What I learned from my trip to Geneva

This is what I learned from my trip to Geneva.

Arriving at Liverpool Airport one hour before the flight time is OK, but is probably cutting it a little too fine. I might aim for 90 minutes next time. We were just through security and buying a pastry when we heard the final call. It was probably more relaxed for there only being a handful of passengers. We were blissfully unaware of the possibility that the French air traffic controllers might be on strike and cause our flight to be cancelled, but that probably accounted for why our flight was so light on passengers.

Goodbye toothpaste. Buy 75 or 100ml of toothepaste next time. The 125ml went in the bin. Ho Hum.

EasyJet plus (whatever that is) allows a hand (shoulder) bag as well as a cabin bag, but standard fare does not. We had to pack our smaller bags and their contents into the cabin bags, which was quite a squash.  This was enforced even though most of the seats and cabin space was free.

Geneva is in Switzerland, where they use Swiss Francs CHF, not Euros, so my prepaid Mastercard in euros was a bit of a waste of time. It was easy enough to draw out CHF from the ATM at the airport, and we did draw out and use euro when we went to Annecy in France. We also used Euro in Geneva. Shops accept Euro notes, and give the change in Swiss Francs. It is very easy since the last revaluation of  Swiss Francs, as they use an exchange rate if one to one.

It is worth studying a destination airport plan before arriving. We found a plan after we walked past a large number of shops to the station, and so proceeded to retrace our steps to near where we started, We were still baffled, as we were looking one floor too low, so we asked, and it was all quite easy really.  The trams in Geneva are very good, and frequent, and free to tourists. We were clued up to get an 80 minute ticket for free at the baggage reclaim hall before getting our one for the duration from the hotel.

Always put the bag down on a spare chair, or on  the ground.  Never hang it over the back of a chair. If you sit down in a restaurant on a chair that is not there, but has toppled over backwards, you feel quite silly.

A good breakfast is better than a big breakfast. Unlimited amounts of cereal, cooked breakfast, toast, croissant with jam, coffee and pastries at the hotel may sound good, but our breakfast at 'le pain quotien' was much more tasty.

If you forget to check in before hand, it is too late to check in on line when you are at the airport, so there is no point in tangling with the airport wi-fi.  It actually worked very well for us. Whether because we had no hold luggage, or on account of Ann's walking stick, we got waved toward the short priority queue, rather than the fearsomely long one. It then got better, as they took our cabin bags into the hold at no extra cost.  It was a much better experience than the outward flight.