Day 13: Geneva and Lavaux

For Day 13, we packed up our things in Vevey and took the train to Geneva. In Geneva, we stowed our gear in a train station locker and eventually figured out how to take the bus to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.

As we were walking from the bus stop to the U.N. building, we noticed the Red Cross / Red Crescent museum and took some photos in honor of Sharon Manatt's service to the Red Cross. Then, we discussed how an organization that sells blood that is freely donated and drawn by many volunteers could be in financial trouble. Maybe Eric can turn around their finances when he retires.
Red Cross Museum

Once we passed through security at the U.N., we secured a tour in English and learned about the history of the U.N., and how its responsibilities are divided between the Geneva and New York City offices. It was good for the kids to learn about the U.N. I tried not to dampen their enthusiasm with my cynicism.

At first, excitement from the kids.

The U.N. has a great view overlooking Lake Geneva.
An interesting conference room with a 3D ceiling mural of the ocean floor.
U.N. blue flag of impotence.

Garrett starting to tire of the tour...
Original conference room of the League of Nations.

Garrett definitely tiring of the tour...
Peace Brother.

After the tour, we retrieved our luggage and took the train to Lausanne. We checked into the hostel, which has an incredible view of Lake Geneva.

From our window.

We spent part of the afternoon making plans for the last part of our trip, in France. Then, we set off for the Lavaux wine region overlooking Lake Geneva. Lavaux is a steeply terraced wine region that is 1000 years old. There are 7 appellations in the area, and they grow one of the oldest cultivated grapes, called Chasselas. We took the funicular up from Vevey to Chardonne. We took the walking path from Chardonne through the vineyards.

Chardonne vineyards.
That is Vevey and Lake Geneva in the background.

The hike was pleasant, with incredible views.
A nice afternoon walk.

It was muggy and the hike was over an hour, but it is a must if you're going to be in the area.

We took the path into a different appellation, St. Saphorin. This is a medieval town with narrow stone "streets" barely the width of a small car. The streets are extremely steep, like a tiny, ancient San Francisco.

Views of St. Saphorin.

At the bottom of the hill, we entered one of the "caveau," which are retails sales outlets for the wineries above. We tried one of the local whites. It was cold. The boys also had a sip and, based upon their holy communion experience, declared their preference for red wine.

After we cooled off in the caveau, we took the train back to our hostel in Lausanne, found an easy dinner spot and relaxed for the night.

Tomorrow, we take a train to Paris and will stay for 6 nights. We'll use that as our base camp for exploring the city and day trips.

Switzerland has been great. When we started planning this trip, we had no idea Switzerland would be the central feature.