How to Spend Your First Weekend in Switzerland by Going to France …

Our first “it’s official, we live here” weekend in Geneva brought truly Siberian temperatures from the heavily reported “Beast from the East.” I mean that in an actual “winds are truly blowing in from Siberia” way and not my usual dramatic “I’m  so cold” way. Much like our visit in November, Geneva’s famous landmark, the Jet d’Eau was unfortunately off again due to the harsh winds!

Nevertheless, on our second full day in Geneva, we were too restless to stay indoors and decided to head to France to take the cable car up Mont Salève!

It was startlingly simple – from our temporary housing in Geneva’s Champel neighborhood, we took the TPG (Geneva public transport) bus #8 towards Veyrier Douane to the French border, and simply walked across.  We brought our passports along just in case, but there were no officers even at the border to check!

The TPG bus stop puts you at the base off the mountain!

a little sampler of what to expect from the cable car!

From the border is just about a 10 minute walk with lots of red signs for those headed to the cable car. The tickets were around 12 CHF per person round trip (but there is a discount for those with a TPG pass) and we took a cable car ride up no more than 10 minutes.

A great view going up!

We are very much “snow people” so we were really excited about this – but I hope you agree even what we saw up top was tremendous.

that’s Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) and the city below through the fog!

an appropriate pano, no?

top of the cable car

snow kissed trees everywhere

My eyes are closed here, but my smile says it all!

Before setting out on a hike, we sat down to split a roast chicken and soup (with liquid libations of course) – which were incredibly good! In the US, often a restaurant with a view means below-par food for which you pay an exorbitant amount BECAUSE of the view. A great meal at a reasonable price with a fantastic view was such a pleasant surprise!

After our provisions, we set foot out for a winter wonderland.

the beginning starts a bit uphill, but is perfect post-beer cardio

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digging this new Sunday routine

soaking it all up, naturally!

We really can’t wait to see the view in the sunshine, and the paths in all seasons and imagine this will become a really great routine, much like our weekend walks on  Forbidden Drive in Philly! Our friends and family who are able to visit us should absolutely expect to make a trip here during their stay!

And when we got home, had to warm up yet again.

the pantry in our temp housing is slim, but the liquor cabinet is stocked

Such a perfect start to our new chapter here! If you have suggestions about other “must do” walks and hikes around Geneva, please do share! Remember of course to follow along on Instagram so that you don’t miss any of our adventures!

Stay tuned later this week for more on our quick trip to Zurich last week!