Day 26 -- Saint Etienne to Geneva

Monday, 02 October 2023

Got up early to head to the train station. The buses don't run very often this early, so I walked.

I don't recall ever seeing a spiral staircase as a fire exit before

Between the hotel and the train station is a fairly narrow road. It's wide enough for two lanes of traffic, plus a bike lane on the side. When it encounters a narrow bridge, there isn't room for all of that. I was pleased to see that instead of ending the bike lane, they chose to end one of the vehicle lanes and put in a pair of traffic signals to manage the 50 meters or so of single-lane. 

The bike lane continues!

The Saint Etienne train station

I hung around until they announced the platform for my train. I went to the platform and the train was already there, about 20 minutes before departure. That's not unheard of, especially if it is the first trip of the day for that train. I got on and took a seat. And then the train started moving. ?!?! Uh, that's not cool. It shouldn't move for another 18 minutes. Yep, I got on the wrong train. It's the first time I've encountered them announcing a platform while a previous train was still in the station on that platform. 

A quick scramble to figure out what train I'm on. Ah, it's also going to Lyon. Cool. But to a different station (Perrache) in Lyon. And that won't leave me enough time to get from Perrache to Part Dieu, which is where my next train leaves from. Not cool. I looked at the in-car display to see where this train would be stopping along the way. Five or six places. Then I found the on-line schedule for the "right" train and saw that it also stopped at the first of those -- St. Chamond. So I hopped off the wrong train at St. Chamond, waited on the platform for about ten minutes, and hopped on the right train when it came through. Crisis averted.

One at the Lyon Part Dieu station, I got on the train to Geneva. It must be a day for people to make train-related mistakes because about twenty minutes into the ride, an announcement was made. I couldn't make out much from the French, but they also did it in English. "Umm, our driver forgot to stop at Amberieu. If you wanted to get off at Amberieu, get off at the next stop, Culoz, switch platforms, and then take the next train back to Amberieu. We apologize for the inconvenience." Based on the amount of chuckling and amazement from the other passengers, this was not something that happens often.

I got to Geneva without further incident. I had read that Switzerland doesn't use euros, so I got some Swiss francs from an ATM near the train station. Then I dropped my bag at the hotel (too early to check in) and wandered the neighborhood looking for the Theatre du Leman so I wouldn't have to look for it in the evening.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. After I had this Rugby World Cup trip planned, I saw that Elvis Costello announced a European tour. My first reaction was "Ugh, he's always touring Europe, and never the middle of the US". But then, "Wait a minute -- I'm gonna be in Europe this fall." I checked the tour dates. A night in Paris! Ahhh, but I had a rugby match that same night. Where else? ... Geneva on October 2nd. Hmmm, I'll be kinda close, and I have the 2nd free. Let's see if there are tickets available. Yep, a third row seat for less than I spent on the back row seat in Omaha. 

So I wandered the lakefront taking photos and absorbing the vibes. Then I realized that I still hadn't found the theatre. I had just looked at the map before starting the walk, figuring that would get me close enough to see it.

Lake Geneva and the Jet d'Eau

Architecture: A monument to the Duke of Brunswick

Lake Geneva

"Le Chat-Botte". Hmmm, looks like ChatGPT has opened a restaurant

I took another peek and Google Maps and saw that I was close. I came around a corner and saw a big bus. The first thing I noticed was the "Angles Morts" sign. I had seen that before on other vehicles and it always made me think "Angels of Death"? But it's "angles", not "angels". I got a photo this time.

The bus

The sign

So I guess it is best translated as "dead spots", akin to "blind spots". But I like the gravitas of including death explicitly.

("Angles of Death" is now on my list of potential band or album names.)

Hey, a tour bus! And they're unloading music equipment cases out of it. And even though it has German license plates, it's logo is CSUK, which is probably something-something-United-Kingdom. I'd bet this is Elvis's bus and that means I've found the theatre. I walked around to the front of the building. Yep, the Theatre du Leman. But I now see why I missed it earlier, when walking right in front. The sign is really small, and the entrance is a stairwell that goes below street level. The main signage on the building is for the Fairmont Hotel.

Having found the theatre, I looked for lunch. Again I've found myself in that mid-afternoon spot where a lot of places are closed. I ran across a poke place -- Pokewa -- that claims "Geneva is better than Hawaii". I ordered at a kiosk so I could take my time to figure out what I would and would not be getting. It was pretty good. And they had Wi-Fi so I just hung out there until my hotel was close to ready.

Poke

I took the long way around to the hotel, and check-in was ready when I got there. A nice little place. And that's where I discovered that Switzerland uses different power outlets than France. And it's not one I have an adapter for. Time for another walk. A nearby electronics store was all out of Swiss/US adapters. But I found a cell-phone and accessories store down the street that had one. They guy was very helpful.

Time for the concert. Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve. Just the two of them. No backing band. It was really good.

Third row

Not a huge place, and it didn't fill up completely

Grand Finale. Elvis walked through the audience during his last song and took a few ladies back on stage with him

After the show, I figured I'd swing by the tour bus and see if there was a crowd. Ummm, nope. Only four or five people hanging out by the "Artist Entrance" door. I stood part way between there and the bus, in case the door was a ruse and Elvis snuck out another door and went straight to the bus. You know, just to avoid dealing with all those annoying fans. After about 30 minutes, he came out the door! The other people asked for selfies and/or autographs. One lady Face-timed a friend and asked Elvis to say hello. (I'm not king yet, but when I am, that won't be allowed. Takes too long when other people are waiting.) I was the last one to get a word with Elvis, just as his escort detail was shuffling him into the van. (I guess the bus is for the crew. Elvis probably gets a van to the airport and a nice plane ride to the next city.) I told him I came all the way from Nebraska to see him and wanted to say hello. He said "Ah yes, we play there from time to time". And then I asked if I could take a selfie. He was very friendly, but then got shooshed into the van.

That's Elvis on the right

On the walk back to the hotel, the friendly ladies on the street corners were more outgoing than they were in the afternoon. The first one asked me something in French, and I just used my "Duh, I don't know what you are saying -- I'm an ignorant foreigner" face. The next one asked, in English, "Where are you headed, sir?" I gave her the same look.

 ...doug