Still the wonderful warm weather of summer here. Being Lille of course, we get a good amount of rain and take the opportunity to put our plants on the balcony for a nutritious bath. We did have a day or two of 90° weather but for the most part 75° to 80° was the norm.
The first week of August, we went to Zurich for my birthday. We’ll get more into Zurich further below with additional photos, but G had to put this one first. As we were on our tour, we passed this beautifully restored, 2-door, 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad station wagon parked on the street. We can only surmise that it was restored because it was in such remarkable condition. Only 6,100 of these were built in 1957, the last year of its 1955-57 run. A 4-door model was introduced in 1958 that sold much better. They’re apparently worth a lot today since the 2-door models are so rare. Of course all of this information comes from G because I know squat diddle about cars.
To continue with our Zurich trip saga, a four-and-a-half-hour train ride from Paris was reasonable and we decided to stay three nights, to get in two full days of walking through the city. But your plans must be flexible as things don’t always go smoothly. We thought to take the 7:40a.m., 50-minute train to Paris Gare du Nord station and continuing on a 9:50 a.m. train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Zurich Main station getting in around 2:30 p.m.
About 25 minutes into our Lille-Paris train ride, just past Arras, there was a development on the route that required the train to back up to Arras and move onto another regional track, not TGV, the high-speed train track. The wait between decisions being made and tracks becoming available, seriously dented our plans. Time stretched and as we waited for developing news, it was obvious that we would not make our Zurich train departing from Paris Gare de Lyon. The 50-minute trip from Lille to Paris Gare du Nord changed to a four-and-a-half-hour ride, which scrapped our ability to get to the Gare de Lyon for our scheduled train to Zurich. The Gare du Nord was messier than usual since no trains were traveling north into London, Brussels or Amsterdam on the TGV. Those of us on the lengthy Lille-Paris train received small lunch boxes to appease our soils. At that point, G cancelled our afternoon and scheduled ride from the Zurich Main train station (Zürich HB) to our downtown hotel. As an aside, all Eurostar trains London-Paris were cancelled that same day due to this major power-outage issue on the rails, as were many Amsterdam-Paris and Brussels-Paris trains. Regular service resumed the next day. As I said earlier, you need to stay flexible…
After our arrival at Gare de Lyon from Gare du Nord, where we had been instructed to request new tickets, and a lengthy wait in line at customer service, we discovered that our options were a late train without guarantee of seating. Ordinarily that would be acceptable for an hour trip but a four-and-a-half-hour trip, especially after having just endured a four-and-a-half-hour train ride, was too much for us. G booked us into the Mercure hotel next to the train station and on a train for the next day (same 9:50 a.m.), with seat assignments. Then we trekked next door to the hotel to stay the night. He also called the Zurich hotel to tell them not to expect us that evening and scheduled a new ride for the next day from the Zurich train station to the hotel. Lots of details to cover. This is another example of how grateful we are to be retired, traveling alone and able to manipulate our plans at will. And also, what would we do without our phone technology. It was disappointing that we would lose one of our two full days in Zurich but it was much less painful to choose to wait.
The next morning we headed back to the Gare de Lyon which has such truly beautiful architecture. It also houses a well known Michelin restaurant called Le Train Bleu that we were passing too early to be able to take advantage of. But having sufficiently rested overnight, our four-and-a-half-hour train trip to Zurich was easy as we enjoyed the fabulous landscape and Alps traveling into Switzerland. In our time, we reviewed what we could do with what was basically one day in Zurich. Online research showed that the Hop on Bus lines are all individually owned and do not work in tandem. The ones we found seemed to circle Lake Zurich but not old town, which we were more interested in. G was able to find a Tuk Tuk tour company that did give in-town tours and he booked a mid-day trip for the next day. The Tuk Tuk tour driver told us the Zurich station had recently been renovated. Another great European station.
We arrived in the early afternoon but not feeling up to par, we stayed in our suite, reading more about the city. We’d never been to Zurich, which is a surprise considering our travels and since as the largest city – population of about 450,000 and metro area of 2.0+million – the airport and the train station are the busiest in the country. The official language is German, but of course, because of its size and international nature, we heard many different languages. Everyone who waited on us during our trip also spoke English very well. There are many museums and we stayed at the Ambassador Hotel across from their opera house, but of course our time was too limited to take in a lot in on this trip. As we stood on the hotel terrace overlooking the area, we were struck with how many construction cranes were busy at work. We could see a good amount of Lake Zurich but the alps were hidden behind dense cloud cover. It is a very beautiful city and our weather was a perfect mid-70’s.
For our Tuk Tuk tour, we were met by a delightful gentleman named Kurt. A retiree, he enjoyed giving tours to introduce his beloved town and to meet new people. We learned, as we zipped around narrow and climbing streets, that Zurich was, historically, a major trade route that experienced four major languages; Roman, Italian, German and French. This influence is reflected in food and all major aspects of architecture; Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Modern, which is what makes it so charming. Each region in Switzerland is also distinctly different, marked by the climate and building materials located there.
A highlight of the tour was a ride to a northern hill in the outskirts of the central town where two large universities are located (ETH Zurich, focused on technology and sciences; and the University of Zurich, focused on philosophy, medicine and law), and were both founded in the early-to-mid 1800’s, and they provide a great overlook of the city. Given the hilly nature of the city, there is a funicular from the bottom (Limmatquai) portion up to universities’ campuses, which the locals refer to as the Student Express since so many riders are the students, staff, and faculty. The Polybähn takes just 3 minutes to travel from the quai up to the campus.
We also went through Zurich’s Old Town which is the historic center of Zurich and a cultural heart of the city. It consists of narrow streets, historic buildings, guild houses and picturesque squares that tell a rich history. It’s home to Peterskirche (Peter’s Church) with the largest diameter clock face in Europe. The Old Town is also lined with cozy cafés, restaurants and stores we wished we’d had more time to wander through this area.
There is always a supply of fresh, top-quality drinking water in Zurich – thanks to more than 1,200 fountains that can be found every few meters throughout Zurich. As a result, Zurich is one of the cities with the largest number of fountains in the world. A fountain that we passed by (above photo) – the Münsterhof – is next to the Fraumünster Church. The guide told us that the restaurant next to the fountain, on special occasions, converts the fountain so that wine flows from its side taps. All fountains also have a side spout, which you can see in the photo above if you zoom in – on the base at the rim edge. These spouts are used by all to fill their water bottles.
Also in Old Town, we passed by the headquarters of Sprüngli on Paradeplatz , a chocolatier founded in 1836 and world-renowned. This location has been around since 1859 in Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse with a café and restaurant. I remember seeing the old posters of Sprüngli in vintage shops in Paris and here in Lille. We also passed the Zurich Art Museum (Kunstaus Zurich), but alas, didn’t get a chance to visit. G took a shot of Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell” bronze sculpture that sits outside of the entrance. It’s a vision of the afterlife inspired by Dante’s Inferno from the ‘Divine Comedy.’
We traveled along the Limmat River quai, across from the Lindenhof, a first settlement of Zurich in Old Town. Lindenhof has an extensive history showing signs that it was settled by a range of people from the Celtics, Romans and Ottonians. The Celtic were there first, as far back as 400 BC, with the Romans founding a custom station here in 57 BC known as the Turicum. Around 80 to 70 B.C., Turicum (Roman for Zurich) was a village with less than one hundred people on the fringe of the Roman Empire. Later in the 4th century, it has been found that a castle was built on top of the Lindenhof. This was until the Middle Ages when Zurich expanded into the city it is today.
Back at the hotel, having lunch at their outside seating area, we were treated with wonderful service and surprisingly each staff member in passing would greet me, wishing me a good birthday. I asked G if he’d told EVERYONE and he replied that he had not told a single soul. We surmised and verified later that the woman checking us in had noted it on my passport, passing the information among the staff. At one point, in returning to our room, we found a celebration cake and champagne. It was really a wonderful gesture. And oh my – their bath towels were so absorbent and such a delight that we bought two sets for home.
The returning trip was much easier although we were taken aback by the amount of travelers we struggled through to navigate. We don’t really travel in high peak seasons and it’s always a reminder why, when sloughing through throngs of humanity.
Back home, laundry done and bags stored, we settled back into our daily routine. It was quiet as all of France vacation elsewhere in August while business, government and shops close.
To close our adventure, there is one last image I’d like to include – a highlight from our Zurich trip up into the campus of the University of Zurich. The photo we took is most likely part of the “Bees & Friends” project that involves creating unique accommodations for wild bees, birds, and hedgehogs at various locations. These insect/small animal hotels aim to support and encourage Switzerland’s rich biodiversity by providing nesting and shelter opportunities, particularly for solitary bees, whose natural habitats are threatened. We saw another one of these on the lawn of an apartment building. What a wonderful idea and concept !
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