After four weeks in Paris, I left the city for the first time to spend the weekend just outside of Geneva, Switzerland. I was going to be visiting my girlfriend's father who works for Lexmark there. As I took the train away from Paris I began to see what had become an unfamiliar sight - nature that had not been completely shaped by human hands. It's not that Paris has no grass or trees but when you see green it is usually in a park that has been manicured to perfection. The three hour train ride gave me my view of France outside of Paris. The land itself very well could have been from within the United States. It was only the interruptions of farmhouses and other man made structures that confirmed the landscapes French identity.

The small village I stayed in was called Collex. A few minutes outside of Geneva, it is minutes from the French border and lies in the same valley as Geneva. This valley has the Alps on the Swiss side and the Jura mountains on the French side. If I had to decide on one single most impressive sight of the weekend it would be those mountains. Maybe this was because I had spent the past four weeks in a city. Or because I just have never been any where close to mountains like the Alps. Whatever the reason, the mountains never lost the staggering effect on me everytime I looked up at them.

That Saturday I was able to go hiking in the alps. Even though it was almost summer, large snow drifts could be seen at the base of the cliffs that surrounded the valley I was hiking through. Its hard to imagine seeing so many beautiful waterfalls that you could become desensitized to them but that happened on this hike. All across the mountains the melting snow was creating cascades of clear water that fed stream that ran through the valley. The valley was nothing like anything I had ever seen before (most of my hiking experience comes from the Smoky mountains around Gatlinburg).

The village of Collex itself is a small, quiet rural area. Within the town you can not find a stop light and from the apartment I was staying you could walk anywhere quickly. Places you might walk include the post-office, local bison restaurant, and France. The village is right on the border and I was able to stand in two countries at the same time during a walk. Speaking of the bison restaurant, the village also has a herd of bison (American Buffalo) which provide for a restaurant where most every item on the menu includes bison meat.

On the subject of food, I'm going to need to write another post to talk about all the different things I have tried in France and Switzerland. This past weekend and the following Monday included raw bison, beef tartare, and escargot to name a few.

The city of Geneva itself is very French but different than Paris. There is much more green and is of course the large lake featuring the Jette d'Eau (Water jet) which is the most well known landmark in Geneva. Overall I thought it was nice balance of nature, parks, and Paris-like cafes, restaurants, and shopping.

That was my first experience of Geneva. I am looking forward to hopefully returning in July for another visit.