Last night, despite the best efforts of the Y bus to keep us apart, a group of friends got together from different parts of France and Switzerland to endulge in a little raclette goodness, good wine, and lots of "I laughed so hard my face hurts...again" moments. From microwave plasma science experiments with currants and chocolate, to schemes of the future Team USA at the International Cat Show, a really great time was had by all. Thanks to K and D for putting together such a beautiful spread of everything delicious under the sun (and raclette grill), as well as for the delicious desserts and espressos. I will be dreaming of that apricot dessert for some time. And as if I wasn't in love with Thoiry enough from our day trips, nighttime offers a whole new realm of "it's sooooo prettttyyyy" over the huge sky, vast amount of visible stars, and views of Geneva. I. Need. To. Live. There. Now.Today we spent the better half of the day at the Ferney Saturday Market, and it was a gorrrrgeous day (despite a little of this partly sunny biznass) with a ton of people and a ton of vendors. I feel like we are getting really good at developing an attack strategy over pain au chocolat and cafe prior to delving into the market because otherwise it's easy to get pulled in a hundred different directions. More on that to follow. As for now it's time ot enjoy a little espresso, raspberries, grapes and chocolate with my hubby.
Bon weekend!
[Love birds.]
We first took a walk along Lake Geneva and took pictures in front of the fountain -it's actually the tallest fountain in the world. The clouds began to roll in as we walked towards the main part of the city towards Old Town, but we first stopped off to see some swans and ducks...even the seagulls are prettier in Europe!
This swan bit a duck, (or maybe it was a geese) on the tush - I never knew swans were so mean!
From the lake we saw a big purple globe thingy-ma-bobber which we thought was supposed to be a Darwin exhibit, but it turned out to be a slightly creepy exhibit about the human genome. Then it was on to Old Town Geneva...
There were lots of neat little shops to explore but most were closed for lunch. (Lunch here is 12-2...pretty sweet, eh?)
We came across St. Peter's Cathedral and ventured inside - I forgot that I had never actually been inside a cathedral and wasn't prepared for how huge it was! The stonework, woodwork and stained glass were beautiful. I can only imagine how cold and scary it must have been inside in the 1500's though...After the cathedral we spent some more time checking out Old Town and the surrounding areas of Geneva, and stumbled upon a really cool gallery. I learned the hard way that rain boots are not made for 5+ hours of walking hilly cobblestone streets, and we eventually called it a day.
After a lovely day in Ferney and Gex the day before, Dan and I decided to head into Thoiry to shop the Sunday market and meet up with some friends. This market was busier than the previous week's, maybe due to the nicer weather or because of the ski holiday. My favorite vendor was the wicker basket maker who had adorable little picnic baskets (I resisted the urge...this week). We then had a nice lunch at our friends place and took a walk up into Haute Thoiry (essentially higher up the mountain but walkable - depending on how you feel about 45 degree inclines...uphill...) where there were just surreal views of the Swiss Alps, Mont Blanc, and another mountain whose name I can't remember...Cevessy? (Something like that.) I'm excited for the warmer weather and to start hiking...or to at least start attempting to hike in the Jura. It'll take some time to adjust to the hills and altitude as I definitely talked myself out of breathe multiple times while walking up to Haute Thoiry, but I imagine I'll get used to it!
Tomorra is gonna be a big day as I'm going into Geneva for the first time which will mean first bus ride in Europe, first tram ride, first time using Swiss Francs (as compared to the euros used in France), first time in Switzerland aside from the time spent at the airport last week...and this time I won't forget my passport!
[French Bruno.]
Marché (with an accent on the "e" because otherwise it commands someone to walk), is french for market. There are tons and tons of markets throughout the country as the French take their food and quality of food very seriously (essentially it's the national pastime). These pictures are from this week's edition of the Ferney-Voltaire Saturday market. My favorite is the picture of the St. Bernard who I was just waiting for to just engulf an entire wheel of brie and no one even see it - I mean, if a Jaffe Bruno can take down 3 McDonald's double cheeseburgers and the newspaper they sit on in one silent gulp, I have no doubt in my mind that a French St. Bernard couldn't do the same with a wheel of brie. This week was much busier at the market than last week as the weather was nicer and some of the country is on holiday - yes, France takes a lot of holidays and I believe this one is the national ski holiday (1 week), however in order to keep the ski resorts in the Alps from getting too overcrowded they schedule the holidays for children in varying weeks. I think the French have a good thing goin' for them right there. Seriously why haven't we thought of this? This week could be Pitchers and Catchers Holiday Week in Philly where Philadelphians migrate down to Clearwater to watch Spring Training. Boom. You're welcome.
[View of the Jura Mountains from our living room balcony.]
[Swiss Alps.]
