Day 10: The UN, CERN, Bayview (best day ever)

I’m sorry to say it, but the chances are that the day I’m having as I write this is better than the day you’re having as you reading this.  And that includes future me.  Sorry future me.

We slept in again this morning.  Dawn wanted to try and get on the English speaking United Nations tour this morning, but that start’s at 10:30 and it didn't look very promising as we left our hotel.  Fortunately the first tram we saw happened to be heading straight for the UN building, so that was a stroke of luck.  When we got to the building at 10:20 the gates were closed and they were only allowing people with UN badges through...but we spotted a sign that said visitor entrance that pointed to the left.  We wandered left and found a museum… we continued wandering left and eventually we found another entrance that accepted visitors.  The time was slightly after 10:30 am.   We checked in through security and were told that the next English speaking tour was actually at 11:00 and we should report to another building for the tour.  We arrive just a few minutes before the tour started.  Talk about amazing luck and great timing.

The tour lasts for an hour.  The Geneva UN headquarters had previously been the League of Nations headquarters prior to the dissolution of the League of Nations.  The tour included three of the conference rooms where UN business is currently conducted.  Of those three, two were re-purposed from the League of Nations.  I learn that the Geneva UN’s mission is focused on human rights and disarmament.  As we’re visiting rooms we are told a few of the crisis that have been defused in them.  There are some questions other visitors have about the efficacy of the UN as an organization. Our tour guide explains that above all the overriding goal of the UN is to prevent WWIII.  He submits that so far they've been successful.  He admits that it’s not perfect, but it’s an organization that’s constantly trying to improve itself and striving for the lofty goal of peace.  

After the UN tour we catch a tram to the big train station we arrived at yesterday and then switch trams to ride out to CERN.  We grab a quick sandwich on the way so that we’re not starving all afternoon.  We arrive at CERN about 10 minutes early and meet our tour guide for the afternoon.  There really aren't public tours of CERN.  To see much of anything you have to know someone that works here (or in our case, know someone who knows someone).  Our tour guide is a particle physicist that works on the CMS experiment.  He takes us to the Globe which is a huge wooden sphere that is pretty much all CERN has to offer the public.  He relates some of the LHC impressive statistics and facts using the Globes exhibits as props.  After that he swings us by the CERN computing building and we get to see it’s data center.  While there I asked about Tim Berners-Lee and our tour guide says that the first web server is in the lobby if I want to see it.  Of course I want to see it!  Later we learn that it used to be in the computing center lobby, but now it’s in the Globe… so maybe I did see it, but I wasn’t aware what I was looking at.  Oh well, it’s hard to get too choked up over not seeing an antiquated PC when our next stop was the other side of the ring to see the CMS detector in person.

The compact muon solenoid (CMS) detector is one of the LHC’s four experiments.  It’s one of the two general purpose detectors on the ring (the other two are special purpose detectors).  This is the thing that detected the Higgs boson.  As luck would have it we picked the perfect time to visit the CMS.  The LHC is down this year for maintenance while they make improvements so that they can run it at higher energies next year.  One of the interesting things about the CMS detector is it’s built to be slid open for maintenance.  At the time of our visit the CMS detector has been opened up for prime viewing.  This is the first time this has happened for years.  The person who took us underground to see the detector said that he has been here for 7 years and during that time it’s never been as impressive to see as it has been in the last 48 hours.

After our CMS visit we drive back across the ring to the main CERN complex.  Our tour guide asks us what our plans are, because if we’re interested we could join him for 5:00 beers on the patio.  He says it’s kind of a CERN tradition.  A few years ago people used to be able to drink whenever they wanted.  Eventually this policy was rethought and now staff has to wait until 5:00 pm. So we end our visit to CERN having beers on the patio chatting to our tour guide surrounded by CERN physicists .  So yeah, that happened.  If you have the means and the access I highly recommend a private tour of CERN.  I am immensely grateful that I had the opportunity.

It’s hard to follow up our day of amazing tours but Dawn did the best she could by making reservations at a recently awarded Michelin star restaurant on the shore of Lake Geneva.  We get a table for two with both chairs facing a private window looking out at the lake.  We order their tasting menu (of course) and spend the evening being presented with amazing dishes while watching the lake and the sun set.  How lucky am I?  Very lucky.  Very lucky indeed. Talk about an amazing day.

One thought the keeps bouncing around in my head is a result of an observation that Dawn made.  I had remarked how Geneva has a philosophical bent towards achieving peace.  That’s obviously the UN mission.  During our tour we learned that CERN was founded after WWII to promote peace through collaborative science.  Dawn said that she thought the UN’s promise is “think of what we could get done if we all just worked together” while CERN is that vision applied and put into action.

Day 10: Food

This abalone is perhaps the best piece of seafood in the universe.

 They rolled the cheese cart around so that we could select some after dinner cheeses.

They also rolled around a candy cart that we stupidly forgot to photograph.  It was pretty impressive but we were too stuffed by then to avail ourselves to it.  They insisted that we take some caramels and nougats to go though.

Day 9: Farewell to Lyon, on to Geneva

Today we visited the Museum of the Resistance in what was originally a medical college, turned Gestapo headquarters during the occupation. This small museum weaves historical information and artifacts with personal accounts from Lyonesse children, resistance members, and several prisoners detained here before being deported to work camps or Auschwitz. The collection is an extremely personal account of the lives of ordinary citizens and was completely worth the trip to see.

Museum entrance.

Courtyard.

A statue outside.

Photographs taken by Emile Rouge.

WWII era gas mask.

Propaganda display.

Recounting activism from his student days.

Wireless.

These include a pacifist student who was recruited to represent France at the Olympics recounting laughing with her friends at how ridiculous they thought this Hitler fellow was, and how much they had underestimated him. The vandalism of another student who removed a stained glass portrait of Marshal Petain recently installed in a church and smashed it before symbolically drowning it in the river. A man recounting being captured by the gestapo at a raid and his wife first going to Barbie to demand his release and then participating in the rescue of him and some other prisoners during transport to the train station. A wireless operator demonstrating how she encoded transmissions. A Jewish man who was captured with his mother and grandfather when he was 15 detailing his grandfather’s murder, their detainment here, transfer to Auschwitz, release to the Swedish Red Cross, return to Lyon, and eventual return to Auschwitz, which his mother had not survived.

Bill had read some reviews criticizing the museum for not being sufficiently English friendly, which seems like a bizarre criticism, and one that is apparently out of date. The 4 euro admission price includes access to an android tablet programmed in 4 languages, including English. Bill did that, while I took the slightly lighter paper booklet. Throughout the exhibit, there are wall mounted screens with recordings or video interviews, all with English options. If you come to Lyon, you should definitely do this – and block off at least 3 hours.

Afterwards, we made our way back to the market to find it indeed mostly closed for the holiday, with only a few crowded cafés open. So we instead head to a slightly quieter restaurant near the hotel for burgers and sausages before picking up our baggage to head out for our last train ride this trip. To Geneva, where Bill appears to have booked us a room in some sort of nightclub, or something.

Our bed has ground effects. WTF.

Here we have what is so far the largest communication error of the trip. Instead of ordering a small meal with a couple of cocktails, we get a large one. Alas, as far as errors go, this isn’t too bad.

Day 9: French Resistance, Sleeping at the Nightclub, Dinner Miscommunications

Our train to Geneva doesn't depart until 5:30 pm so we sleep in and spend a morning in Lyon.  First off, I think this hotel has maybe the most comfortable pillow I've experienced yet on this trip.  I slept very well indeed.  We check our luggage with concierge desk at our hotel since room checkout is well before our train trip and then head out for a morning on the town.

Dawn saw a museum dedicated to the French Resistance during WWII that she wants to visit.  We grab two daily metro passes (we’re metro pros now) and head off to find the museum.  I had read some reviews of the museum that it does not to a great job of accommodating non-French speaking visitors.  They must have taken that criticism to heart because that was not the case when we visited.  In fact, this museum did one better than the normal audio guide wand things.  They offered to handout either a paper notebook with a translation of the exhibits’ text in English (which is what Dawn opted for) or a fancy Android tablet with a custom app on it.  I obviously opted for the tablet… and predictably there were some tech support issues getting everything running smoothly (I think the third tablet worked).  Still, I was excited to be on the cutting edge of museum info innovation.

The museum itself was actually pretty small but we spent more than two hours in it.  The subject matter was expectedly chilling.  It told an interesting perspective of the lead up and subsequent German occupation of France through first-person accounts and artifacts.  I wasn't very familiar with this particular facet of history surrounding the war, so I learned at lot.  The museum is well executed and powerful.

We hop on the metro again and head back towards our hotel.  The hotel is right next to a big indoor food market called Les Halles de Lyon.  Everything we've read says it’s definitely worth checking out for fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, and everything else edible and French.  We swung by last night and it looked closed.  This morning it’s technically open...but pretty much every shop is closed.   Today is actually a holiday in France celebrating the end of hostilities in WWII (which is why the museum we saw this morning is closed all holidays except this one).  With the market a bust we find a small cafe and grab some lunch.  I get a sausage with mustard plate.  Now, I’m a big fan of sausage in all it’s wonderful forms.  When I cut into my sausage it exploded in a pinata of textures and I made a conscious decision to not look at it for too long and to absolutely avoid trying to identify individual parts.  I’m not sure this sausage was ground so much as left over parts were crammed into a casing and cooked.  That being said, it was very tasty...but the variation of textures with every bite was a bit disconcerting.

After the cafe we didn't have too much longer to bum around town so we decided to go back to our hotel and just hangout in their well appointed lobby until we needed to get our luggage back and head to the train station for our last train ride of the trip.  A couple of hours later we were walking around Geneva.  We found our hotel and damn, I think the N’vY (that’s name of our hotel) can give the W as run for it’s money when it comes to hotel swankyness.  Dawn tells me I like to book hotels that can be mistaken for a nightclub.  She might be right in this instance.  There is dance music playing all throughout the lobby.  The halls are well… just look at the halls.

Our room is pretty swank too.

So uh, yeah.  If you look closely you might notice that you can see Dawn in the bathroom.  That's because the bathroom is actually a glass room (include the toilet area) that they have tastefully silvered here and there to create some (albeit small) sense of mystery as to what's going on in there.

For dinner we opt to eat at the hotel bar.  They have a tapas special that includes 3 tapas and a cocktail that we order.  Actually our plan is to order one of the tapas special and split it and order two of the cocktails... but there are some communication issues.  The tapas come out and they are very good but also very tiny.  It’s not a big deal because we weren't that hungry anyway.  We decide maybe a few more tiny tapas and we’ll be good.  This time we order off this other tapas menu on the table.  These tapas come out and they’re huge.  That’s right, it’s another night on this vacation where I’m staring at a plate with a variety of cured meats.  Also, I try to order an additional cocktail but that also gets communication mangled and I get another cocktail and 3 tiny little tapas again.  Over all the food was very good, but if I spoke a bit more French I’m sure we could have spent half as much in the bar.  Oh well, live and learn.  

Day 9: Food

These are the three little tapas that come with our cocktail. Soo cute.

This is a mound of meat that somehow counts as a single tapas.

This is like half a loaf if toast covered in salmon that also counts as a single tapas. 

Day 8: Rubbing the Soft, Fluffy Belly of Lyon

Today we got a slow start, enjoying the fabulous, many nozzled shower, lingering at breakfast to talk to our host about driving in foreign countries and how exactly one comes to own a B&B in a medieval city. After a last lap around Carcassonne, we caught a train to Lyon.

Lyon Train Station.

Rain was in the forecast, and it was sputtering down when we reached the station. By the time we exited, umbrellas in hand, the rain was gone. Yet another day of ideal weather on this trip.

Admittedly, neither of us did a damned bit of research for this stop. It was labelled, “that thing to break up the train ride to Geneva.” And our arrival time is late in the afternoon. When we checked in, the receptionist (unprompted by us) pointed to Old Town and told us how to purchase metro tickets. With a small amount of prompting, she also provided restaurant recommendations and the location of a pharmacy. I have a blister that could use a little padding.

The pharmacist at first insists he speaks no English, but when I tell him I have a blister on my foot, he immediately pulls out the correct bandages and translates the label, adding a lengthy discussion on the importance of warming the bandage in my hands before applying to improve the adhesive’s effectiveness. With comparisons to warming up a race car before a big race. I can totally handle that kind of no English.

We head out to Old Town, and I learn a lot more about Bill’s hesitance to use the metro. Apparently, metro maps are like tangled balls of string that if he touched attract rabid kittens or something. Anyway, first we get off at completely the wrong stop, but it’s not a bad part of town.

I don't know where we are, but it seems alright.

And there's a river.

Then we make it to Old Town and wander around for a bit, finding the ruins of a church dating back to 150 AD, and a pedestrian bridge back across the river.

Now this looks more like Old Town. Full of tourists and everything.

Next to the large church are the ruins of two smaller churches.

Arches everywhere!

More views from Old Town.

We found a bridge.

A pretty cool bridge.

Note the mismatched spires.

Bookstore!

We wander around looking in shops and at interesting architecture for a while before catching the metro back towards our hotel, a short walk to check out the menus at both potential dinner venues. We select Table 101, which isn't open yet. Excellent, that leaves time to change into slightly nicer clothes.

I’m not gonna lie. Dinner was fantastic. So was the again randomly selected wine. Cheese is totally an acceptable dessert course.

Bill in his natural habitat. And complimentary champagne.

Our plan was to follow dinner with a reconnaissance mission to the Les Halles market, but the market was already closed, and tomorrow may be a no go because of the holiday. I've checked to ensure the museum I want to visit is open, so that should be a go.

When we return to the room, I notice that one of the provided toiletries is fancy bath salts.  This is an invitation I accept. I am now relaxed, stuffed, and a sleepy. Really not a bad day for having no plans at all.

Day 8: Lyon, Its Metro, Duck Tartare

A sound night’s sleep and we’re up at 8:00 am.  Not surprisingly the bed and breakfast includes a complimentary breakfast.  We chat with the B&B owner while snacking on pastries and coffee.  She has only owned the B&B for a year and tells us property in the walled city doesn't come up for sale often.  Mostly it’s just passed from family member to family member.  When it does come up for sale the hotel chains try and snatch it up.  Interesting.

After breakfast we take another stroll around La Cite.  It’s still early enough that the hoards of day tourist haven’t shown up yet so it’s still very pleasant.  Dawn buys a bottle of local wine for her grandparents.  We grab a taxi at the La Cite’s gate and head to the train station.  

I've said it before and I’ll say it again.  Travelling by high speed train is so much more humane than plane.  Sure it’s not quite as fast, but the ride is smoother, quieter, the seats are larger, you aren't treated like cattle during security screenings, and the whole experience is just more pleasant.  

Our ride to Lyon is about 3 hours.  As we arrive it’s obvious that it has just finished raining.  There are still a few drops falling from the sky and many of the pedestrians have umbrellas out.  Thus far we've hit the weather lottery on this trip.  Everyday has been perfect weather.  Even now the rain has ceased to the point that neither Dawn nor myself feels that it’s actually worth deploying our umbrellas (that’s right, we came prepared).  It’s a short walk to our hotel and we check in.  I remember this hotel having a confusing website.  Evidently I had booked us a studio room that has a sleeper sofa and ONLY a sleeper sofa.  Once we work this out we upgrade to a room with an actual bed.  Besides the halls, which are depressing and grim, this hotel is super modern and swank.

The nice lady at check-in explains to us that we can buy a day pass to the metro at the shop across the street and circles a bunch of interesting stuff in Lyon to check out.  I always like to say that you don’t really know a city until you've been confused by it’s metro and made a bunch of unnecessary stops.  Actually, I've never said that, but that’s what happened.  After a couple of missteps we figure out how it works and where we want to be and from then on the Lyon metro is our friend.  We visit it’s old town, it’s obligatory Gothic cathedrals (plural!)  We walk through it’s shopping district and overall it seems like a pretty nice metropolitan town.  

For dinner we eat at a place right next to our hotel that the concierge recommended.  It turns out that the concierge knows her stuff and it’s a super nice recommendation.  I get a duck tartare that is amazing.  I've never had duck tartare before, but if I see it on a menu again I’m going to order it in hopes that it’s anything like what I ate tonight.  Dawn ordered a pork dish and I ordered a white fish from Lake Geneva (since we traveling there tomorrow I thought I should get a preview).  The fish is very very good, but pales in comparison to the magical pork dish Dawn receives.  For dessert I get a chartreuse souffle that is outstanding.