Friday, May 07, 2010

I'm back in France, this time to Live!

6/5 Arrival in France

Bonjour!
Time to restart this blog - much easier to update with content than stupidfacebook....
So, I have moved to France to start a new job in Geneva (which is in Switzerland, fact fans)
Why France, not Switzerland? I hear you cry. Well France is in the EU, so much easier to immigrate to for a fellow EU citizen. Also some tax breaks, and generally cheaper to live in than Switzerland (unless you're Phil Collins or Lewis Hamilton) :)
Ferry from 'ull was uneventful, pretty empty in fact.
Arrived in Zeebrugge at 8:45am, then the big drive starts - 7.5hrs and 750km (466 miles if you prefer)

As usual, the drive through France is booooooring. Miles and miles of arable farmland. You rarely see anything other than the odd farm, and brown sign as you approach a towns exit, giving an inkling of what you might find there (presumably mustard in Dijon, can't remember seeing it though) - some female firefighters rings a bell, some franco-american architecture that kind of thing. You can't ever see any of it unless you leave the autoroute though.

Get a bit more interesting when you leave the autoroute and start climbing the Jura mountains. Proper winding alpine roads, and an altitude upto around 1300m. Pretty wet up there, a small amount of snow still visible, but time spent mostly inside a cloud.

Only slight snag was tomtom attempting to take me through a franco-swiss border high in the Juras. Fortunately the French side stopped me, asked a few questions and then advised not to go via Switzerland to Divonne-les-Bains (where my temporary accomodation is located) but via Gex in France.

I could have been stopped at Swiss customs for 3 hours it seems (having a van full of stuff) - so thank you mr.French customs dude.

Dropping out of the cloud on the Lake Geneva side of the mountains, the fantastic vista of the lake, Geneva town itself lit by sunlight, and the alps proper rising on the south side of the lake greeted me:





Check in to the Apartment went without a hitch - it has a v.small kitchen,
with bobbins 2 ring electric cooker and microwave combi thing.



My apartment, 1st floor, balcony on the right


MicroKitchen

Large living room (with sofa bed), bedroom with double bed and bathroom with bath (yes!)
All in all good though, and everything fits in from my van which is the
main thing.



Living Room

A Mountain in the Juras, earlier today

No comments: