Europe, Summer of 2004

Itinerary

The Plan:

I'll be in a conference in Barcelona, Spain from July 4th until July 10th. So the obvious thing to do is to fly into Paris on June 28th! And then fly out again on July 20th. Sounds good to me. Jen, my cute lady, was really responsible for this addition to the trip and decided to join me (much to my happiness!).

To that end, here is a list of the interesting events that we are planning:

• Getting to Europe

  • June 27th: Depart Denver
  • June 28th, 10:00 am: Arrive in Paris

• France!

  • June 28th: Take a train to Normandy. Find a hostel in [insert town] and make camp.
    Possible Places to stay:
    • Rouen, see the hostels that I know of here.
  • June 29th - July 3rd: Normandy / Brittany
    Possible Activities include:
    • Day trips around Normandy / Brittany.
    • We're going to try to rent a bicycle and see the beaches of Normandy.
    • We're interested in seeing Mont St. Michel.
    • Picnics with French wine and cheese!
    • Beyond that, we'll explore whatever interesting places we can find.
  • July 3rd: Take a train to Paris. In the evening, board a sleeper train and begin the journey to Barcelona, Spain.

• Spain!

  • July 4th: Continue riding the sleeper train. By about 8 am the train should have reached Barcelona. At this point we'll find the hotel that the conference is putting us in and locate the conference. We'll then trade stories with my advisor, Martin Lo, and my coworker, Rodney Anderson.
  • July 5th - July 10th: Conference on "Advanced Topic in Astrodynamics." Lectures are in the morning and afternoon, except only in the morning on the 10th. Thus, we'll have each evening to explore Barcelona and Jen will have the whole week to see everything that she can (and I'll find out from her where to go in the evenings!)
    Possible Activities include:
    • (TBD)
  • July 10th: Take a train out of Barcelona into France. The current plan is to go up the SE beaches of France to Provignon and then north to Lyon. From Lyon we'll head to Geneva, Switzerland.

• Switzerland!

  • July 10th: Enter Switzerland in Geneva. We'll probably stay in Geneva for a night or two to rest from the long train ride across France (plus I don't think the Eurail pass necessarily will take us beyond Geneva...)
    Things to do in and around Geneva:
    • Visit the gorgeous town of Annecy just on the other side of the French border.
    • Maison Tavel. Geneva's oldest house, built in the 14th-century. The house is now a mish-mosh of architecture from the 14th to the 19th centuries.
    • Musee D'art et D'histoire. The Museum of Art & History.
    • Petit Palais. A compact gallery of art, including impressionist, surrealist, and abstract works. Some of the artists represented include Picasso, Chagall, Renoir, Cezanne, and Monet.
    • Musee de L'Horlogerie et de L'Emaillerie. The Clock Museum.
    • Institut et Musee Voltaire.
    • Musee d'art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCO).
    • Patek Philippe Museum.
    • United Nations
    • CERN
    Places to stay in Geneva:
    • Auberge de Jeunesse. Phone: 022 732 62 60; Rue Rothschild 28-30; rather ugly, modern building with big dorms, doubles and a few family rooms.
    • Centre Masaryk. Phone: 022 733 07 72; Ave de la Paix 11; bus No 5 or 8; in a leafy spot near the UN complex. Take the bus from Gare de Cornavin.
    • City Hostel. Phone: 022 901 15 00; website; Rue de Ferrier 2; good, clean simple rooms with toilets and showers in the hall.
    • Hotel de la Cloche. Phone: 022 732 94 81; Rue de la Cloche 6; small, old-fashioned, friendly and often full. The rooms are of a fair size and cheaper ones without a bathroom are available.
  • July 13th: By July 13th we'll have entered Montreux.
    Things to do and see in Montreux:
    • Annual summer jazz festival (website). The place might be filled with jazzers, so hotels/hostels might be tricky. To get some help, visit the office of Montreux Tourisme (Phone: 0848 868 484, website) located in Western Montreux on the bank of Lake Geneva.
    • Chateau de Chillon. A must-see extraordinary oval-shaped castle on the bank of Lake Geneva. The castle is a 45-minute walk along the lakefront from Montreux (or trolley bus No.1).
    Places to stay in Montreux:
    • Auberge de Jeunesse. Phone: 021 963 49 34; Passage de l'Auberge 8; 30-minute walk along the lake clockwise from the tourist office (or No.1).
    • Pension Wilhelm. Phone: 021 963 14 31; Rue du Marche 13; old-fashioned, family-run hotel.
    • Hostellerie du Lac. Phone: 021 963 32 71; Rue du Quai 12; an affordable choice (sort of, better than Pension Wilhelm). Some rooms even have lakeside balconies (all have radios, sweet!).
  • July 14th: On wednesday we'll take a sight-seeing train from Montreux north.
  • July 15th: Depart Montreux and head to Zermatt in the Swiss Alps.
    Things to do on the way:
    • Interlaken and the Jungfraujoch! Europe's highest train station. Interlaken has a large amount of high-adventure sports if we're (amazingly enough) bored. Ha! Like that'll happen.
    • Brig. The railway station that included a castle (Stockalperschloss). There are some good places to stay in Brig.
  • July 15th ish: Arrive in Zermatt and make camp. Lots and lots of dayhikes! Hike around and about the Matterhorn.
    Things to do in Zermatt:
    • Matterhorn. Duh. See the Matterhorn, hike the Matterhorn, love the Matterhorn (mmmm Matterhorn).
    • Zermatt is car-free! That's so cool. Go hiking, see the Matterhorn, etc...
    • Check email at the Mountain Hostel (Sfr2/10minutes).
    • Cable cars and gondolas. The cogwheel train to Gornergrat is a particular highlight. Kinda spendy though, and the Eurail pass doesn't help much...
    • Parish church. Good altarpieces and an unusual ceiling mural.
    • Hiking, etc...
    Places to stay in Zermatt:
    • Hotel Bahnhof. Phone: 027 967 24 06; email: hotel_bahnhof_at_hotmail.com; opposite the train station and a mountaineer's mecca. It has 12-bed dorms and a shower on every floor. There's a kitchen, but no complimentary breakfast.
    • Hotel Mischabel. Phone: 027 967 11 31; email: mischabel.zermatt_at_reconline.ch; wooden chalet with balconies and a garden that's not far back from the river.
    • Many middle-range and high-range places.
  • July 18th. We'll need to think about heading back to Paris to catch our July 20th flight home!.
    Places we could visit on the way back to Paris:
    • Brig.
    • Interlaken.
    • Thun.
    • Bern. Switzerland's medieval capital, the quaint Swiss seal of power.
    • Neuchatel.
• Back in France!
  • We may stop and visit Strassbourg on the way back.
  • Our plane departs on July 20th at (???)
  • Then the goal will be to get in touch with everyone and show pictures and tell stories! And update this website...