Swiss embrace

Switzerland is a little quirky, but it has an irresistible charm and exceptional beauty. I'm here for three days in Geneva, but will be back to see more

Switzerland is part of the European Schengen Area common border treaty, but it’s not part of the European Union. It can get confusing.

I’ve been in Switzerland since my last post, enjoying the beauty of Geneva and the surrounding countryside after travelling by train here from Lyon on Thursday. Most North Americans, I think, tend to assume Switzerland is part of the European Union. I know I did, so I was a little surprised when we got to Geneva’s Cornavin rail station and had to pass through Swiss customs.

There was nobody there, but the signage and x-ray machines and empty offices gave you the impression that you’d normally be inspected, it’s just the workers had all just gone out for a smoke or a cup of hot chocolate.

I knew that Switzerland is part of the Schengen Area, a group of 27 (mostly EU) countries that have eliminated interstate passport and border controls. But I didn’t know they keep the border control infrastructure up and ready to run. As a non-EU country, Switzerland isn’t part of the Union’s trade and tariff agreements, so they may on occasion need to inspect what goods people are transporting over the border. I haven’t seen them do this since I’ve been here, but I did see a patrol car at a usually deserted border post.

It’s rare to see anyone at the customs booth at the French-Swiss border actually stopping the steady flow of traffic, but they maintain an occasional presence.

Because they aren’t in the EU, the Swiss also don’t use the Euro currency, they still use the Swiss Franc. In my experience, it’s not hard to get merchants to accept Euros, tho, and since exchange rates are close to 1:1 and most people pay with smartphones or bank cards, you don’t notice it much. Not until you mix up francs and euros in your purse or pocket and stand red-faced as the server picks out the right coins to pay for your espresso.

The third thing the Swiss don’t do is use the same plugs as most European countries. They use Type J, a three-prong plug whose socket looks like a two-prong European would fit nicely. It doesn’t. I tried. I am confident I am not the first person to spend several perplexed minutes trying the shove the round pegs into the round holes that are just a tiny bit smaller and farther apart than the Type C plug used in the rest of Europe (except the UK, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus … and Switzerland). Liechtenstein is the only other place in the world that uses the J plug, so make sure your universal adapter has this option if you plan on plugging in in either country.

Anyway, that’s about all I have to say about Switzerland.

Except that it’s easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited so far.

The Swiss have taken agricultural and ecological protection to a level I’ve never seen anywhere in North America. Active agricultural land abounds in the greater Geneva area, protected against the ravages of development and urban sprawl that has turned so much of Quebec and Ontario’s urban-adjacent farmland into cookie-cutter cottages served by strip malls and criss-crossed by highway extensions leading to the next farmer’s-field-turned-condo-development.

It’s hard to believe that prime land with such beautiful views so close to the city of Geneva hasn’t been ruined by urban sprawl and uncontrolled development. But this ain’t Ontario. Or Montréal.

The commuter rail system here is also incredible. The trains are ultra-modern, fast, convenient and relatively inexpensive. The routes and fare system is a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s actually fun and extremely comfortable to use.

Run-of-the-mill Swiss commuter train running from central Geneva to the ‘burbs. Damn.

Geneva is also the headquarters of 40 international agencies, including the United Nations’ World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration and High Commissioner for Refugees. But you can Google all that. Let me just tell you that the city itself is situated on the beautiful and protected Lac Léman, one of the largest fresh-water lake in Europe, which in turn is surround by mountains in the Alps and Jura chains. I joined my friend Mo for lunch there at the Bains des Pâquis, just a few hundred metres from the city centre, where you can grab a light lunch or go for a swim, sauna or massage. Or why not all four?

Me and my friend Mo Nuaimy-Barker, a former colleague at the Montréal alternative weekly Hour, stand guard outside the Geneva HQ of the United Nations

The International Red Cross/ Red Crescent museum in Geneva has numerous evocative exhibitions illustrating the important role it has played in protecting POWs and civilian victims of war. The children pictures here were separated from their families during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the IRC took on the mission to reunite them with surviving relatives.

I didn’t end up spending a lot of time in central Geneva this trip. I was staying at another friend’s house on the outskirts of the city and the beauty of the surrounding countryside was the bigger draw, at least for this visit. I went with Paul and his twins to watch them play in a rugby tournament out in hill country that was so familiar that I kept expecting Julie Andrews to run down from the pastures singing The Hills are Alive.

The hills are alive with the sound of co-ed rugby. Ultra-modern commuter trains would often criss-cross the bucolic hills, home to dozens of family farms.

Paul’s place is in a small development in a Swiss town called Chavannes de Bogis. The stunning views of the mountains you wake up to here are actually of the French Jura range, tho, since the border is only about 500 metres away and the main road runs through a charming French foothills town called Divonnes-les-Bains. I had the pleasure of exploring the town and a busy Sunday market where close to 100 merchants were selling everything from fruit to roasted chicken to clothing. The crowded pedestrian streets were booming in the heart of this cozy village (population 10,500).

Looking towards the Swiss mountains near Geneva from the small French Alps town of Divonnes-les-Bains.

Again, I was thinking of The Sound of Music as I looked up the hills here, wondering if French Resistance fighters had smuggled Jewish families or escaped allied prisoners over these mountains and into the safety of neutral Switzerland, less than a kilometre away.

Anyway, this part of my nine-month sojourn has been more rural vacation than urban exploration, so forgive me if I set aside my imagination and instead let the pictures do most of the talking.

My host Paul Dillon and his wonderful twins, Malachy and Petra, enjoyed a Rugby World Cup match in Lyon on my last night. Finally! I thought they’d never leave. (I had a column to write.)

I’d kill to wake up to this kind of pastoral setting every morning. Well, maybe not kill. But I’d be willing to give up chocolate croissants.

Glad to have you looking over my shoulder on this lovely walk-about. See you in a few days.

Horses. Ass. Just a short trot from my host’s home in Chavannes de Bogis, Switzerland.