Geneva

I haven't written about Geneva yet. I went to Geneva for the weekend before Christmas; 21st to the 23rd of December. We caught the train from Paris Gare de Lyon at 20:10 and arrived quite late in Geneva because the train had to take a detour via Lyon because of an accident that had occurred on the track between Paris and Geneva on Wednesday. A truck collided with the train. The apologetic announcements in the train pointed out to us that it was the truck's fault and therefore we weren't eligible for a ticket refund. It was annoying because the train had to sit at Lyon for a long time before we could progress to Geneva, but we got there in the end.

I won't go into too much detail about the trip, but it was an amazing weekend. It was the first time I'd left Paris since I arrived here at the end of August, so I was really desperate for some travel time. I went with a friend called Paul, as we both wanted to see Geneva, and we had to make it that weekend because he was busy beforehand, and he left Europe the day after we returned - the 24th of December. He was an exchange student in Paris and now needs to be back in America to finish his studies. Paul organised everything, which made the trip easy for me - all I had to do was show up in the right place at the right time with my luggage.

Geneva was a nice city, and it was interesting to see, especially the UN buildings, which is a huge complex. Unforutnately the weather wasn't wonderful. It didn't rain, which was good, but it was overcast until just a few hours before we needed to be back on a train bound for Paris (again via Lyon). I was very cold, and there were times when I wondered if my hands were still attached even though I was wearing gloves.

All things considered, I had a great weekend, and I'm glad I made the effort to go on the trip. And thanks, Paul, for organising it all.