After Lyon, I sped over to Geneva, Switzerland where I found another hostel to stay in, right next to the train station. This one felt more like a half-way house for people flowing through the city from around the world. It didn’t have much for a commons space and the people there didn’t seem to be traveling for leisure. My hostel-mate was a young man from Albania who didn’t have a phone with a cellular connection. He only knew how to speak Albanian and I only knew English. I tried to help him the best I could to fix his phone, but after a while it was clear he needed to go to a cellular store and have them fix it, but it was quite hard to tell this to him. I felt bad because he seemed like he was in a somewhat desperate situation, and without data, man, that’s a lot worse.
Within an hour of crossing the Swiss border, I noticed the drivers were more considerate towards me. It might be because there were more bike lanes. Or it might be because Switzerland has laws about honking at night (it’s not OK), so people just tend to honk less? Or maybe there’s more cyclists?
I visited the U.N. campus while i was there. Apparently the the League of Nations, the precursor to the U.N., was based there as well. Anyway, Geneva was full of posh shopping stores and banks, which matched up to my expectations.
From Geneva I rode onto Lausanne and along the way were some of the best bike paths I’d ever been on. Both sides of the street had dedicated bike lanes with a curb separating car traffic and red paint on every intersection to indicate to you that there would be cross traffic. Pedestrians also had a dedicated path with clearly marked boundaries so there was no drifting between different forms of traffic. I loved how every class of traveler was treated well.
The road to Lausanne was along Lake L´´´eman. It was lined with embassy mansions from all around the world. I felt like I was trespassing rolling through. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to grow up in an embassy. In some ways I felt like I had found the world’s richest neighborhood. Apparently Lausanne is also where the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is based.
The French consulate 
All the consulate houses are on Lake Leman and have this view. 
Lots of vine-covered houses
After Lausanne I headed north on a cold and wet day to Bern. This was the first time I needed to put on my rain gear, which I was glad to have. Unfortunately, I sweat so much that I wound up getting quite wet inside of the rain gear and became incredibly cold. I was so unhappy by the time I got to Bern. I found another hostel to stay in and get warm in. I was really starting to enjoy the hostel lifestyle by then. It was such a nice way to meet people, often times fellow cyclists. I especially liked the hostel bed price while in Switzerland, which was around $60/night with breakfast; that’s a deal for Switzerland.
From Bern I rode to Interlaken. I had heard a lot of good things about Interlaken, which is a small ski town right between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. It was offseason so it was relatively empty. I could easily see it being full of European youth in the summer having an awesome time. I found a cheap hostel there (Happy Hostel). It was in a rundown, but ornate hotel that had The Shining vibes. I loved it there. I decided to spend a few days there since I had a bit of time to kill (I was trying to align my travel plans with a friend in Lucern for that weekend).
Thun 
Thun 
Thun 
Lake Thurnersee
Velo Cafe 
Velo Cafe 
Velo Cafe 
Velo Cafe 
Velo Cafe 
I kept seeing people parachuting down into the park which was in the middle of town. It took me a while to figure out what they were doing but it was paragliding. So I decided to get in on that. I had done skydiving before in 200, so I wasn’t feeling scared of parachutes. It cost about $200 to paraglide, which was a lot, but I knew I’d regret not doing it it, which would have cost more in the long run.
A van picked me up from my hostel, we collected a few professional paragliders and a few more first-timers like myself. We then drove up the local mountain from where we’d launch from. I got nauseous just from winding around on the way up, so I was not off to a good start.
I got strapped into my experienced-partner’s harness, we ran about 30 feet, and just like that, we were flying. It was insanely fun! And pleasant. I felt very safe; safer than being on my bike with cars on the road.
On our way up 
Van on top 
The “runway” we flew off from
After a few minutes of zooming around very close to the mountainside (I feel like I could have touched some of the trees if I tried), my partner asked if I wanted to do a rollercoaster-style landing. I was like.. uhh sure.. knowing that I’d struggle, but hoping for the best. He did about 3 twirls and I thought I’d throw up all over the both of us. I told him “I think I’m gonna puke, let’s stop.” He was like, “Oh, wow already OK!” He brought us down smoothly, but I was shaking and sweating by the time my feet touched down. I immediately paid the paragliding guide and walked to the closest bench to sit down and gain my wits. I sat there for about an hour hoping I wouldn’t barf. It sucked. But I think it was worth it. At that point I realized I could never had been a pilot or sailor. That would have been a disaster.