Saturday 7 September - Returning Home

While we were waiting for the train at Yverdon-les-Bains we could see the sparrows were having a good time eating the crumbs from the lady's baguette

We set out n good time for Geneva Airport.  The ICN from Yverdon-les-Bains ran well. It was a bright sunny day and there were several deer in the fields around Chavornay.  Further on there were some impressive views of the French Alps across Lake Geneva and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time.

The airport was crowded but as we had our boarding passes on our phones we were able to take our time. There was a small hiccough going through security when I had difficulty calling up my boarding pass on my phone. Afterwards Paul taught me to take a screen shot of the pass which is much easier.

The ground staff at Geneva seemed very off hand. There were six of them at times who were more concerned with chatting than boarding passengers.  We boarded by bus and were not ready at the planned departure time. The Captain then announced there would be a delay while they took off some baggage as a result of passport problems with some intending passengers.  We left over an hour late in the knowledge that our flight would be over eight hours because we were being diverted around the heavy storm which was centred around Nova Scotia.  With a very tight connection in Montreal we were resigned to missing the flight to Ottawa.

However, we made up a little time and here the fun began. We had about 45 minutes to get off the aircraft, get through Immigration and find the connecting gate. It is amazing to say that we made it in about 35 minutes.  Montreal Immigration has a special section for connecting passengers and the new machines worked well. We were then directed to a newly opened corridor which allowed us to get to the gates without having to go through Security. Part way down our tickets were scanned and we were told the departure gate - which was at the other end of the airport. We walked fast bur started to run when we heard our names being called out over the PA.  We reached the gate, were given fresh boarding passes and greeted on the small plane by a smiling steward.  The scheduled departure was 1620 and we arrived at 1610. The plane was full and we left a little early. With a short 22 minute flight we arrived home in Ottawa about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

So how was the trip?

In a word FANTASTIC

The highlights are too numerous to mention

Miniatur Wunderland was worth spending two days and the DB didn't mess us up both coming and going.

In Switzerland we saw a lot of the railway system including many new features that have been implemented since we were there last year.
Standard Gauge - SBB, BLS, TPN, SZU, Rigibahn (including to Vitznau)
Narrow Gauge -
Jura, TPN (Les Brenets), Aare Seeland, Appenzellerbahn (new tunnel, Gais rack), Mont Blanc Express, Tverdon-Ste. Croix, Lausanne-Echellens-Bercher, MBC (including gauge transfer), TPC Aigle and Bex (rack), Vevey-Les Pleiades (rack), BDWM, Zentralbahn (rack), MIB (innertkirchen), Blonay-Chamby.
Tramways -
Bern (steam tram), Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Forchbahn, Schnitznach Garden Center, Emosson

We saw a lot but there is still more to see - ah well, next time.