Somewhere In Between

Sorry the posts are coming less frequently, but I have less and less things to relate on a travel blog. I have been dutifully getting ready for a very intense next three weeks. The photo displayed here is of the hallway between the lift and my room here in Geneva. It is rather like a scene from a David Lynch film or a William Burrough's Interzone (sans heroin). But more about the in-betweenness later.

Yesterday I gathered up all my belongings in the dark of the hostel, the roommates all snug in their beds. I took a taxi to the train station and took the very fast train to Lyon. I have to say that out of all the modes of travel my favorite is by train.

At the Lyon station I had the perfect amount of time to get to my next train, but in my confidence I was not careful to see how many trains were at one platform and I got on the one to Evian, not Geneva! Luckily I was able to jump off at a stop in Bellegarde and jump on to the Geneva bound train before the three trains separated. Whew!

Arriving in Geneva, I got my Swiss Francs and made a reservation for Marseille later this month for I did not want to be left without much choice. The ticket guy said he didn't usually make reservations like this but since I had a Eurail pass and I was making a reservation so far ahead of time that he would. I guess most Eurail people try to get on a train the day of... Perhaps this was my problem in Paris, that usually the last minute Eurail pass holders requests are annoying so she put me on the worst train. This ticket guy was very nice and even got me on first class on a train that leaves midday. Then it'll be on to Marseille and holidays again!

Switzerland doesn't feel like a holiday at all. After doing all my train station errands I went to take the tram which was easy enough and went to my hostel which is ON the border of Switzerland and France. There is a TON of room for one person and very conducive for studying. I did some of that yesterday and then went to eat near the lake. It was good and I have to say that Paris still has the best ice cream. Swiss ice cream IS exceptionally good, but Parisian ice cream still has a quality that is superior.

I walked around a bit but I didn't take any pictures. I'll be here for quite a bit longer on the way back through so then will be more sightseeing. My impression of the few blocks I saw of Geneva is that this is where the people on the pages of glossy magazines come from. Not really my style. Paris is very European, true, and it can be terribly stylish, but there's a roughness, a poetic quality perhaps. Geneva is very European and very stylish, but clean and business-like. Meh.

This morning I have stayed on the French side. I got a chasson de pommes at the patisserie - an apple croissant - and two coffees at this cafe where I saw two bikers! They were big and wore some leather and were drinking at noon, but they were drinking rosé and had very nicely coiffed long grey hair.

And now I'm back in my room reading and writing and trying not to be intimidated by this coming week's studies. I feel it is somewhat proper to be staying on the border between here and there... In a no man's land. It is a rich space for thought. Or so I think.

I will post one more time from Saas-Fe letting you all know I arrived safely, but then I will only perhaps be posting sporadically until the 23rd of August where I will pick up where I left off, here in the borderlands.
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