Long Roads

In 2007 I was in Geneva for a week visit participating in the human rights council, this was my second visit after 2005 visit, at that time I was so excited with the fact that France is just behind the corner and I was so anxious to visit Paris.

It was all set in my mind that I will reach Paris by land because I didn’t have a Schengen visa and I should cross the Swiss French borders by bus, at 8 AM I took the bus from Cornavin station in Geneva to the village of Fernet Voltaire in the French side of the borders it took me about 15 minutes to be in that quite small town, I had a short walk in Fernet and I asked some guys in a pub about the nearest train station that I can take a trip to Paris and they told me it’s in Bellegarde but there was no direct bus line from Fernet to Bellegarde so I took the bus to Gex another French town.

In Gex I was lucky that I find someone who was travelling to Saint Genis a close town in the direction of Bellegarde, he invited me to join him in his car to saint Genis. I reached Saint Genis, I walked around the nicely houses and it was around 10 AM, I reached a square in the town and I saw some people gathering in an event, I walked towards them to ask, it was like a community center of the town and they had a wine festival, they invited me to join and to have a glass of local wine, the people were so kind and welcoming and I enjoyed the French fresh baked bread! I waited for half an hour at the bus stop but strangely no bus was coming, I started to make a sign to the cars with my hand and suddenly a car stopped with big back trunk I asked him if he is going to Bellegard and if I can join him he made a sign with his hand to come in I was shocked when I saw a big dog in his back trunk, the man appears to be a farmer from his clothes and he was always pushing the dog away from me.

In Bellegarde at the train station I bought a ticket to Lyon first to spend one hour in the city. I took the train from Lyon to Paris and around 7 PM I reached Paris. I took the underground train to the direction of Eifel Tower. Paris was always a dream to me to visit, I had only three days remained to my Swiss visa and I was sure that they are not enough to see all the landmarks in that crazy city but it’s enough at least to see the Louvre, the Notre dame the Orsey and Eifel Tower and to have coffee at the champs’ Elyse and at the café De Flor. The three days passed like a three minutes, and the same way I came to Paris I returned back to Geneva.