It is now Saturday and over the last 7 days we have seen and done so much.
Although we didn’t see too much of Geneva I don’t think it has met my expectations. I thought it would be a architecturally rich city using interesting modern design but this did not appear to be the case.
Chamonix surprised me to no end as to the beauty and quaintness of the region. Very Swiss in look and feel but still french through and through and very proud of this. The people here were always friendly and willing to help, even going out of their way to assist us on occassion. Nestled in the valley surrounded by towering mountains, Chamonix has all the aspects that you would imagine for an alpine, sporting region. With incredible casual walks, full on hiking, climbing, skiing, ice climbing, canoeing, paragliding, mountain biking the list goes on as to all the sports you could get into here. The price of food is significantly more expensive here but if you are clever, shop around using the supermarkets and use the kitchen if you have hired an apartment then you can still save some money.
Grenoble again was a surprise. Surrounded by hills it is a bigger city with a smaller town feel. I really enjoyed this place but would still probably pick Chamonix over all of them. The cable car was great fun and the river (Isere) wonderful to watch as it flys by. It doesn’t seem to be a place though that people use as a base for sports like in Chamonix.
Finally, Paris. We love this place. Currently it is warm, sunny and great summer concerts are on along the Seine, with music, dancing, petanque, fencing, “beaches” that have been created along the Seine river walls, people eating, laughing and watching the world go by. More on Paris later as we have to get going. Off to Montmartre today.