Geneva, the rest of the story.

But that totally was not everything! I was graciously hosted by Mat, a friend of mine who lives across the French border in a village called Thoiry (please correct me if I have that wrong). On the first day I dropped my luggage off at his office in CERN, and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around aimlessly (‘til I got a map, anyway); after that, he took it upon himself to show me around and make sure I had a good time.

Plus he kept feeding me, giving me tea and cheeses and even actual meals. I should invest a few skill points into cookery so that I may one day be able to reciprocate for all the excellent meals I’ve been given on this vacation (this includes my stay in Paris, too). And the food in France is so, so good.

On Sunday we stayed in Thoiry, which is in a beautiful area, much more pastoral than I expected to find in the Alps. Sure, there was the requisite mountain to one side, but the other side contained endless fields and farms (and, at some point, the Swiss border and Geneva). The villages had these winding roads that were undoubtedly laid ages ago, and there were all these old stone buildings kept in reasonably good shape and still in use. Très charming. We spent part of the day at a delicious-looking food market, and the rest hanging around his place.

Thanks so much for everything! It was great!