Les Pâquis

I have to start by saying that when people say Switzerland is expensive, they are NOT playing around. First, the hostels out here are the most expensive that I’ve paid for (Zurich will be 90CAD per night😭😭) I couldn’t find a meal for less than 15CHF (= 23CAD). My dinner and lunch each cost that much, and it was so sad. My lunch was a “smoked salmon sandwich” which was smoked salmon, butter, and lettuce on bread 😭😭. My dinner? What seemed like a microwave steak (which was cold when served) with some potatoes, salad, and a wedge of cantaloupe 😭😭. It’s tough out here. At a pub that I went to later, a long island was literally 30CHF (= 46CAD!!!!!) ISNT THAT INSANE. I did not get the long island btw. Sooo yeah I spent a lot of money today. Will be making as much use of the free breakfast here as I can. One thing that I will complement Switzerland on is that their water is DELICIOUS!! After drinking weird tasting water for the past month (bottled water included) this tap water is soooo scrumptious and cold and refreshing.

So my day started with none other than the free breakfast which is nothing special, but is free 😝. After I went out to walk around and explore. I was feeling a bit groggy so I took a nap in a park LOL- but side note, everyone does that here, and I was not concerned for my safety at all. Honestly, Switzerland is the place that I have felt safest so far, maybe it’s because it’s just rich people who live here 😭 Anyways, I read a bit of my book before going to explore some more. I walked across the Mont Blanc bridge over to the old town, which is exactly what it sounds like. I did a lot of wandering before realizing that there isn’t even much to see out here. I did some research on free things to do around Geneva, and found myself in the “Maison Tavel” which is a sort of museum that documents Geneva lifestyle. It was kind of like a house, and showcased household items and furniture common to locals throughout history here. I thought it was cool, there also was like a big 3D map of Geneva at the top which was cool. After that I headed over to the next free thing, the art history museum, which I was reeeally excited for because 1. Free and 2. I haven’t been to an art museum in Europe yet!!! And i’m a sucker for art. This museum was huge and beautiful and never ending. There was soo much art, and thankfully, there were some English descriptions so I could understand some things. It was really interesting to see some of my Art History knowledge from school overlap with what I saw!! Made it even more captivating. I spend probably an hour and a half looking at the artwork, then went to the courtyard, where I took another nap in a comfy chair😭😭😭 I don’t know why I’m so tired today. After I got that sad excuse for a smoked salmon sandwich (they could have at least put cream cheese) and I walked over to a fountain to finish my sandwich. After, I walked close up to the huge water pump thing. “The Geneva Water Fountain.” It sprays the lake water up to 140 meters which is kinda wild. From certain angles it made a rainbow which I loved. After, I just walked home where I met new hostelmates- which was nice because last night I came when everyone was sleeping, so I couldn’t meet anyone. Funny thing, I had been in a group chat for some dinner and drinks tonight, and my hostelmate- Annabelle, ended up being the person that organized it! So, after a shower we went down to the place, where you have to pay 2 francs just to enter the area (main beach area). I had that sad steak an a tiny 8 franc (12.27CAD) aperol spritz, and the group headed to that pricey pub shortly after. We played some games of darts, which I really sucked at, and lost every game😭 we called it an early night and went back to the hostel.Read more