The Unknown Adventure: An afternoon abroad: Evian-les-Bains

"So, what did you do yesterday?"

"Oh, I just took the boat to France for the afternoon."

Yeah, these words actually came out of my mouth when my co-worker was asking me about my day off. You know, I just decided to go to France for a couple hours and violá. No big deal. I couldn't help but start laughing at how weirdly normal this seemed for a moment.

But onto my actual day... Evian-les-Bains is a charming little town on the lake, about a thirty minute boat ride from Lausanne. And yes, this is the town famous for its water, though you won't find any obnoxious signs or tourist attractions other than the spa in the center of town.

So then, what did I find in Evian? Well, apart from the quaint stores and boutiques and cafés, the highlights include a tiny, two-story bookstore, a bar called Bar à l'église (yes, as in "the bar at the church," and it was directly behind the church for convenient location of purging sins... or drinking them all away), and the sex shops. Yes, I said sex shops. For a town that easily took twenty minutes (max) to walk its entire length, I came across a surprisingly large number of them. Tasteful, but blatent nonetheless. No, I refrained from entering although the thought of browsing through different flavors of edible underwear and his and her's bongade costumes sounded oh-so-appealing. Another time perhaps.

The thing that surprised me the most was the small things I saw that repeatedly reminded me of the fact that I was no longer in Switzerland anymore. There was a Monoprix, PMU, and 8 à huit that immediately transported me back to my semester in Aix. And the fact that I had to use Euros again definitely messed with my head a bit. And finally, when I started walking back down to the dock, I noticed a lonely plaque on a stone wall dedicated to a young man who died during the Nazi occupation. I looked out across the lake and tried to imagine what that life would have been like over sixty years ago. Just on the other side of the lake was neutral (and nearly indifferent) Switzerland with lights and food and safety. And where I stood? Devastation. Starving people. Death. And in relation to the history of Europe, sixty years doesn't seem like much.

I continued walking and thinking, letting the sunny day work it's magic on my soul. And as the boat departed from Evian back to Lausanne, I let my thoughts wander on time and how quickly things can change. I often associate such permanence with the places I visit. Like if I went back ten years later, everything would be exactly as I remembered it. I guess it's easy to assume that when you're not there to see the changes happen gradually, to be a witness to it all, then nothing must be changing.

Maybe that's what drives us to travel. To gain perspective in other places and bring it back home with us. I can already list a number of quintessential American things that I miss that I would have never quite appreciated had I left at all (don't worry, a list will be published in the near future). And at the same time, while I miss those things from the states, I've come to find the small (and sometimes big) differences between the various cities and countries I visit to be endearing and interesting. To see what different people consider "normal" and "habitual" makes you completely reevaluate those words in the first place.

But enough overanalyzing for one post. Here are some photos of my few hours spent in Evian. Sadly, I forgot to snap photos of the sex shops. Maybe I'll make my next visit a tour of adult stores and the clientele. Real investigative journalism kind of stuff. I'll let you know how it goes.