007 Travel story: Geneva, day 2/2 & Coppet (SWITZERLAND) 2014

“Bond hurried on into Geneva and pulled up at the imposing entrance of the Bergues.”

“James Bond booked in at the Hôtel des Bergues, took a bath and shower and changed his
clothes. He weighed the Walther PPK in his hand and wondered whether he should
take it or leave it behind.”

Ian Fleming: “Goldfinger” (1959)

“It was hardly the place for Ian Fleming, and he soon moved into a room at the Hotel du Lac along the shores of Lake Geneva at Coppet, and then into a room of his own at Mies”.

John Pearson: “The Life of Ian Fleming“

“Bond caught up with the high yellow silhouette just before Coppet, the tiny lakeside hamlet made famous by Madame de Staël.”

“Bond went on until he found a turning to the left. He followed this until there was a lane which led back through the vineyards to the woods behind Coppet and to the château of Madame de Staël. Bond stopped among the trees. Now he should be directly above the Entreprises Auric.”

“Bond walked warily through the trees, watching each step for dead branches. The trees thinned. There were glimpses of a huddle of low buildings behind a small manoir. Bond picked the thick trunk of a fir tree and got behind it. Now he was looking down on the buildings. The nearest was about a hundred yards away. There was an open courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard stood the dusty Silver Ghost.

Bond took out the binoculars and examined everything minutely.

The house was a well-proportioned square block of old red brick with a slate roof. It consisted of two storeys and an attic floor. It would probably contain four bedrooms and two principal rooms. The walls were partly covered by a very old wisteria in full bloom. It was an attractive house. In his mind’s eye Bond could see the white-painted panelling inside. He smelled the sweet musty sunshiny smell of the rooms. The back door gave on to the wide paved courtyard in which stood the Rolls. The courtyard was open on Bond’s side but closed on the other two sides by single-storey corrugated iron workshops. A tall zinc chimney rose from the angle of the two workshops. The chimney was topped by a zinc cowl. On top of the zinc cowl was the revolving square mouth of what looked to Bond like a Decca radar scanner you see on the bridges of most ships. The apparatus whirled steadily round.”

“The Hotel du Rhône in Geneva is beautifully
situated close to the lake.”

“They sat in the restaurant of the Hôtel du
Rhône, among the white napery, glittering silverware,
lights glinting off the crystal glasses, the bar pianist playing old romantic
standards. Beatrice wore a simple cocktail dress, dark blue with a plunging
neckline, bare back and a strand of what looked like diamonds at her throat.
Around them, money and rank occupied the other tables: mostly retired money.
The couples looked socially very acceptable, and Bond thought of M’s old
comment on Switzerland – “Berne is about politics,” he would say. “Zurich
concerns itself with money; but Geneva has its faded social circle. If you want
to hobnob with Swiss residents who keep their money in Zurich and their
pretensions intact, then join the dying breed of Geneva.”

“Bond ordered coffee to be sent up to room 504, and, while they waited for it, Beatrice went
first to the ornamental bedhead, then to one of the large lamps which looked as
though it had been fashioned from a stone jar.”

John Gardner: “COLD Fall” (1996)