Outside of Geneva and inside Lyon.

It was about time we got on over to Nyon, Switzerland to see your friends Ji and Knut. We spent some quality time with the pair stuffing our faces in both food and beverage. We even made time to drive over to Lyon, France to see what the fuss was regarding Lyonnaise cuisine. Below is the evidence in pictures and words.

Getting ready for our first outing, the supermarket. Geneva is pricy, and our short stint at the grocery store, the bill was what the average Ethiopian makes a year. 

Conflicted graffiti in Nyon.

Nyon provides many nice views for a morning walk. 

May I suggest Château de Nyon for your next wedding.

View from the Château. 

Wreck your Saturday and add some kilos to your life with cheese fondue and a bottle of white wine. If it were in front of me now, I would do it all over again.  

Sure, if you can't afford dating. 

Nyon is teaming with visual artists. A fine example of one. 

Lake Geneva on a pleasant afternoon.

Future Olympian ice skater  in training. 

A drive up the hill from Nyon has a nice view of Mont Blanc. 

Good thing I got to witness recycling day. 

We change the N for the L and drove over to Lyon, France to do shopping and eating.  

The old town sounded like the perfect place to camp out. 

Up the hill was La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. 

 La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière

Scenic Lyon. 

We partially cheated, we rode the funicular up to the Basilica, but walked back down. 

A Christmas market isn't complete without a ZZ Top cover band.  

What the French think Mexican food is. 

Apparently falafel is legal in Lyon.  

Lyon at sunset (4:30 pm)

Another view

Knut wanted to have a nightcap before heading back to the hotel. He not only found a bartender to play air guitar with, but the bartender used the expresso machine to simulate a fog machine at the beginning of each song. I was treated to a nice air concert of Metallica and Sepultura. 

Ana and I roamed around Lyon and wandered into a museum or two. 

We returned back to Nyon for the Miss Cheese competition. 

Hello Nyon and Lausanne Switzerland

Sometimes it's just impossible to say no. For example, our friend Knut recently accepted a job in Geneva, Switzerland (while his partner is finishing up her teaching gig with us in Egypt) invited us for a visit. Our other choice was to stay back in the heat and humidity of Alexandria and partake in the Ramadan festivities. It was a tough decision.

This would be Knut's and Ji's new digs. You wouldn't know it by this photo but the lawn hadn't been cut in quite awhile; add a daily rain to the mix and you have the start of a mini forest. In my quest to see how much yard work I could get myself involved with this summer I quickly jumped at the opportunity. A little note on the laws and regulations regarding yard work-No grass cutting or noise making on Sundays or holidays. All grass clippings must be disposed by loading it into a car and driven to a recycling center. Our major stumbling block was the lack of a car since Ji and Knut don't own one. All the clippings were secretly stashed on the side of the house AND there was plenty-I emptied the mower bag no less than 15 times!    

I should mention that Ji and Knut live outside of Geneva in the quaint little village of Nyon. The most direct route to and from Geneva is by train, the scenic ride passes through vineyards and farms overlooking Lake Geneva. Pictured above is Nyon Castle dating back to the 1200's.    

Opposite of the castle.

Below the castle appears to be a community garden. 

Gazing over to France. 

The castle provides many views of sailboats on the lake.  

A park.

Colonia Iulia Equestris/Noviodunun-a former Roman colony from 45 B.C.

Roman Museum

Julius Caesar statue outside the Roman Museum.

Typical house in Nyon's center.

 Reformed Church of Notre Dame

At McClean your personal hygiene is their top priority, conveniently located in Lausanne's train station. Ana and I thought a 35 minute train trip up to Lausanne would be a good way to spend the afternoon. 

At the foot of Port d'Ouchy. It was an easy walk down the hill to the lakeside from the train station. We picked-up a free tourist map and went from there.

Beau Rivage Palace-an overnight stay will set you back about $1000 USD.

Nag Arnoldi's sculpture L'Elan sits in front of Olympic Museum Park.

We weren't quite sure what the Olympic Museum would entail, we got as far as the sculpture garden and gift shop.

Non-Violence sculpture by Carl Fredrik Reutersward.

Olympia by Gabor Mihaly uses the bicycle tires to create the Olympic rings if you look at it from the correct angle. 

Keeping the flame alive.

Musée de l'Elysée (Photography museum) near The Olympic Museum was closed. We were hoping to catch the Man Ray exhibit. 

Xenophobic ads anyone?

Gardens and historic buildings lead the way to the town's historic center.

This could be your new flat. 

Lausanne Cathedral. Click here to read more.

The construction on the Cathedral begun in the mid 1100's and ended a little more than 100 years after.  

Below the Cathedral sits a garden. There are only a few paved roads for cars but most of the historic center is surrounded with walking paths. 

Fountain of Justice on place Palud
"The work of Laurent Perroud and his son Jacques, who took it over after the death of his father, this monument to renaissance workmanship was built between 1584 and 1585 and sports the symbols of justice with a young woman with bandaged eyes holding a sword and scales, perched on a column overhanging a pool."

Lausanne Tower on Rue de la Tour.