Not many people that have studied European history would believe that the Swiss have had their fair share of warfare, but back when Switzerland was divided into separate Cantons, or mini kingdoms, they were always warring with each other and have as bloody a past as any other country you could mention. This knowledge explains why there were so many castle and mini ports all along the cast of Lake Geneva and formed much of the Swiss Boat's tour that takes you on the lake, which was full of interesting bits of history and culture as well as offering up the best panoramic views of the keyside imaginable.
For CF $14 you get an hour and a bit tour of the inner circuit of the lake, or for an additional CF $9 you can get a full two hour which takes you on an even bigger loop that actually managed to enter French territory whilst on the lake and then brings you back again.
Switzerland officially has 4 native languages, and depending on which part of the country you are in you will notice that one will be more predominant over the other three, but then again English is spoken widely throughout, as is a little bit of Spanish. The main languages are French, German, Italian and Romanish, so if you ever want to a have a really multi lingual child then raise them in Geneva or Zurich and they will be able to speak more languages than you can, and then you just need to be married to a Chinese woman and have a Russian nanny, or vice versa and then your ..child will be bale to speak just about ever major language on the planet and have no problems travelling anywhere on the planet!
I mention this as on the boat cruise the entire dialogue was on a timed recording that spoke in French and then repeated everything in English and then the other languages with Spanish coming last just behind either Romanish or Portuguese { I've no idea what Romanish sounds like but the last two were both similar to Spanish that I am betting it was one of the other }.
With the waves gently lapping at the side of the boat it was nice to see a bit of froth and with the canopy enclosed with see through plastic windows the inside was very much like a conservatory and I would have stayed on the boat just for that reason even if I had been on the tour before. For some reason however towards the end of the tour the back flaps were pulled back which let all the wind in and I went form sunbathing to wrapped up with my jumper and coat on in a matter of seconds.
Apparently you can see the snow topped mountains in the distance on a clear day, but I guess that it helps to also be in the summer as try as I might I could only vaguely see a shape that could just as easily been a fluffy cloud as it was the top of a mountain.
Out of the lake there were only a few private boats jetting cruising up and down, but the peeps that really grabbed my attention were the kite surfers, who had what looked like mini curved parachutes and were surfing under the power of where the kits took them. Rather them than in me in this weather, as it was chilly even not being splashed by the lakes water and so in their black wetsuits I bet they must be freezing. Having said that, it did look like a lot of fun and especially when a really big gust took the kite as you could actually see them raise up into the sky before gravity pulled them back down again onto the lake.
I hadn't bothered to take my camera out with me onto the cruise, as the day didn't seem that clear and I already have loads of both sides of the lakeside already. I would suggest to anyone else to get a midday cruise and not a evening cruise, unless they were doing it purely as a romantic gesture, as by 6pm when it was on its way back the sun was so low that half the lake was covered in shadows and the other side was blinding as the sun was not only glaring at you, but so was its reflection from the lakes water which being choppy was worse than a mirror as you could not escape it no matter what angle you chose to sit at or view from.
The only other thing that I notice about Switzerland is that I have often smelled a burning smell which I could neither fully identify nor trace the source of, yet at certain times of the day it has been there, bourn on the wind.
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