Zurich

Goodbye Montmartre! Hope we are lucky enough to return one day.

Uber to Gare de Lyon. Entertainment at the station, common in Europe. What a lovely way to start your trip.

The French, then German, then finally Swiss countryside sped by. We even caught a fleeting glance of a canal! Four hours from Paris to Zurich on the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse or very fast train). Just like that!

Zurich’s main train station is right in the centre of town and our hotel was just over the bridge next to the Polybahn, a funicular railway that goes up to the university. We settled in at the Swiss Chocolate Hotel, with its own chocolate fountain of course, (how Swiss!) and set off to explore.

Zurich old town is situated on both sides of the River Limmat, which then empties into the Zurichsee (lake).

Whilst each side has one main street stretching the whole length of the old town precinct, each side is quite distinctive.

The Niederdorf/Oberdorfstrasse (upper and lower streets) on the eastern river bank were totally pedestrian with many restaurants and beer halls to choose from. On the western side, Bahnhofstrasse (railway station street) was the shopping and business side of the city.

Naturally, we circumnavigated both, ending up at the ferry terminal. The last lake cruise had just left! We gazed wistfully at those lucky people aboard and had to be content with looking at the swans and beauty of the Swiss Alps in the far distance.

Probably only 10 minutes had passed since the ferry had left, so we were amazed to see it turning around and coming back to the wharf. Simultaneously, a police car pulled up, police tape was strung across the entry passage, a police patrol boat arrived and several heavily amed policeman made their way out to the end of the wharf.

It seems about 7 young men on the boat hadn’t been minding their manners. As soon as the ferry docked, they were escorted off, searched and, from what we could see, weren’t going anywhere fast.

A bit of Starsky and Hutch excitement, but we’re still none the wiser about what had actually happened.