3 ms·

I'm quite surprised that Uber was able to even have any sort of hold in Geneva. I visited my Aunt in Geneva for a few weeks in 2006 and she lived 5-10 miles fro

I'm quite surprised that Uber was able to even have any sort of hold in Geneva. I visited my Aunt in Geneva for a few weeks in 2006 and she lived 5-10 miles from the city center and even that far out there was a bus that came by every 9 minutes. The only time we drove was when we went into France. From my short visit I also got the impression that Switzerland is very serious about their taxes. We went grocery shopping across the border in France for the lower prices/taxes and every time we crossed back into Switzerland we got searched by border crossing security to ensure we weren't bringing too many goods across the border based on the number of occupants in the vehicle.

smnrchrds 7y ago
Can you please explain a bit more what the border looked like? I was under the impression that there was no border within the Schengen area.
- bryantraywick 7y ago
  It's been over a decade and I didn't drive while we were there but I remember it looking a lot like a tollbooth in the US, but one with military/police looking people that would randomly, or not so randomly, select people to pull off to the side so that they could search your vehicle. At least one time when we crossed into France to go grocery shopping we were searched and had to show our passports and they looked through our groceries and asked to see the receipt.
  - bryantraywick 7y ago
    I'm no expert on the EU or Schengen Area, but the Wikipedia page says that "Switzerland was allowed to participate in the same manner in 2008" so it's certainly possible that the situation is completely different now.
- ageitgey 7y ago
  There are still occasional checks around the Geneva / France border to check your purchases. They just seem random. Sometimes they are there, sometimes they aren't. Locals tell me they are out in weekends when people shop. There are also city buses that cross the border without stopping unless they randomly get stopped. The trains from France come into a particular platform at Cornavin train station where they can see people exit and talk to anyone carrying a lot of stuff. The rules and process is confusing to a non-local like me but pretty low hassle in the end.

smnrchrds 7y ago

Can you please explain a bit more what the border looked like? I was under the impression that there was no border within the Schengen area.

bryantraywick 7y ago
It's been over a decade and I didn't drive while we were there but I remember it looking a lot like a tollbooth in the US, but one with military/police looking people that would randomly, or not so randomly, select people to pull off to the side so that they could search your vehicle. At least one time when we crossed into France to go grocery shopping we were searched and had to show our passports and they looked through our groceries and asked to see the receipt.
- bryantraywick 7y ago
  I'm no expert on the EU or Schengen Area, but the Wikipedia page says that "Switzerland was allowed to participate in the same manner in 2008" so it's certainly possible that the situation is completely different now.
ageitgey 7y ago
There are still occasional checks around the Geneva / France border to check your purchases. They just seem random. Sometimes they are there, sometimes they aren't. Locals tell me they are out in weekends when people shop. There are also city buses that cross the border without stopping unless they randomly get stopped. The trains from France come into a particular platform at Cornavin train station where they can see people exit and talk to anyone carrying a lot of stuff. The rules and process is confusing to a non-local like me but pretty low hassle in the end.