Our visit to Geneve was mainly to visit a Voltaire museum. The museum was tucked away in an untouristy area but we found it and had it all to ourselves when it opened at 2.00pm. The museum was Voltaire’s house and gave some insight into his life. Arkady is doing an assessment task on Voltaire so hopefully it was helpful. The highlight for us all though was probably afternoon tea in a chic (but not shabby), eclectic (but not messy) café, where pastries, coffee and hot chocolates were served to us as we sat in an old sleigh near the window. The interior was certainly warm and welcoming and the décor had us spotting mini-chandeliers, old French oilcans, toy hot air balloons, vintage posters etc. We also managed to spend our last Swiss francs (yes they don’t use Euros!)
We found a beautifully situated campsite on the terraced hills overlooking Mont Blanc and Lake Geneve, groves of autumn trees, a winding tiny road, an even smaller village nearby and a sign out the front “Ferme” – closed yesterday. Camping grounds are very seasonal and many finish their run at the end of September. We’ve been lucky up ‘til now- we’ve planned and researched to make sure we had open campsites. The next nearest campsite was a car park at the top of a pass over the Jura Mountains. We started driving, enjoying the views back towards Mont Blanc and kept driving into the late afternoon. The car park was barren and uninviting. Finally we arrived in Les Rousses, a winter resort town for skiing and sometimes a walker’s paradise if the weather’s fine in autumn. It was, and we found a campsite open. The Jura Mountains are spectacular, trails going everywhere and of course that golden autumn glow of the forest. Next year’s Tour de France will hold a stage through this area and the town had posters up celebrating the event already. It should be good viewing in 2010.
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