I slept in about 10 minutes later than usual- I'm not getting a lot of sleep on this trip haha. I had one last slice of the galette des rois and then I was off. The Roubaud's gave me a cute little bag of goodies to eat on my way to Geneva :) it was sad to have to leave them and their cute house, but we said see you later instead of goodbye. I really enjoyed getting to know them and having so many opportunities to speak French. I took the bus to the gare and waited on my bus to Geneva, but it was half an hour late. So I waited inside where it was a bit less cold (it was -4° C). I'm just thankful it's warmer than Milwaukee. I finally got to Geneva and headed to the train station to lock up by backpack for the day. Unfortunately I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out where to go- their wifi was free but required an SMS and I couldn't do that. Eventually I headed out to a place for fondue. On the way I passed le jet d'eau (huge fountain) and got some pictures- luckily it was on, it ended up getting turned off halfway through the day cuz it was too cold. I eventually got to the fondue place, but I'm not really sure what the heck I walked into, something with a lot of baths? I dunno but it was weird and cool at the same time. There was a band setting up and lots of fireplaces set up on this pier. I wish I would've taken a picture cuz it seemed very local- aka kinda ratchet but safe. Unfortunately they weren't serving fondue yet, and I would've stayed for a hot chocolate but I felt like I had to participate in the whole bathing thing and I wasn't up for that. I also needed a place with wifi so I left. I found my way to the tourist office finally and they gave me some good recommendations and maps. I headed off on the tram to the UN headquarters. It was really cool but it was closed so I basically got off the train, took some pictures, and got back on the train. It was really neat to be there though. After I got back to town I headed to the "old city" to walk around and visit some museums. I was able to take the bus- apparently in Switzerland you don't have to stamp your ticket, you just get on and if they do a check you better have paid for a ticket. Interesting. When I got to the old town I was shocked by the amount of fancy stores- I definitely didn't have that kind of money. I made my way up the hill and found a church that was closed, so I walked up some more- I didn't really think about spending a week in the alps and all the hills I'd have to climb. I eventually found the museum the lady at the tourist office had recommended. It was a free and really good museum. It was in an old mansion in the old city. It was very informative on the Swiss life and on the history of the house itself. Luckily I can read French or else it wouldn't have been a good trip. The place also had wifi (a miracle!) and I figured out my next excursion. I searched high and low for the correct bus, but finally I found it and got on. It dropped me off at the French border, and from there I walked to the base of a mountain to take a cable car :) I looked up to the top, and it seemed very very steep, making me even more excited. I got my ticket and made friends with a Belgian- vive le Flandres! He was also traveling by himself and I think he was happy to talk to someone while I was happy to speak French to anyone. We went up the cable car and took a million pictures along the way. By the time we got to the top, there was snow and it was much much colder. We got out and I looked for a cafe I had read about, but it turns out it was closed and the only thing open was a little hut selling coffee and snacks. We got hot chocolates and madelines and looked out over the city. It was really cool, and I think we saw Mont Blanc as well- two days in a row! We were both iced over so we headed back to the car, but I took too long to find my ticket and he got on before I could buy another so we said goodbye through the window haha. It took away the awkward "ok I'm gonna continue by myself now" conversation. I descended on the next car, and walked back into Switzerland and hopped on the bus. I got back to the old town and visited St. Peter's Cathedral which used to be a Catholic church until the Reformation. Now the church that looms over the city is Protestant. I didn't have a ton of time to look around, but I didn't need that much. It was really interesting to notice all the differences between the millions of European Catholic churches and this supposedly grand Protestant church. There was hardly anything inside, only the grandeur of the ex-Catholic building caught your eye, very much in line with Protestantism. The front pews were turned away from the front in order to face the pulpit. Instead of water fonts there were collection stands. Very interesting. Afterwards I walked down the hill to a restaurant I had seen earlier and got a three-cheese fondue with a glass of white wine. Holy moly it was really good. Like really good. I wish I could've had a proper French meal there and stayed for a few hours, but I had to catch my bus, so I headed out and went to the train station to get my backpack and then headed to the bus station to sit and wait for 40 minutes since this bus was also late. It finally came though and I was on my way to Lyon. I got off the bus at Lyon and looked all over the place for my friend Erica (future roommate) whom I was meeting up with. It look us a while to find each other, but we finally did it. She showed me her school and we looked for the cool part of town she wanted to show me, but we gave up and took an uber. The guy was really nice and said I didn't have an accent but I knew that was a lie. We finally found somewhere to hang and we got drinks and a plate of meat and cheese. We downed it quick though in order to get back to the bus. We had some more problems with transportation and ended up taking a taxi. We got there on time though, and Erica was so nice about all the stressful situations I put her through. It was so so good to see her and hear how her study abroad experience is starting out. Lyon is also a super cool, clean and modern town- it's huge! Now for Paris!