This morning we got up at around 5AM to depart from Paris, after checking out and catching a taxi to Gare Lyon (train station), we managed to make a reservation for the first half of the journey which took us to Bern in Switzerland in around 5 hours. We took these photos from the train station and along the way. Prior to boarding the train to Bern, Eunice got us some pastries (she likes the cholocate croissant!).
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Travelling on early Friday morning made a difference (compared to our previous train travel on late Friday), the train station has been less packed and the train we boarded only approx. 50% occupied, which made it a more comfortable travel for us.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Bern was fairly quiet in comparison to other stations we had used so far, and the next train was an InterCity transport, so we didn't need to book; the half hour we had between trains was plently sufficient this time, as we waited at the station for the train that would take us to Lucerne. While waiting for the train to Luzern, we took notice on the signages around the train station, and realised the language challenge we might might be facing when in Switzerland.
The trip from Bern to Lucerne took just over an hour and was prety uneventful; Eunice caught some sleep while I watched the world whizz by (when we weren't under a tunnel; there were many and must have been around 10km each!!). The train was pretty empty, probably another 10 passengers besides ourselves.
 |
 |
 |
Upon arriving at Lucerne, we started to look for the hotel, which was quite close to the train station; but when we exited the station, we were botyh surprised just how close it was - right over the road!! Hotel Waldstätterhof is a nice boutique hotel, with a modern flair. We look forward to the breakfast in the hotel the next morning.
 |
 |
 |
Once checked into the hotel, we took the opportunity to have a break and to refresh ourselves before heading out. Our mission was to book into some tours before we went off to locate the local supermarket to stock up on lots of water plus other provisions. Beer is relatively cheap, I bought a six-pack of Eichhof Lager (500ml) for only SFR9.95 (Swiss Franc) - the Swiss Franc is around 1:1 for the Australian dollar, and when you compare this to to 50 Australian Cents to 1 Euro, the prices here seem reasonable. (In essence, everything we bought so far on the trip has been double it's face value, for conversion differences).
After the shops we dragged our supplies back to the hotel before we wandered out into the night life of Lucerne; we had been advised by the Tourist Information that the shops were open until 9PM tonight, although we got kicked out of a couple along the way. The pace of life here is a lot slower than Paris, which was reflected by the many couples walking hand in hand along the river and through the pedestrian only area of the city.
The city itself is small, but nonetheless beautiful, typically European, yet a little more laid back, with less traffic and frendlier people in the shops. It's unfortunate we only have a couple of days here before we head to Florence.
For tomorrows sight seeing, we have booked a tour to Mt. Titlis as Eunice has never seen snow before, so she's quite excited by the prospect of feeling and experiencing it (SnowWorld in Malaysia just didn't cut it!), so expect a few more photos tomorrow.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |||||||
|
Add your comment Fill in your details, if you need a response, please include your email address. If you wish to add a web site, please remember to fill in the appropriate field. |