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Leave Arles early for the train day we were dreading: 4 trains to get to Geneva and we have limited time for many of the changes. The weather is beautiful and sunny this morning. All goes well until we arrive at Valence TGV. Our next train is running 50 mins late so we will miss the last train from to Geneva. So, in a nutshell, we will collectively spend around 4 hours waiting in train stations. Well, I guess that is a fitting end to our experience with French rail SNCF.
We arrive in Geneve and make our way from the Geneve Cornavin railway station to the Hôtel Central, crossing the beautiful Rhone by way of the Pont des Bergues (bridge) as the sun begins to set. The area looks spectacular. Once again, I sense I have chosen well with this hotel as it is right on the edge of the old town but central to everything. The young lady at reception is also extremely warm and very helpful. We unpack and decide to explore the old city at night and with the lighting just perfect, particularly around the Protestant Sant Pierre cathedral, a hybrid of Gothic and Romanesque architecture, everything again seems so perfect and surreal.
The following day, we are out again early following good breakfast delivered at our door and explore other areas of the city. We walk along the foreshore of the Rhine River Quai Gustave Ador and walk out on a pier wall towards the city's iconic flower clock and Jet d' eau, a 130 metre high jet fountain. We are just in time for the push button launch of the jet. We then walk extensively around the city, viewing a range of sights but as the day progresses, we find ourselves becoming more and more detached from this context.
As travel experts would be aware, this city is all about money, money, money and it is extreme in an alienating way: Cartier, Versace, Rolex, Luis Vitton, Gucci etc etc. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is so expensively geared that I feel like I am holidaying in the most artificial and exclusive place on earth, but then again, who booked here?.....moi. Who has booked a range of cities?....moi. Need to revisit itinerary and bookings. I loved the look of that old village at the foot of a mountain that I spotted on the rain journey to Geneve......
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