Geneva to Bern

We left the French side, crossing the border on foot, loaded with our gear, to bus into town to collect our rental car. Collecting some picnic treats along the way, we drove to a spot around the lake where the grassy riverside became a bathing spot. Andrew was putting his camping skills to good use and fashioned a bit of a cheese knife by using the top of an iced tea bottle – such skill.

Our initial plan was to stop in Lausanne but we ran out of time, which was a bit of a pity as we’d heard the place is a great stop, but we will have to go back next time. Instead, we drove towards the capital of Switzerland - Bern, intending to stay a night and find a place when we got there. After booking a hostel from a tourism office, we drove the city in loops trying to find our hostel (so it was safe to say we got our bearings after a while). Eventually we arrived to a comfy room with three of us in a four-bedroom room, dropped our gear, and headed out to find some dinner.

It was incredibly strange to change from French-speaking Switzerland to German-speaking in an hours worth of driving. After feeling okay about the wee bit of French I knew, it was now back to square one. Standard four German couldn’t help me know, but Josh had us practising with the phrase book on the way up, and could pronounce things a hell of a lot better than I could.

We found a cool-looking Deli-style restaurant, took a table outside and ordered some drinks. Our friendly waiter pointed us in the direction of the Rose Gardens after dinner, which we caught the bus to for an amazing view of the city all lit up. People were scattered through the gardens, having a few drinks, playing petanque or out for an evening walk. Walking the city route back, we took in the well-groomed and rather quaint capital city. Houses and restaurants propped on the riverside led the way to a great street full of design shops, and we window shopped as best we could in the darkness, before retreating to our hostel beds.