du Mont Sion, WooHoo!

I stopped in one town around 4 for a coke and Flan. I was very hungry so the Flan just evaporated; I did notice though what a great texture it had, nice and cold too! From there it was pretty much downhill into Annecy where I only got lost twice on the way in and then rolled into the hotel around 5pm, again.

I sat and watched the finish of the Tour first and then showered before getting ready to head into town for dinner. Since I’d saved so much on the accommodation (less than half, but still more than I normally prefer to pay J ) I thought I could invest some of the savings in wine with dinner.

Annecy, being a tourist town, is busy and open! I had a nice walk around found the Traiteur that Paul and I went to in 2003 and then wandered around until I found a promising restaurant.

I started out with a Kir as I haven’t had one this trip and then I went, naturally, with the three course meal. Foie Gras (first time this trip), Beef with mash and beans, Apricot tart. It’s obviously a tourist area as its 30-50% dearer than other places. I also got a half bottle of 2010 St Emillion Chateau Trimoulet Grand Cru. Needless to say it was delicious, both the food and the wine, and feeling a bit sloshed I meandered back to the hotel.