Swissterical: Water, Water Everywhere

Heading out from Geneva with CW's Mom and sister Laura

We’re closing in on almost a year here in Switzerland and believe it or not, we haven’t really done much in the way of experiencing the region’s largest landmark—Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). Sure, we’ve seen the Jet d’Eau (Jet of Water—the big fountain downtown), we’ve ridden the ferries once or twice, and we’ve eaten by the lake, but we’ve never gotten “up close and personal.” Until now. Twice in the past week, we’ve gotten a chance to really enjoy being on (and in!) the water.

Come Sail Away

Pretty as a picture

Not very friendly, is she? :)

First, we had a great opportunity while CW’s mother and sister were visiting last week. BuyClub Geneva had a special where you could book a two hour cruise on the lake on a private boat for half off the normal fare. So on CW’s birthday, we decided to take to the lake!

Celebration!

Finding our departure point took a little bit of doing because the first 12 days of August are the Fêtes de Gènève, a carnival in the city around the lake with rides and food and drink booths, and our guy wasn’t in the place we originally expected him to be. But after a bit of searching and a few phone calls, we finally connected and boarded the boat—a beautiful, wooden 25’ cruiser—and we were off.

Just relaxin'

Mom and Laura

We couldn’t have asked for a nicer evening—about 75 degrees or so (though you wouldn’t know it from SoulSwister’s winter outfit!) and clear. The lake was calm as we slowly motored northward for about an hour or so, had some champagne, cheese, and bread, and just relaxed. We floated for a while almost directly beneath the landing lane for the Geneva airports watching the planes come in and then turned around for the cruise back to the dock. On the way back, our captain turned on the “disco lights” as SwissSis called them—lights in the floor of the boat. He turned up some music and SwissSis and All American Boy showed us their moves. Meanwhile, SoulSwister tried to clean up glass from two champagne glasses that broke when they fell onto the deck (only 1 was our fault!). Did I mention everyone was barefoot? Luckily, there were no cuts!

Birthday celebration

The whole gang

Definitely a good time had by all and something we’d do again—albeit with plastic champagne glasses. Duh!

By the way, the new banner at the top of the blog was taken as returned to port. You can the see the Ferris wheel right St. Peter’s cathedral.

Not allowed on Spring Break for 20 more years

Almost back in port

Coming back into port

Slip Slidin’ Away

A little forward, non?

Tallulah showing her drying technique

The second opportunity came through a colleague at CW’s office who happens to live right on the lake and offered to take us out on his boat for a bit of aquatic sport. We met at his house after work and changed into our suits. Fortunately, it still stays light until 9-ish, so there was plenty of time to get out on the water.

Working together

Here they go!

SwissSis was in heaven even before we got wet because Mr. William has a dog—Tallulah. Tallulah loves to play fetch and we all obliged her by throwing her chew toy into the lake. ‘Lula never got tired of the game and even helped get us accustomed to the water temperature through her rigorous drying exercises.

Mr. William has lots of toys including a paddleboard and a kayak. The kids tried both of them before the main event, though if you’ll look closely, you’ll see AAB is just a bit front of center. In any case, they both did pretty well on both—only got a little bit wet.

Round 2

The highlight, by far, was getting in the ski boat and being pulled on an inner tube! It’s big enough for two people to ride side by side with good handholds. First to experiment were AAB and SwissSiss. They gave a “thumbs up” and Mr. William took off. Neither of them had any trouble holding on and had a great time swinging back and forth behind the boat, jumping the wake. AAB switched out with SweetSwissTeen and off we went again—check out their cool goggles! J Finally it was AAB’s turn again, but this time with CW. Unfortunately, Mr. William got moving a little too fast for this brave pair and AAB got smacked in the face by CW’s elbow. But we finished none the worse for wear.

Our gracious host--Mr. William

Which one is the little boy?

Then SoulSwisster got into the act with SweetSisTeen. CW believes that people at the other end of the lake could have heard the two of them laughing and screaming as Mr. William took them on a merry ride.

A few more rounds for the kids, and then for the last ride of evening (just before 8 PM—apparently the Swiss don’t allow fun on the lake after 8), CW went for a ride on the tube by himself. It started out well enough, but soon Mr. William and SoulSwisster decided we weren’t going fast enough so off we went. CW got to experience some of the great forces of physics firsthand before his ultimate launch into the heavens. He still thinks he has water in his ears.

Or little girl!

After Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, we did a quick change and then went across the lake to the French town of Yvoire for dinner. It was a beautiful evening for a cruise and for a lovely dinner. While we were still over in Yvoire, fireworks began shooting off across the lake. We’re still not sure what they were celebrating, but they were quite nice.

We finally headed back across the lake to Mr. William’s house where we secured the boat and headed home. Quick showers and into bed around midnight.

We’ve had a couple of wonderful evenings on the lake. Can’t wait to do it again!