Train

Yesterday I cycled along the lake to get to Geneva. When I got to Geneva I cycled by World Meteorological Organisation before heading up from there towards the Graduate Institute, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Palace of Nations (Palais des Nations) before heading by the International committee of the Red cross, by the International Labour Organisation and World Health Organisation before passing by the European Broadcasting Union, before finally heading back out of Geneva.

Yesterday I went for an evening bike ride in Geneva and I chose to take the train home, rather than cycle. In the process I saw that trains are not that convenient later at night. The reason for this is that they’re smaller, so the space for bikes is restricted.

A person boarded before me so he was able to put his bike down and go and sit. I was after him so I was stuck standing with my bike. I held the rear brake and used the bike as a seat. I was careful not to fall over, and to keep the passage free for people boarding and getting off.

Within 31-34 minutes you can be in Geneva-Eaux-Vives by the RE33 train. Yesterday I tested it on the way back from Silicon Chalet Event 39 about Infrastructure as Code and Security, a combination for success. The talks were interesting and informative. It’s an opportunity to see people from the Geneva tech scene.

For years I didn’t want to go to Geneva because by train and car it’s fine to get close to Geneva, but it’s less convenient to get from A to B. With a car it’s fast to get close to Geneva but then you hit traffic lights, and parking fees, and the car becomes a nuisance rather than an asset.

For years I automatically took the car for everything I did, or almost. Over the last seven or eight years that habit has changed as I grew used to walking locally, and catching the train to activities. This shift in habits is due to two things.

The first is that I met with people who take trains. If you meet with such people it makes sense to take a train with them. If you go by car the journey time might be shorter but the goodbye at train stations can be quite brutal. “Goodbye” and that’s it. The activity is over. With the train it’s just as brutal but at least you sat in silence before saying goodbye. When I say silence I mean that you listened as someone else talked.

On Sunday, less than a week ago I was on a train. I could hear someone coughing, and coughing. She sat in the seats a set of seats in front of the group of people I was with. I could hear the bronchial cough and I considered masking but didn’t and now I regret it.

Over the last two days I have had a sore throat and last night I didn’t sleep much so I chose to listen to podcasts with my eyes closed.

Today I went to Geneva. I considered going by car, and then either going to do the Fort L’écluse via ferrata or dropping by decathlon. In the end I took the train and walked around Geneva. I went to Geneva to pick up the things for the Vernier run on Friday morning.

I chose to go by train, rather than by car, because by car it would have taken the same amount of time but used petrol and I would have paid for parking.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Gruyère. I saw that if I take the train it will take two hours but if I take the car it will take one hour. I am currently toying with the idea of suggesting that I pick up some people in Nyon and others in Fourmi, before going to Gruyère.

There was a time when I would easily have done this. At that time I almost always took the car because that was the default habit. Now the default habit is lost and taking the train is as convenient as driving.

Yesterday I caught a train from Nyon to Bex without the need to change from one train to another. In the process I had an opportunity to re-acclimate myself to being surrounded by others, indoors, without a mask. Luckily the wagon wasn’t too crowded so I wasn’t overcome with the desire to mask.

When I saw that there was a hike from Bex to Aigle I didn’t expect it to be as nice as it was. I expected it to be a walk along roads from A to B. I was wrong. It was a beautiful walk through the town of Bex, and then through a forest and a huge Erratic rock dropped there by a glacier many centuries ago. The walk through the forest passes by a Parcours Vita but just two or three exercises.