Annecy

This weekend saw the triumphant return of summer and finally gave me an excuse to take a day trip to Annecy. Just a short 45 minute trip from Geneva, Annecy is  stunning medieval town on a lake. The water in Lac d'Annecy is all alpine run off which results in a beautiful robins egg blue color and is surprisingly much warmer than the Oregon coast (but then again were isn't?).

My friend Micheal and I arrive just in time to catch the end of a very very packed market which sold everything from pretty scarfs to this cheese I still smell in my sleep. The bluer than blue river divided up the cobblestone streets of town. Annecy isn't just pretty. It's smack you in the face with European charm pretty. The town was packed with french tourists and we all seemed to be equality in awe of the canals and quaint market stands, that is was easy to ignore the touristy kitsch crowding the streets.

It's the prettiest 12th century prison ever!

After browsing the market and eating a cheap food (5 euros a sandwich!?! That's barely a down payment on a meal in Geneva), Micheal and I went to the lake to eat and people watch. The lakeside was packed with picnickers, razor scooterities and people renting paddle boats. It was 28 degrees and the water was so inviting so I did the reasonable thing and when for a swim in my clothes while Micheal looked on in shame (not the first time). It turns out that a 10 minute walk in the other direction would have reviled a large sandy beach where normal people swam in actual swimming gear. Oh well, there's always next time. I'm looking at you Kelly! 

This weekend I'm off on my last long weekend trip of my Internship. I'm going to Brussels to enjoy beer, chocolate, waffles and enjoy one of the largest festivals in Europe.

Paris on a Budget

As an underpaid intern living in one of the top five most expensive cities in the world, I constantly feel strapped for cash. Here are my handy tips for traveling Paris at under 15 Euros a day.

My first tip is more of an confession. I am not counting the cost of my Hostel (32 Euros a night) or my bus (70 euros return) in my Paris for under 60. Four days in Paris for 220 euros isn't quite as brag worthy.

Here are my nine tips for a cheap four days in Paris;

1- The Metro
The Metro in Paris is cringe inducing 1.70 a ride however they aren't zone specific and one ticket can get you anywhere you need to go with the exception of distant neighborhoods which aren't connected by metro (see last post). Since my hostel was in Montmartre, I couldn't avoid the the metro entirely so I would take a train twice a day and do all of my own walking within the city. Avoiding the tour buses and boats saves a bundle and  Paris is a walking city. I was blessed with 80 degree weather my entire trip but Ill trust Owen Wilson's advice and stay that Paris looks beautiful in the rain as well.

2- Find a hostel with free breakfast.
This is perhaps my most important tip. Not only do you not have to pay for breakfast but if your extra cheap like me you don't have to pay for any other meals! I would eat my fat fill at the cereal bar for breakfast and then pack up all of the bread and fruit I could get my hands on.  This swag would be supplemented by...

3-Supermarkets!

Despite my previous post the french do live in Paris and buy groceries like the rest of us. I would supplement my bread with cheese, nuts and 80 cent beer. Then I would carry around the bag all day which I blame be the questions about directions in French which would come multiple times a day.  As for the location of my dunches, I found a different park each day. I enjoyed Parisian picnics on the steps of Sacre-Coeur, Champs de Mars, the gardens of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the steps along the Seine. All while staying under budget!

4-One paid attraction a day.

Paris has more than enough to see without entering a single building. I wanted to see everything I could while staying withing my budget and not getting burnt out. The entirety of my first day was spent at the Louvre and  the following three days where spent mostly walking with one major paid sight. I paid to enter the Pantheon, the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs. I would advise giving the Pantheon a miss if on a budget but it was interesting to see the shrine to the republic which is now crumbling under its own weight.  I was extra excited to see the Catacombs which I had read about for years. It was not only much larger and more impressive than I expected but student tickets were only 4 euros!

5-Climb the Eiffel Tower by foot you lazy git

If you pay to take the elevator to the extreme top of the Effiel Tower it costs 12.50 but if your willing to walk up the 700 stairs it only costs 5 euros. I never made it to the extreme top of the tower but I managed to catch a spectacular Paris sunset with a wait time of only 15 minutes.

6-Cemeteries
Not only are they free but they are also spectacular. Family tombs of all sorts and sizes are museums of the macab.  I skipped the popular resting place of Jim Morrison instead exploring Montmarte cemetery. I had the cemetery to myself to wander alone which added to a spooky atmosphere. I have decided that I am traveling back to Paris before I die so I can get entombed under a betterthanlife statue of myself. I hope that's not too much to ask.

7-Churches
Are always free to enter in France and should be all over the world. I'm looking at you Westminster....

8-Don't do this

9-Spend when you want.
I could have spent maybe 15 euros less but I broke down for french pastries and the Louvre audio guide. As strange as this sounds I don't travel intentional cheap, I just know my limited means and whats worth a little extra money. 

10- Know you'll return

Paris is not a city you could ever strike off your list. I am already
planning my next trip, hopefully with a thicker wallet!

Paris Reflections

It has been a week since I arrived in the City of Light via Bus of Eastern Europeans. I believe I have recovered enough to write.  

I never wanted to go to Paris. I wasn't opposed to the idea and my entire life seemed to contain dreams of the Louvre nevertheless, Paris wouldn't have been on my top 25. I have a desire to see everything I can and living in France without seeing Paris would have been a travesty. Upon arriving in Paris, I discovered that I already knew the city from films and novels I had read. Not that watching Moulin Rouge 1,400 times in High School makes you a Parisian but seeing the landmarks had a familial air.  I arrived at the Louvre at 6:50 in the morning, a full two hours before it opened, the city was empty save for early morning joggers and homeless on the street.  It was then that I took everything back about Paris. Why had I not wanted to go here before? It was an magical feeling to think of the men and women who had stood before me in the world capital of arts and culture.  I walked from the steps of the Louvre and out to the Place de la Cordorde my mind overflowing with thoughts of the Reign of Terror, then spied Napoleons Vendome Column before turning back to the Lourve to  take my first place in the queue. I was running on less then five hours of sleep and was overwhelmed with the knowledge of  everything that had happened with a radius of five miles. 

Then the buses came. I knew that Paris is the number one tourist destination on the planet but I don't think I was read for what came next. Just like how Switzerland reminded me of a Disney parody of itself, Paris crowds gave the entire city an amusement park feel. Where can I get a fast pass for Norte Dame?

I never expected to get to know the "real" Paris nor could I with out knowledge of French and a few extra years. Despite this I was shocked by the masses of people  and lines for everything. However I quickly learned to avoid them (15 minutes only for the Eiffel Tower if you're willing to walk up and watch the sunset).  

Traveling alone in India, I was always interacting with locals and being fed, chatted up, touched and followed.  In comparison my four short days in Paris were an introspective experience where I would wake up as early as possible and start walking trying to soak in as much as I could. On Sunday I walked out of the city completely. I reached Hauts de Siene, just over nine miles from the city center. After nerve wracking walk through St. Dennis, Paris most violent suburb, I found myself on the promenade make famous by the paintings of George Seurat. Sometimes the only way to get away from the crowds is to wake up early and tear up your feet.

Next up- An Interns Travel Guide to Paris. Four days in under 60 euros.  

Swissventure!

Last weekend was my first of three long weekends. As I am currently living and working in Switzerland, I thought it best to travel this country before going further afield. Also, let’s be honest I don’t have much money and a two for one  train pass was too good of a deal to turn down.

My friend and I started our journey in Zermatt. We had four day and unlimited train travel and in a country that only take four hours to travel tip to tip, we wanted to cram in as much as we can. 

I chose Zermatt because I wanted to see the infamous Matterhorn. I must confess Disneyland did have a part to play here. After a three hour journey form geneva we arrived at the region of the Alps that boarders Italy. The village of Zermatt was an expensive ski resort and what seemed to be a misplaced fantasyland. I know of course that fantasyland is based on Swiss resorts but this was the first time in a repeating theme. I know im at the orginal but why do I feel that Switzerland is a period of its self?  The reason we had ventured to this resort clique was that I wanted to “climb” the kline Matterhorn. Now, I am not in good enough shape to climb any Matterhorn no matter how kline.  What I  took instead was a series of cable cars up 4000 meters to the top of the alps where I could feast my eyes on the real Matterhorn. The was around a half hour in total and I did feel like a complete cheater however, I arrived at the top of the alps. I was extremely lucky and was greeted with a perfectly clear sky. Now I have been many pretty places in my life but this one blew them all way. It was touching the void without the Boney M, it was awe inspiring, it was the highlight of my trip around Switzerland. Not to say it was all downhill from there, I mean it was literally not figuratively.  

The next stop was Interlaken the tiny city in between two laken.  We really only had time to walk around the city and look for the one mountain I promised Id see for my Father. The elger! And here  it is behind a apartment complex! Sorry for the poor framing Dad.

The next morning it was off to Bern after a breakfast of bread and yogurt from the nearest Migros (see finances above).  Bern is the capital of Switzerland and make my heart skip a beat for one reason and one reason only. It was here that Albert Einstein first thought up relativity while staring at the town clock on a bus home from the Swiss patent office (see pervious post- Science rules). My heart was shortly broken when I discovered that Eisenstein's house was closed due to water damage. After a few beers around the Parliament building (Did I tell you I love you yet Switzerland?) and then we decided to jump on the train and head to Basel. 

Basel, like all Swiss towns have all sights around the train station. We browsed old town sights including a children's choir, more damn clocks and my future coffee porch. 

After Basel we ventured on to Luzern. Home of more lovely Gothic towns, the worlds saddest lion, and people who had no idea how to politely stay in a hostel. YOU DON"T TURN THE LIGHT ON WHEN YOU COME IN AT ONE AM FOO! But.... It was nice. I really liked the Lion Monument and have 40 blissful seconds with it before an Indian tour group swept trough and blocked my view. 

I saw more Indian tourists than I have ever seen in my life touring Switzerland. I think Bollywood movies are to blame Not that I would ever blame my favorite art form. 

In the morning we moved on from Luzern to Lichtenstein, As a fan of the absurd I insisted upon a overnight stay in this tiny principality which has the highest GDP in the world. Once arriving I climbed the hill to the castle hoping that the Prince would take pity on me and invite me in for a BBQ. Despite that his live there, I had no such luck.  

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 As lovely bike ride by Lichtenstein day turned into Lichtenstein night, we ended up in a street fair.  This entailed crashing a hen night, eating pretzels and  watching this band. You might like him now but wait until he steps out from behind the keyboard unveiling fantastic lederhosen.  

After a crazy night in my 19th country, we traveled to our final destination the city of Zurich. This was a Sunday and I'm going to have to be honest here... Zurich scared me. There where no people on the street other than my friend and I. It was like that chapter in a Wrinkle in Time when Meg realizes everyone is bouncing the ball at the exact same time. You know what I mean. And if you don't... we're not friends.  I understand that there is so much more to Zurich that you cant see in a four hour walk around the Train station but I was tired and sick of clocks by this point. 

Makes me feel relieved I never bought a watch.

Well that was last weekend, this weekend PARIS!

Geneva Open Cellar

Yesterday I enjoyed a yearly Swiss tradition of Open Cellar. This event is when all of the local wineries open their cellars and give out free tastings. The are over 95 wineries outside of Geneva. Not all are open their cellars but yesterday I sampled ten different wineries whites, reds and champagnes. It was great fun and despite the slight drizzle Swiss wine country is stunning.

While wandering around I ended up joining a large group of people from Columbia, the UK, Australia, Moldova and  France. It was a great group of other students and interns. Meeting people from all over the world and having first class conversation with relative strangers was something I dearly missed from traveling.

I have a short work week this week and then i'm off on a train journey around Switzerland. I am planning on seeing Zurich, Bern and, most exciting LICHTENSTEIN!!

Science RULES

On my 26th birthday I decided I wanted to celebrate by visiting the world famous scientific laboratory CERN. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't get a walk on spot on the tour so I showed up two hours early just in case.  A move that proved to be over kill. 

CERN or "The European Organization for Nuclear Research"   is world famous as a physics lab and for its particle acceleration. These accelerator tubes run under parts of France and Switzerland including where I am living in France. While I knew I would be unable to see the Large Hadron Collider nevertheless, I was super excited. After putting my name on a list and entertaining myself with a few different exhibits, I was added onto a tour. *CERN Tip* these tour book up three months in advance however, if you show up early, smile nicely and say "science rules" the tour guides look the other way and let you tag along. 

The tour started in typical European fashion. A 20 minute eight year old video during which the screen was blocked by a overhead projector. How can everything in Europe be simultaneously  better and worse than North America?

After the boring movie the fun started. A handsome young physicist  (They do exist!) led our tour telling us about the different projects that were being studied here. Including the Atlas project at the LHC. The general question the Atlas project is trying to answer (and there are many of them) is to prove or disprove the Higgs theory of particles gaining mass. Other questions that could be answered include the possibility of other dimensions and the nature of dark matter. Really exciting stuff. 

After explanations and questions abound, we continued on into the control room for the Atlas project. It was here that the proton neutrino collisions are registered and then sent to labs all over the world. As we tourists took pictures of the scientists like rock star, I wondered how many labs worldwide have tours much less tours with three month waiting lists. The control room wasn't much, just computers hooked up to laptops hooked up to more computers. What was interesting was to think about was was going on under our feet. Although its happening under my feet as I write this as well.

After the lecture in the control room we went upstairs to watch a 3d movie about the LHC which was underwhelming. As we left the building, we were ushered into this really neat museum/ planetarium which had interesting artifacts like.. THE WEB. Well the first web server that is. My favorite part of that exhibit was the note at the top of his thesis  "Vague but exciting", now if only I could get away with that in grad school.

First World Problems

I have been a bit patchier with correspondence than I might have liked lately. This is for two reasons, one, that the internet at hasn’t been working consistently at my flat and two, that I have been planning.I have two four day weekends over the course of my internship and unfortunately they both fall in May. Further more both of these weekends fall before my first payday at the end of the month. I have the tricky task in font of me of planning two budget trips...in Europe. I am no stranger to travelling cheaply however; Europe presents a new challenge that can’t be over come by hours on Skyscanner and Kayak. Europe also lacks the freedom of Asia were all you need to do is find a bus and hop on. I thrived on the chaos aspect of traveling. Well after two weeks I THINK I have it figured out. The first weekend I plan to explore Switzerland including a hike around die kinder Matterhorn. (ie the base) and the next weekend I will bus off to Paris, the city of light! I was going to go to Rome but for  200 euros at ticket...I can't afford that on an interns salary! Either way I am super excited for the month of May.




Last night, I went to Genevas equivalent of First Thursday,  I enjoy Portland's much more however Geneva's did have a small upside. We where walking around the lovely streets of old town when I spied that one of the galleries had an  artist whose work I saw at the Vancouver Art Gallery a few months a back. As I walked up to the gallery I cried out "Oh! I know this Shit!". Then not even two feet away from me an Asian man in glasses and a nice suit stares at me. My friend then proceeded to shush me with a shocked look on his face. "That's him! That's Ken Lum!" I then proceeded to turn magenta. Mr. Lum proceeded to roll his eyes in my direction as I posed with his art. 
Here is a picture of me with the shit piece in question.