A Rainy day in French Switzerland

I sprint through the rain as fast as I can.  There's a train to catch in exactly 8 minutes, and as usual I am late.
So far, we had been lucky to be blessed with beautiful weather on our first two days in Switzerland. 
But today, a rainy day has dawned.
With just 1 minute to spare, the train station comes into view. And I stop in my tracks. There are two trains waiting there, and I don't know which one is mine. In my haste, I have forgotten to check the platform number of my intended train. With dismay, I watch both trains pull away right in front of my eyes.
We have just missed the train that would connect us to the Golden Pass panoramic express. 
Oh well! On the way to Geneva by a normal train via Bern now.
 Today the mountains hide their heads in a thick cloud cover. If we had arrived today, we wouldn't even have known that our apartment had a view of the mountains.


Outside the train, there seems to be nothing but clouds. Maybe we haven't really missed much panoramic views today?


A brief respite in the rain reveals the landscape. On almost every mountain top, I can see snow covered trees.



The train takes a turn around the crescent shape of the lake Geneva. The Chateau de Chillon castle racing past is a sight to behold as the train passes through the city of Montreux.


On the other side, are the vineyards of Vevey. We are now passing through the major wine producing region of Switzerland.


So far we have been travelling in the German speaking areas of Switzerland, a language which is familiar to me.

Geneva however, is another story. In this French speaking city, trying to navigate the bus and tram routes towards the Geneva Waterfront is hard, if only because we are faced with names like 
Thônex, Moillesulaz, god bless whoever can pronounce that! It scares the hell out of us and we just jump into a tram with a nice and easy name which happens to come along that moment
-- 'Nations'. 


Anyway, that is the beauty of travel. Not all those who wander are lost, as the saying goes. And 'Nations' indeed ends up going to United Nations. All is well, All is well.






The Mahatma spreading his message of non-violence in a fittingly peaceful corner of the UN complex. 





It is late and we have missed the guided tour offered by the UN. There is nothing more to do here, and we can no longer avert taking on the Thônexes and the Moillesulazes of the world. 

Navigating the bus route turns out to be actually much easier than spelling it, and shortly we are at the Geneva Waterfront. 


The Jet d'Eau in the distance.


The Flower Clock.



Its rainy and cold and time to move on to Montreux. But not before we dig into some delectable macaroons at Geneva train station. Quite good ones really. I forget the name of the bakery, probably A. Pougnier, but I daresay I liked them more than the ones at Laduree Paris.



The Montreux riviera.

Coming from the hustle bustle of Geneva, the Montreux lakefront felt so quiet. 



Located the Freddy Mercury statue.




The Chateux de Chillon.



On a silk scarf as well.



The next few days forecast is not very encouraging. There's not a sunny day showing anymore for the rest of this week and the mountains now remain a distant dream.


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