Days 28-31, Geneva to Lugrin, chateau days

Day 28 – Geneva to chateau on Lake Geneva

We made it to our air-conditioned hotel in Geneva last night. Rested for a while, then trudged down to the “restaurant” in the hotel. No one was around – no bartender, nobody, so we searched out someone who could give us a beer and wine. Finished it off and moved to the “restaurant.” Service is not a thing here. Took a while to get someone to notice us (even though we were the only ones in the “restaurant”), but she finally took our order for a pizza (the cheapest thing on the menu at $18, which is about $23 US. It’s expensive here.

Visited briefly with a guy in the bar who works for the UN. Couldn’t understand half of what he said, but he was a friendly chap.

Back to our room to watch the first quarter of a basketball game before we called it a night.

We were very comfortable – it was air conditioned. The beds were very narrow – kind of like lying on a funeral pyre, but okay.

Day 29 – travel day, Geneva to Lugrin

Downstairs this morning to have coffee, Beth went to get her prescription filled and patiently waited until check-out at noon so we can walk down to the train station to catch a train to Evian les Bains, then a taxi to our chateau on the lake.

We’re foregoing any sightseeing because the temp today is supposed to reach 100 degrees. It’s brutal. We’re hoping our air-conditioned apartment at the chateau will provide some relief, and the lake is right there so Beth can swim.

We took off for the train station around 11 am to catch a 1:15 pm train, and thank goodness we asked for some help to find our platform for the train because the woman said our 1:15 pm train was canceled, and she indicated that we should take the local train to Annemasse – that left in 1 minute, so we scrambled up to the platform and caught the train. Arrived in Annemasse only to learn that all the trains were canceled but there was a bus to take us to Evian. It left in about 30 minutes after we arrived, so we found a shady spot and waited.

The bus arrived, and it took about 45 minutes to get to Evian. It was pleasant – we saw much more of the countryside than we would have seen from a train.

Arrived in Evian – it’s about 3 pm. We’re supposed to arrive at our chateau in Lugrin between 3-3:30 pm. No problem EXCEPT could we find a taxi or Uber? No way – we tried Uber twice, too long of a wait (who knows how long), we asked a taxi driver who was there for a scheduled ride how to get a taxi; she gave us three phone numbers. None of them answered. Just was we were running out of patience, a local bus with “Lugrin” on it arrived. We paid $4, jumped on it and arrived at the supermarket stop around 4 pm.

We began walking toward the chateau, which is about 1 km downhill. No big deal unless you’ve got your luggage (thank goodness, we only packed small carry-ons) and it’s 105 degrees with a 63-degree dewpoint.

We were in constant communication with a young lady who was supposed to meet us, but she was running out of patience since she already had waited an hour for our arrival. Finally, halfway to the chateau, we asked for some help – could she please pick us up? She and a friend picked us up, much to their dismay, and delivered us to the chateau. They showed us around, then Beth asked for a ride back up the hill to the grocery store because we had nothing to eat. They took her to the market; she couldn’t find a taxi or Uber to return, so she walked.

She did all the yeoman’s work, and I’m blessed that she can do it. I can do it, but I have to rest every so often because of my hip – and the heat/humidity is a killer.

Anywho, Beth returns with some groceries. The air conditioner (European-style) is not working correctly, and we search all the kitchen drawers but can’t find silverware or knives. We open the apartment to get some air, we eat our roasted chicken with our hands (well, to be fair, we had bought some wooden eco-utensils that came in handy); we shower, we go to bed. We tried to sleep. We left the windows/doors open to catch any breeze but Beth was afraid of bats (!) so we left a light on all night.

I had messaged the property about the air conditioner and the lack of utensils, but received no response so I contacted booking.com and lodged a complaint, requesting we get a refund so we could move on. That continued until we went to bed.

In the meantime, Beth ventured out to the waterfront to our “private beach,” and took a swim. The “beach” is large rocks, or ankle-rollers, so she didn’t take a traditional photo of her feet in the water. She said the water was refreshing, warmer than Burntside in Ely.

Me beginning the blog in Geneva before our travel day. Little did we know.....

Day 30 – at the chateau in Lugrin

Sleeping wasn’t unbearable last night, but it heats up pretty quickly so we wandered over to our “second” bedroom on the other side of the hallway that was much cooler. It has a view of the lake and a nice breeze. Beth calls it the “tower bedroom” because it’s small and has two small square windows looking out over the lake.

The concierge or property manager finally returned my message and after two messages in which he said the utensils were in a kitchen drawer and after I had asked if he could be more specific…. We still couldn’t locate the silverware.

He finally came to our apartment to fix the air conditioner and locate the silverware for us (there is an additional drawer within the top of a large drawer that we didn’t know was there – nor did he, but he found it). Then he had to plug the washing machine back in – it’s in a closet and holds about 2 gallons of water – and it had walked itself out of the closet and face-planted on the kitchen floor.

Alas, we got all our laundry done but drying outside is kind of fruitless since the humidity is so high.

Anywho, he also was kind enough to contact a local taxi driver to arrange for a ride Friday morning to the supermarket and a ride to the Evian train station on Monday when we trek to Chambery to meet Jae/Boots for the next portion of our trip.

This is a lovely apartment, and a very unique property as it is in a chateau that was built in the 1500s. It has some condos in it – at least two of them are occupied by old women, one of whom loaned us a wine corkscrew to open the bottle of wine Beth got the first day she shopped. The only issue about the property is the fact that it is far from anything – restaurants, groceries, etc. And we don’t have a car, so we’re pretty much resigned to the fact that we’re not going anywhere until we leave Monday. And that’s ok. Down time is good right now.

The Chateau de Tourronde was built in 1535 by the lords of Blonay, and it is one of the finest heritage gems on Lake Geneva. Sold in 1922 to Princess Henriette of Belgium — niece of King Leopold II and sister of King Albert I — it was fully restored and embellished in the neo-Gothic style. Princess Henriette commissioned the famous stone bridge spanning the national road, providing private and exclusive access to the lakeshore. It is listed as a prestigious co-ownership today, and it is home to exceptional apartments set within a remarkable historic estate.

It’s a beautiful property and perhaps we’ll stroll it in the next few days – maybe around 6 am, if the dew point decreases.

Oh, and there’s 39 steps up to the third-floor apartment we’re occupying.

We ate herb sausages and some little potatoes for supper, thanks to Beth’s grocery shopping the prior day.

An aerial view of the chateau in which we're living for the next few days. Not my photo.

Day 31 – Friday at the chateau

We slept in the air conditioning last night, and it was glorious. Got up and met Jean Marc, our taxi driver, who was a delight. He took us to the market, we got our shopping done quickly, and he returned us.

So we’ll be doing pretty much nothing the next two days – watch some basketball (I can access my WNBA league pass), maybe watch some of the new releases on Hulu of “The Bear” (haven’t tried to see if we can actually access Hulu or Netflix), Beth will work on her watercolor journal, and, of course, we’ll do some reading.

It’s a blessing, actually, because the temps remain extremely high – 90 to 100 F – with the dew point hovering around 63, which makes it unbearable if you’re out and about at all.

We’re in the middle of a historic heat wave in France - believe everything you hear on the news.

Since we’re not going anywhere, I haven’t taken many photos but here’s a few of our chateau and lake: