From 21' to 9'!

 

Friday, we checked out of our lovely flat and my friends headed for la Gare Nice Centre for their 10 hour train journey back to Alsace.  I headed to the airport - using Uber, my new best friend here in the south of France - for my afternoon flight to Zurich.

A couple of things about the logistics.  First off, having the Uber app on my phone has been great.  It works well, particularly when you are sharing the cost with friends.  Also, it was about 22 Euros for my ride to the airport and a taxi would have cost much more.  I used the app with I was in Portugal a few years ago as well.  It sure makes getting from Point A to Point B a lot easier when you don't have time to adapt to bus and train schedules.  

Second, to enter Switzerland, you have to fill out a form online (Swiss Entry Form) giving information about your vaccination status, where and how long you will be staying in CH, and your passport information.  The QR code that came back when my form was processed was on my phone and showing it to the agent made check-in very straightforward.  Further, because my French Pass Sanitaire is accepted in other EU countries as well as in CH, I will be able to use it there to get into restaurants - and they do check.  Again, the airport and flight all required that masks be worn and I didn't see anyone not complying with that requirement.

Somewhere over CH on our approach to Zurich

The flight from Nice to Zurich is only just over an hour.  I had forgotten that flying from France meant that I wouldn't need to go through Passport Control so I had my luggage and was at the airport train station about 1/2 hour after I arrived.  Very efficient!  However, I had purchased a ticket for a specific time period and, as well, wasn't being met until an hour later, so I waited on the platform watching the various trains coming and going all with Swiss-like precision - on the dot!  The train ride from the airport to Herrliberg where I was headed only took about 30 minutes.  While some of it was underground, particularly through the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) some of it was along the lake and I was treated to a pretty sunset and some glimpses of the Alps.

The only shocker was that I had gone from temperatures with highs of 21' to highs of 9' and lows of 4'.  Guess my summer is officially over.  I am staying with a friend whose apartment has a beautiful view over the lake.  After we'd picked up some cheeses, meats and bread for dinner (oh some Swiss wine, of course), I was treated to the amazing night time views from his balcony.  It isn't Nice but it is still very, very nice!