Switzerland

Over the Autumn Holidays (known as "vacances de toussaint" in France) I have been doing some travelling. I started off in Geneva on Friday, 18th October, 2013, and then moved on to Lausanne, Berne, Zürich/Richterswil, and finally Basel before returning via Geneva on Tuesday, 29th October, 2013. I've tried to write a bit about each day as I go along, almost like a diary, and I took one Instagram photo per day which has been added below each entry. Once I'm back on my laptop (I'm currently using the iPad mini so generously given to me by my university :D) I'll make some posts with pictures and a bit more detail about certain places. 

Friday, 18th October, 2013: Annecy to Geneva:

I got the train at about 18h00, and arrived in Geneva around 20h00. It was dark for most of the train journey so I didn't get to enjoy the scenery. Upon arrival everyone had to go through customs, but it seemed fairly relaxed. There were some police officers who didn't seem to be doing much, I didn't even have to show my passport... I just smiled and said good evening. I tried to find my way to the hostel but I didn't sort out directions before I left Annecy, and my TomTom was very confused by my location, so in the end I gave up and got a taxi. The hostel I'm in is really snazzy, and I get free wifi, breakfast and public transport pass.

The communal area/lobby of Geneva Youth Hostel.

Saturday, 19th October, 2013: Geneva:

I started the days adventure about 8:45, and I got back to my room about 4:15. I spent most of that time walking and it was tiring but worth it! I began by walking along the Quai Wilson, past the Palais Wilson (dedicated to former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson) and then down the Quai Mont-Blanc. Being early and a little bit chilly, there was a fine mist over the hills and lake that was quite beautiful. First stop on my sight-seeing trip was the Flower Clock, which appears to be incredibly well maintained. I then moved on to the Molard Tower, followed by the Church of Madelaine (only saw the outside). From there I went up to Saint-Peter's Cathedral. It's an impressive collection of buildings that have been reconstructed during different time periods, and for 5CHF you can go up the tower and see a panoramic view of the city. For another 4CHF (student price) you can go down into the archaeological site where they have discovered relics from around 50BC and onwards, including pottery, walls, and one skeleton. I then passed the Town Hall and the Opera House on the way to the Reformation Wall. The wall is quite impressive and the figures tower over you. I then wandered through the market in the Plaine de Plainpalais, before crossing the bridge over to Carouge, a more bohemian part of the town. I then headed back and took a nap, because after 7 hours or so of walking my little legs were tired! I had dinner in the youth hostel, which cost 15CHF, and which included a make-your-own-salad, a yoghurt, a can of drink, a piece of bread, some pasta with Neapolitan sauce, breaded chicken and vegetables. It was very good value for money and very filling!

I covered the majority of the south of the map during my exploring that day.

Sunday, 20th October, 2013: Geneva:

It rained a lot this day, up until about 4pm it was miserable. I tried my best to be excited by seeing the north or Geneva but the weather was so rubbish. I walked through "Parc Mon Repos" and the Botanical Gardens, before trying to see the Palace of Nations, but it was mostly sealed off and hidden by trees. I then went on to the International Red Cross/Crescent Museum, which was so incredible; it was fun to learn about the history but at the same time extremely distressing to learn about the work they've done with Prisoners of War. I was crying in one of the exhibits just hearing about some of the stuff they've done; I'm such a wimp! I then went back to the Youth Hostel to dry off and talked to my family via Skype for a little while. The weather then cleared up so I jumped on the tram and then the bus to Veyrier to go up the cable car to the top of Mont-Salève. The view was incredible, but unfortunately I only had 10 minutes to take in the view before the last trip back down of the day. I've really enjoyed my time in Geneva, aside from the wet morning!

Me with the view of Geneva from Mont-Salève.

Monday, 21st October, 2013: Lausanne:

I got to Lausanne around 10am, and walked to the Youth Hostel to drop off my suitcase. Luckily the room was already free so I could grab one of 2 non-bunk-bed beds, and leave my suitcase in the room. They also gave me a free public transport pass so I took the bus and metro into the town centre and then went to visit a few different things, including the Cathedral, the Castle, and the Palace. Unfortunately 2 museums I wanted to go to were closed because it was a Monday! I ended up going shopping and went to see a film about Liberace at the cinema. I got a headache about halfway through the day and thought I could clear it up with water, but water didn't help, and about 11pm it turned into a full blown migraine, so I went to sleep it off.

My bed at Lausanne Youth Hostel.

Tuesday, 22nd October, 2013: Lausanne:

I set my alarm for 8 thinking I'd get a decent nights sleep considering how much my head had hurt, but unfortunately one girl's alarm went off at 6, then the other girl's went off at 7, so by the time mine went off at 8 I really didn't want to get up. I managed to drag myself to breakfast and then out to the museums that had been closed on Monday. The museum of the history of Lausanne was mostly paintings and things that my brain was too tired to understand, and the Palace of Rumine turned out to just have museums of things other than the Palace itself (like zoology and fine arts), so I didn't bother with that. I went and got lunch and headed back to the Youth Hostel for a nap. I left again that afternoon to go the Olympic Museum, but they're doing some refurbishments on the main building so the museum was temporarily on a boat... Feeling as unwell as I did, being on a boat was not great, so I didn't look around it all. I also had a look around the botanical gardens, but they weren't as well looked after as the gardens in Geneva, so a lot of plants looked dead. 

Inside Lausanne Youth Hostel.

Wednesday, 23rd October, 2013: Bern:

The day started off miserably, because it rained... All day... I tried to stick to my plan but the botanical gardens were so rubbish I decided visiting a rose garden would probably be much the same, so I didn't make the trek out to it. Instead I went to the "Kunstmuseum" which was a museum for fine arts, it was kind of interesting to see some of the exhibits. I also saw the university building which is pretty old and spectacular. Then I had some lunch at a restaurant and the waitress unfortunately didn't speak much French or English, and I don't speak much German any more so we had fun trying to decipher the menu and ordering me food. She was really nice though and we laughed about it. Then I went to see the Bear Park. Yes, they have a bear park; bears are their representative animal. Then I saw the town hall, followed by some shopping before returning back to the hostel for the evening.

The main building of the University of Bern.

Thursday, 24th October, 2013: Bern:

The weather had turned in my favour, and I had a lovely day in the sunshine. That is, except for the 4 hours I spent wandering round the Historical Museum of Bern! The museum was my first stop, and while at first I was gobsmacked by the price of 20CHF for entry (and that's student price...), it was well worth it in the end. The History of Bern included sections titled "From the Early Middle Ages to the Ancient Regime", "The Glory and Decline of the Ancient Regime", "Bern's Silver Treasure", "Stone Age, Celts and Romans", "Fragile Treasure - Conserving Court Textiles", "Captured Treasure - Court Art in Bern" and "Bern and the 20th Century", all of which spread across 5 floors. There were also some special exhibits in the museum, including "Treasures from the Tombs of Ancient Egypt" and "The Einstein Museum", plus the main event "Qin" (apparently pronounced like 'gin'), about 'the Eternal Emperor and his Terracotta Warriors'. The Qin exhibition was amazing, and it was so interesting to see how the Emperor unified China, and how he was buried with an entire army and all his councillors in Terracotta form. I then moved I on to the Münster and went right up to the top. Bern looked like a small toy town from the very top, but the view was amazing. You could even see the snow-covered Alps! Then I wandered down the market street, seeing all the fountains and the ornate clock tower. 

The view from the top of the Bern Münster.

Friday, 25th October, 2013: Zürich/Richterswil:

I got up early to go to the Lindt factory in time for the tour that I read about on LoneyPlanet. The problem was that they no longer offer the tour, and haven't for the last 3 years apparently! You can smell the chocolate coming from the factory and they have a little shop which sells their chocolates slightly cheaper. I got 8 chocolate bars for 22CHF (about £15). The only thing that really bothered me was that they were already fully decked out for Christmas! At the end of October! And I mean fairy lights, Christmas trees, advent calendars... The lot! I then got on the S-Bahn (kind of like the metro) into Zürich town centre. I asked a lady how to get to the zoo, and she told me to take S9 to the end. So I did, but it turns out she thought I said Zug (a town near here) so I was nowhere near the zoo. I got the S-Bahn back into Zürich and went to the tourist office this time. She said it was only accessible by bus, which cost 8CHF and the zoo itself was 22CHF, meaning 30CHF in total, and I thought "I've seen plenty of zoos, best not waste 30CHF!" Instead I walked to the Fine Arts Museum and saw their collection and their current exhibition on Edward Munch (including his most recognisable painting, 'the Scream'). Then I got on the S-Bahn back to the hostel, which is a delightful building on the lake. The only problem is that the bunk beds are pushed right together, obviously with the bars between them, but there's a good chance I'll wake up fairly close face-to-face with a stranger! 

My purchases from the Lindt Chocolate shop.

Saturday, 26th October, 2013: Zürich/Richterswil:

I started my day with the Swiss National History Museum, which luckily cost a reasonable price of 8CHF. The exhibits were interesting but I've seen so much history stuff that my brain had started to refuse new information. After that I took the recommended city walk (as recommended by the Zürich tourist office) and saw the many churches that Zürich has to offer. The largest church was somewhat unfortunately being used for a wedding, so I didn't get a chance to look around or go up to the top of the tower. Instead I did a bit of shopping and finally found some boots that I like! I then headed back to the hostel for a break out of the sun. I went back into Zürich for some food around 7 and the restaurant was nice, but the service was incredibly slow, so I didn't get back to the hostel until around 10.

The view of Lake Zürich, taken outside Richterswil Youth Hostel.

Sunday, 27th October, 2013: Basel:

I got into Basel about 11am, but by the time I'd found the hostel and got back out again it was around 12pm. My first stop was the Paper-Mill Museum; I wasn't expecting great things but being the big kid that I am, there were lots of activities that amused me. For example, I got to use a real feather quill to do some calligraphy, got to play on an old type-writer and got to make paper! It even has the official Basel Paper-Mill watermark on it! Then I moved on to the Münster, which wasn't all that spectacular, and the towers didn't have such great views as the Münster in Bern. There was also a fair going on so it was quite noisy. After that, I went to the Basel Museum of History, which mostly seemed to be about the history around the time of the Reformation, so there were a lot of Christian relics. That was enough for me for one day, so I returned to the Youth Hostel and talked to my family via Skype before having tea and going to bed.

Basel Youth Hostel.

Monday, 28th October, 2013: Basel:

My final full day in Switzerland. I had planned to go to the Roman Ruins and a few museums, but changed my mind last minute because I was a little bit fed up of museums to be honest! Instead I got a map of the town walks from the tourist office and did all 5 walks but not quite in full. They were nice because I got to see a lot of the old town and bits you wouldn't see by sticking to the main roads. I then got on the bus to Augusta Raurica (a site of roman ruins) and it was quite interesting to see how they found the ruins by accident in the 1960s when they were digging the foundations for some housing, and how some of it got thrown in a skip because they didn't know what it was. Some things seem like they've been rebuilt to look more Roman though, for example the amphitheatre. But overall I had a good last day, although I'm not looking forward to the approx 5 hour train journey back to Annecy...

"Welcome to Augst" - The location of Augusta Raurica.

Tuesday, 29th October, 2013: Basel to Annecy:

I got the first train at 11h00, but didn't arrive in Geneva until 13h40. My train from Geneva to Annecy was at 15h00 but because the train doesn't take a straight line, I had to change at Aix-Les-Bains which meant it took 2+ hours to get back to Annecy, even though there's only 40km between Annecy and Geneva... I got back to Annecy around 17h15, and caught the bus back to the apartment. Unfortunately I won't be able to put up all my pictures straight away because I'm going to Montpellier tomorrow with some other assistants, and won't be back until Saturday! But you shall definitely be hearing a lot from me then!

Me on the train back from Basel.

Les Gorges du Fier

Visit Date: Tuesday, 15th October, 2013

Cutting through the Savoie's front range, the Gorges du Fier lies between the Alps, the Jura, the Lac du Bourget and the Leman Bassin. The area was marked by the last great Ice Age, The Wurm, a period during which glaciers slid as low as Lyon. Born at the foot of the Mont Charvin (2,400m), the fier slides past Thones, then throws itself into the Rhone north of Annecy, near Seyssel. It measures 71.9km (44.68 miles). 

It's main affluents are the Nom, the Fillière, the Thiou, the Viéran, and the Chéran. The lake of Annecy also feeds the Fier, via the Thiou, thus ensuring a relatively constant source of water. 

The Fier's module is of 44.6m3/s, for a specific flow of 33l/km2/s (characteristic of mountain watercourses). 

The annual variations are significant, with an averace of 68.7m3/s in April, and a mere 23.6m3/s in August.

The Tuf, also called Travertine, is a sedimentary limestone rock varying from grey to yellowish in colour and presenting a caked and roughly layered texture. It is formed by contact with mosses and other organic particles. 

When water appears in long horizontal bands, these are known as Strata Joints. They allow people to note the angular value of the Urgonian Age's geological strata. 

In the very small cave next to the high water marks, you can see the "poudingue" in the Urgonian design and red clays at the cave's deepest recess. 

Alternating freezing and thawing weakens the rock, finally leading to rock slides.

The Fier dug its gorge through the Urgonian limestone in the middle Cretaceous Period (between -114 and -107 million years ago). Between 80 and 100 meters thick, this important mass is composed of compact, erosion-resistant limestone, itself the result of a coral reef which, widely disseminated, gave birth to many great Alpine rock faces. 

The visible strata are all composed of Urgonian limestone which varies widely in appearance and composition. Differing heights of ancient sea-levels left behind marine sediments (shells, etc.) of various textures and aspects.

Urgonian limestone is 80% composed of calcium carbonate. This comes from the accumulations of sea shells and coral. One can sometimes note variations of colour on the same rock wall, and this seems to be without any organisational logic. This is due to different oxidation properties of the bare white rock as it meets and then ages in the atmosphere when a block of limestone detaches itself and falls from the face.

Near the end of the tour, the "Mer des Rochers" (Sea of Rocks) is a karstic lapiaz, which developped under organic cover by the water's chemical action. Today's Fier runs through the lapiaz' canals. 

"Footprints" can be seen that are particular to lapiaz; they are dissolution holes, or orifices on the surface of the rock.

Blocks of rock fall down when balancing forces break down as blocks come to overhang a face eroded from below.

Erosion in the Giants' Kettles occurs due to water circulation/rotation and water-borne materials. The power of the water coupled with the centrifugal force (strongest near the edges), keeps the lightest materials near the centre.

The Kamenitza are produced by natural chemical erosion. They form on the surface when water accumulates in a small natural cavity and slowly dissolves the limestone, thus widening and deepening the cavity. A small hole thus forms on the surface of the lapiaz.

(All information taken from the panels placed within the Gorges du Fier)

Annecy En Retour Des Alpages

Date: Saturday, 12th October, 2013

The festival "Retour des Alpages" has been running every year since 1973, therefore this year was the 40th anniversary. It happens the second Saturday of October and is, in summary, a festival of the Alpine animals coming down from the mountains for winter! It takes places in the old town ("la vieille ville"). 

As it appears in the small information leaflet I found online, the festival gives everything the opportunity to rediscover the lost taste of old meals, to discover the traditional artistry while being soothed by the sounds of the bells and the Savoyard folklore, with the rhythm of olden time dances. 

The whole festival started at 9am, however we all got there around 1pm. Between 9am and 6pm the old town was filled with stalls showing traditional crafts and music groups. As of 2.30pm the parade of the animals began, with cows, calves, sheep, goats, geese and dogs all going past us. It was quite amazing to see, just a pity it rained so much!

Below are pictures and a video at the end!

Meeting New People

Being here on my own for the first week was quite hard, but since doing the induction last week things have got much easier and much better!

At the induction I met a few people who were in my town, and I caught the train back to Annecy with them. There aren't just British people here; there's people who speak German, Chinese, Spanish (from Spain and elsewhere) and Italian. When I got back I decided to email everybody to find out if they wanted to meet up next Saturday for the "Retour des Alpages" (when the animals come down from the mountains for winter).

Friday evening (4th October, 2013) I got a message from H, another British girl, who said that some of the assistants were meeting at the Quick (a fast food restaurant). I decided to go, mostly to try and get out of this little bubble I seemed to be in, and I got to meet even more assistants! There are even people who doing their year abroad, but who are working in other sectors than assistants. We went to a pub called Finn Kelley's (an Irish pub) and then to Le Munich (which I don't know if it was an Irish pub but played a lot of Irish music...). 

We all ended up going out again Saturday night (5th October, 2013); it started an G's house, a British girl doing some translation work, then we were supposed to go to a nightclub called Pop Plage that's near the lake, but after finding out it was going to cost 15€ I decided that it wasn't worth it. Instead some of us went to the bars in town and I eventually got the last bus home at 1am. 

Yesterday (Sunday, 6th October, 2013), I got a message from M, one of the German girls, to say that a few of them were going into town to have a look round. It was a really nice afternoon and I got to meet another assistant that I hadn't met before! We walked round the town and by the lake, and then had a crepe in Creperie Bretonne, which was so incredibly tasty. 

Today (Monday, 7th October, 2013), I went to school expecting to have my first day of assisting, but it was yet more paperwork. I have however signed up for the teachers bowling night, where I hope to meet some more of the teachers, and I also met the headteacher at the school today (although only briefly). 

I have also been added to the group for Assistants in Haute-Savoie on Facebook which has made it easier to organise things.

As a bit of advice for people wanting to know how to meet new people: talk to them! I know it's very difficult when you're not used to it, but just ask people questions, listen to what they have to say. And if you find someone who is in the same town as you make sure you get their name and number, that way you can contact them and find out if they want to go do something with you, and if they know other people in the area they can introduce you to them!

Induction Workshop

Date: Wednesday, 2nd October, 2013 - Thursday, 3rd October, 2013

It was compulsory for all assistants of all nationalities to be at the induction workshop in Grenoble, and there were people from all over the académie de Grenoble. There was a lot of information to take in but it was really fun too!

The first day we all met in the CRDP (Centre Regional de Documentation Pédagogique) and had a few different talks about the French education system, questions for people outside of the EU and some stuff about Social Security. We then had an ok lunch at the local university restaurant before heading off to the coaches that were going to take us to Autrans (about an hour away from the centre of Grenoble, and up in the mountains). It was really nice up there but the hostel was pretty grim. There was one building that looked like it had been recently renovated but all the rest of us got stuck with some very old rooms with incredibly creaky beds. There were two British girls in our room that got drunk and made loads of noise... great example of the British! The food we had that night was incredibly tasty, but there was so much bread!

The next day we had workshops on what sort of activities we could use in the classroom and it was quite interesting, but it was a very long day and our teacher was not very interactive. After the end of the workshop some of us got the coach back to the train station in Grenoble and some had to wait for a later coach. Luckily I got on the early one which meant I got back to Annecy earlier than I expected! 

Overall the 2-day induction was quite fun and somewhat helpful, and I made some new friends, both in Annecy and elsewhere in the académie de Grenoble!