What’s in a Name?

Miles from Home - 5242.7
Firsts / Highlights - Saw Geneva
Miles Ridden - 45.93 miles
Vertical Feet - 1,521 ft.
Route - View Today’s Route Here
People - Just me.

This post is from July 9, 2009.



The destination of my ride today was a city called Geneva (in English). It sits on a lake called Lake Geneva (in English). Seems logical. In French, the city is called Geneve. So wouldn’t you think the lake would be called Lac Geneve? No, It’s called Lac Leman. Come on! Someone is just trying to make this difficult.

Consider this. A city in Italy is called Genoa (in English). The Italian spelling is Genova. If you thought the status sign was in English (they sometimes are) and got one letter wrong, you could board a train thinking that you were going to Geneva and get off in Italy. One letter and a language shift would put you in the wrong country.

I had no such problem on my ride today. I made it to Geneve without incident.

The route I selected was unfortunately uninspired. There was very little rural land anywhere along the lake in that direction and the scenery was nothing special except for several views of the lake. I know I am getting spoiled by the great roads I have ridden, but I hope to continue to be spoiled throughout the rest of my stay.



When I arrived in Geneve, I found a lively post-work gathering down by the lake. It was 7:30 pm on a Thursday, so I don’t think it was anything special. My sense is that this goes on every day after work. All of the young professionals were sitting on small lawns having drinks and smoking cigarettes. I wonder what happens on Fridays. A trio of 2 clarinets and an oboe provided improvised music as they roamed the lakefront (I was most interested in photographing the oboe player).



Due to the late hour when I arrived, I took the train back most of the way to Lausanne, then got off and rode the final 6-7 miles.

Jeff Daniels is doing research now to determine when I can get a return flight to the U.S.. I think I am getting close to the time to wrap up this chapter of the adventure. I’ll continue to ride and explore until I know when I need to start working toward an airport. I expect that I will be here another 7 to 10 days. I have to keep reminding myself that 7 to 10 days is usually called a vacation. I still have plenty of time to see new things.