Category Archives: Life in Geneva

Four Seasons of Geneva’s Crazy Trees

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When you visit, one of the first things you’ll notice is Geneva’s “crazy” trees.  Right now, they are just starting to bloom.

Springtime blooms in Place du Fusterie

In the winter, they stand out because of their nobby growths.

Sometimes they prune the growth off of the “nobs” and sometimes they don’t.

Every single guest we have had has made a comment about these peculiar arbors, more formally called plantane trees.  I agree that they look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Crazy trees covered in snow

Line up of snow-covered plantanes

In the summer, they are quite glorious.  It looks like there are pom-poms are attached to the ends of the branches.

Crazy trees, full of growth, in a photo from last summer

Beautifully lining the shores of Lake Geneva

When I was working on my art show last Fall, I did a painting of them along the left bank.   My friend N has it in her house in Kansas now to remember her drive from city centre Geneva to her village of Vesenaz.

“Shores of Lake Geneva”

I also think that they have the most beautiful bark, resembling a smooth skin.  Wouldn’t you agree?

My French tutors told me these are only common to lake regions of Switzerland, France and Italy.

Since it has been a year that we have lived here, it’s pretty neat that we’ve seen them in every season.

Gratitude Friday: We survived our first year

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This gratitude Friday, I wanted to express my thanks for a good first year in Geneva.  Yesterday, marked the anniversary of our move.   We have now seen all the seasons in Switzerland.   An amiable summer, an elegant fall, a mind-curdling winter, and a rainy spring.

 

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that it’s been with ups and downs.  However, the positives of our experience have far outweighed the negatives.

— –We continue to love the travel and our central location in Europe.  Somedays, it feels like we are living inside of a Busch Gardens theme park, hopping around to different countries in a weekend.  The ‘cool’ factor of that has definitely not worn out with us.   This is the best part about our expat experience.

–It is still doesn’t feel like home.  I am not sure it will before we have to leave.   I was talking with a woman the other day who has lived here 26 years and still says she feels like she is still a foreigner.

–We love our lifestyle.  I never feel rushed or stressed.  People enjoy life at a more leisurely pace and it has a positive influence on us. Especially me who needs all I can get of this example.  In fact, Gabe just returned from two weeks in the US and said it was remarkable to see the comparison of  tension &  hurriedness when he was back.  He said at the end of his time, he was starting to walk faster as a result.

–It has been interesting to watch our reaction to culture shock over the course of a year.  I mentioned on a previous post how this is a continual process.   It usually forms as a result of multiple inputs, not just one thing.  We knew that this would happen.  We have heard it would continue 1-2 years.  We’ll outsmart it just as its time to return.

–Knowing the language makes it easier.  My french is still not beautiful and nowhere close to fluent but I can make myself understood in simple conversation and getting things done. I no longer avoid making phone calls / appointments — I tackle them head on.  And it feels good to finally be able to do that.

We are very grateful for this year.

Bon weekend, everyone!

Caves Ouvertes 2012

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This past weekend was our favorite day of the year in Geneva:  Caves Ouvertes.   You may remember that we attended Caves Ouvertes our first Saturday in Geneva and it’s where we met A & A and D at the bus stop.  It’s crazy we’ve been hear a year and are having a second round of activities.

The reason its the best day in Geneva is that you pay 5 CHF for a wine glass and you can taste wine all day at any of the 90 open wineries in the canton.  This is hands-down Switzerland’s best deal.

A & A kicked off Caves Ouvertes 2012 with a scrumptious Canadienne Buffet at their house: American style.   We knew we’d need the hearty breakfast to fill our tummies before the big day.  They made eggs, bacon and biscuits & gravy.  L brought hash browns.   We brought Duncan Hines blueberry muffins (thanks Mama Mia for bringing us the mix from the US!).

The hosts with the delicious spread

My plate of yummy brunch

After brunch, we headed to Rive to catch the bus up to Vesenaz where the special Caves Ouvertes bus would pick us up.

Reminiscing our meeting one year ago.   D moved back to the US  in August and we have missed her.  Notice that A made a new “D on a stick” and she accompanied us this year in spirit.

As we waited for the bus, it started to rain.  Boo.  But it wasn’t going to stop us from enjoying a day of free wine.

Storms on the Swiss countryside

We tried to go to Cave de la Chena again as it was so cute and quaint.  However, they didn’t open until 1pm this year.   Luckily, it was at the location where the bus looped back around 5 minutes later.

We re-boarded the bus and headed to the next stop, Domaine Château-L’Evêque.   It is a organic winery and we really enjoyed a number of their wines.

Approaching Domaine Château-L’Evêque – home of bio wine.

Spirits were high at our first stop

We enjoyed a lot of their wines.  We noted we wanted to buy 7-8 bottles.  However, there were a delivery fee up until 24 bottles.  We decided to come back on another day to purchase as it wasn’t going to be fun to tote that many bottles on the bus.

After an hour, we decided it was time to move on.  We hopped on the bus and traveled to Jussy.

2nd stop: Château du Crest

Gorgeous castle turned winery

We really enjoyed this place last year.    New this year, Château du Crest had a game – you had to guess what type of wine was in each glass – blanc, rosé, or rouge.

The Wine Game

Gabe trying to guess

A got a few wrong.  Guess we’ll have to continue drinking to improve her wine skills. 

After trying out the game, we went for the wine tasting room.   We were encouraged to try their new wine, Surprise.

Gabe and A intrigued by the sales pitch

Château du Crest had almost 20 wines to try.  We think this would also be a nice place to come with guests.  Their website says they are open 5-7 on weekdays and 10-12 Saturdays.

My rating sheet

After we left, we took time to pause in the same field as last year, with D on a stick.

Missing D

We hopped back on the bus and headed to stop #3:  Domaine de la Tour.  It was a cute little winery and they gave us a free platter of cheese and meat.  So kind!  We each bought a bottle there in gratitude.

It was 1:30 so we decided it was time to head to a town that had multiple wineries before Caves Ouvertes ended at 4pm.

Only in Switzerland can you interact with local farm animals while waiting for the bus

L gave up her newly purchased bottle to the cause since we had a long wait.  This may or may not have been a mistake.

Only in Switzerland can you drink on the bus.

We rode twenty minutes to Anières.   Our first stop was lively, with a live band and a huge crowd.

Stop #4

At this place, they were serving raclette.    It smelled delish.  All five of us got our own plate.

Specialty of Switzerland: raclette

After a few tastes there, we stopped next door.

Enjoying Anières with its three wineries within steps of each other

Stop #5

At 4:45, we headed across the street to La Cote D’Or.   I only had one taste before I decided my feet couldn’t make it anymore.  They’d been standing maybe 2-3 hours on and off.

Stop #6

We trudged through the rain to the bus stop but missed the one we had intended to catch.  We huddled under the shelter and tried to keep warm waiting for the next.

When we arrived back in Geneva, I headed home to rest, elevate and ice the feet.  They’d had a big day.   Gabe headed out with the rest of the group to Old Town for a few drinks to continue the fun.

Another great Caves Ouvertes!

Reason which I wish I spoke better French #241

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Gabe just got back from being in the US.   One of the things we do when we go back are all our appointments – hair, dental, doctor, etc.   Before he left, we booked all that stuff for him.

I have slowly started to wean myself off my US appointments.  For all of 2011, I managed to get by with going to get my hair highlighted and cut in Charlotte when I was visiting.  And, with the 350 CHF price tag that a certain popular English-speaking salon has here in Geneva for highlights, I concluded that it might be cheaper to fly back to the US for these services.

Luckily, I found a wonderful hair gal who is super reasonable, so in 2012, I didn’t need to plan any hair-centric transAtlantic trips.

In 2011, I also managed to make two dental visits in during my trips home.   However, I decided, like the hair, it is time to find a more local solution.  So, now I am walking a little better, last week, I made an appointment with an English-speaking Geneva dentist.

This leads us to today’s lesson:

Lesson #1 – just because you find out a doctor speaks English, doesn’t mean their receptionist will.    Oh well, its okay.   I am used to it with my foot surgeon’s office and nurses.  And, I have basic French so while it is not pretty, I can accomplish things like taking an appointment.  So, I asked for a check-up / cleaning.  Success.

And, last week, I went.  And didn’t get a cleaning.   Fail.  Which leads us to Lessons 2 & 3:

Lesson #2 – do not celebrate an appointment as successful until you leave.  As I sat down, I was in awe of how cool the office was.  Everything was pristine and cheerful.   I envisioned how many friends I would tell about how awesome this dental office was.   However, I should have remembered my episode at the pedicurist and not to celebrate too early.

Lesson #3 – which I now know after yesterday, a dental appointment does not constitute a cleaning.   I was greeted by a superbly English speaking dentist who asked me what was wrong.  I presented her with my digital x-rays and just indicated nothing was wrong, that I was just in for a cleaning.  And she responded,   “Well, you should have made an appointment for a cleaning.  This was an appointment for a check-up.”

So my French could have been better.   I think I asked for the equivalent of a house cleaning instead of a teeth cleaning when I was on the phone.  And I was in the wrong assumption that the cleaning / check-ups are combination.   Nope. Separate altogether in Switzerland.

So, take heed, fellow ex-pats.  Maybe your French is better that mine.  But in case you are like me, ask for a “le détartrage” to avoid a little embarrassment.

Next week, I’ll go back for my actual appointment.

Swiss Driver’s Licenses

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We officially have Swiss driver’s licenses.   As a foreigner from the U.S, you are permitted one year to get them.  Guess how long it took us?   Yup….. 11+ months.

It is a good thing we got them in time.  If you don’t do it within the year time frame, you have to take a driving test.  With a French-speaking DMV person.  With a stick shift.  No one wants that.  Especially me.

You have to pay 150 francs for the license.  I think the pleasure of taking the formal driving test costs an additional 120 francs or so.

If you are from a country that drives on the left hand side like the UK or Australia, you must take the test to prove you can handle the right hand side.

In addition to the normal stuff (residency card, cash), we also had to prove we had valid driver’s licenses in the US for the past 3 years.   If you don’t have that, you have to take the driving test.

You also have to bring a eye test from an authorized eye doctor with you.  We did this the evening before at our local Visilab.

Even though the entire thing went down in French, it was remarkably easy.     It only took 20 minutes, far less time than I spent in any DMV in the US.

And the DMV people are remarkably happy.  Friend T commented she wanted to work there if she could as they appear as they have a jolly good time having conversation, enjoying coffee and dolling out drivers licenses.   You don’t really see that back home.

Sweet new license

Now all I have to do is learn how to drive a stick shift, and I’ll actually be able to use my new drivers license.

La Tour du Molard

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The Tower of Molard is a wine bar located in Place du Molard – literally located in the tower in the square.   I have been meaning to check it out, so E-dawg’s visit provided a perfect opportunity.

There are two main bar rooms, but there are small seating areas overlooking the plaza side and the lake side on each turn of the staircase.      Thus, you can either be sociable by gathering in a bar room, or more intimate by finding a quiet overlook above.

We arrived around 8pm and it was quite lovely to watch the sun set and the pavers light up in Molard square.    We enjoyed a regional Gamay and a Pinot Noir  (they only serve local wines) while catching up on old times.

E-dawg in Molard square at twilight. We took our time walking to the bus so we could read the different languages expressed on the lit-up pavers.   You can see the patrons of the wine bar silhouetted in the windows. 

We’d recommend this place for a cocktail – especially on a rainy evening like the one we had.  It provided a lovely backdrop of the city while we could remain warm & dry.

Discovering Geneva: The Museum of the Reformation

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On Tuesday, after our tour of the site archeologique, we took a quick lunch break at Creperie St. Pierre and then moved onto the final stop: La Musée de la Réforme de Genève.   This museum retraces the history of the movement started by John Calvin in Geneva.   It includes artifacts and exhibits from the start until the current age.

The Museum of the Reformation

The museum was interesting; however, a little disjointed.  We were lucky to get English audio guides, but not all of the numbers could be found and they were out of order in most cases.    We spent a lot of time on the ground floor figuring this out while we learned about the origination and first century of the Reformation.

As we moved on, we learned just to hit the #s that we saw that looked interesting to us and continue on that way.

The basement floor contained history from the 19th and 20th centuries.  There were exhibitions on the role in civil society, the progression and dynamics of mission work, a computer screen depicting the statistics of the denominations of religion in the US, and audio of Billy Graham and the evangelistic movement.  That part was pretty neat to see how Calvin’s impact echoed through society today.

You are not allowed to take photos so we don’t have anything to show.

Bottom line – this museum is full of intriguing and interesting exhibits.  However, it might be best to make it your only stop in the day so you can comprehend the full depth of history and really take the time to visit both the ground and bottom floor.     We were a little tapped out from hitting the archeological site first, both in terms of standing and mind-power, so we wore ourselves out before getting to the basement.

Those who do visit this museum, make sure to check out the Reformation Wall in Parc des Bastions as well!

 

Discovering Geneva: Archeological Site of Saint-Pierre

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This past Tuesday, E-dawg and I bought a combo pass to the Espace St. Pierre.  For 18 CHF, it included passes to the site archaeologic underneath the cathedral (8 CHF), the Museum of the Reformation (13 CHF), and a pass to climb to the top of the Cathedral for the view (4 CHF).

Since there was a peak of sunshine, E-dawg started out by touring the Cathedral and climbing up to the top to see the magnificent view of Geneva from above.   I had done this before and due to the condition of my feet, I passed on the climb and sat in a pew and relaxed.

After she’d taken in the panoramic view above, we descended beneath the Cathedral.  From a previous post, I mentioned there were many different Roman temples and other Christian churches on this site prior to the current St. Pierre / St. Peters.  The archeological site allows you to see the evidence from the previous structures.

A model which lit up to show you the different eras, before your physical tour of the space.

Below is a cross section of photos from our visit.  Two of the most interesting things to me were the mosaic tiles in the reception hall of the bishops, and the tomb of the Allobrogian where someone had drilled a whole to pay homage to his skull.

This web page does a marvelous job of showing the timeline of events, in case you are interested in learning more about the history.

We really enjoyed the site and both rated it a 9 out of 10.

Fondue at Bains des Paquis

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I am excited that E-dawg arrived safely to Geneva this past Sunday.   It is great to have her here!

When I woke up to downpours on her arrival day, it didn’t look good.  Rain, rain and more rain.   Two hail storms later, I greeted her at the airport.  However, low and behold……the sun came out during our bus ride home.  Thank you, Geneva!

After her quick shower and unpacking (remember, I don’t let jet lagged people sleep!), we headed out of the house to try to take advantage of the break in the grey skies.

We took the little yellow boat / muette over to the Paquis to go to Bain des Paquis for an early dinner of fondue.  Unfortunately, we arrived at 5pm and they didn’t serve fondue until 6pm.   Fail.  Poor E-Dawg was starving!     We occupied ourselves taking photos and with an appetizer of viande sechée (dried meat) while watching people skip stones and ducks socialize, until it was time.

Bain des Paquis is very different from your traditional Swiss fondue restaurant.   It is located on an island jetting off of The Paquis neighborhood on the right bank.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

Difference # 1 – it is right next to the turkish baths.  You are in sight of people in their towels relaxing in the cooling air.    This could turn people off from eating fondue.  Non-adventerous people that is!!!

Difference # 2 – You order at the counter and then they either give you your order immediately, or they bring it to you.  In the case of fondue, they bring it to you.

Difference # 3 – They serve fondue au crémant – it is made with sparkling wine and is lighter and creamier than other types.  Mmmmm.

Difference # 4- You also have the ability to order as many servings as you want no matter how big your party is.  Why is this important, you ask?   Well, the average US visitor cannot eat their fair share of fondue.  Thus, it makes it more appealing for the stomach and the wallet to share a pot of the cheesy stuff.  Who wants to waste half a vat of cheese and pay overpriced Swiss francs for it?  So,  in the case of E-dawg and I, we shared a portion for one (22 CHF).  And it was perfect.  We even reached the toasty cheese-it bottom that is very elusive.

E-dawg enjoying the creamy treat made with cheese and sparkling wine

Yummy cheese-it bottom!

The view is incredible.  These shots were taken just steps away from where we ate.

View of the Jet d'Eau from Bains des Paquis

Bains des Paquis is also a nice place to relax

Unfortunately, the Bains des Paquis stops serving fondue at the end of April.  So hurry there before the time is up!  Or else, you’ll just have to wait for Fall…..

Related articles:
The Swiss Watch Blog – Famous Swiss Foods:  Cheese
Schwingen in Switzerland – Expat 101 – Lesson 3 – The Best Fondue in Geneva
Saveur – Fondue au Crémant 

It’s Raining. I guess we HAVE to go to the Chocolate Factory

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We were excited to have Gabe’s cousin, Couch Surfer, staying with us for four days in Geneva.  She has been traveling all over Europe for 6 weeks.  Unfortunately, the weather this April has been rain, rain and more rain.   To no surprise, we woke up on her second day to gloomy skies and downpours.

Which begs the question….what in the heck do you do with a guest in Geneva in the rain?  Especially….on a Sunday?

Basically, our conclusion was to taste our way through Switzerland.    And thank goodness that while all cultural attractions in Switzerland are closed on Sundays and Mondays, the culinary attractions are still a possibility.

The Cailler Chocolate Factory is about an hour and a half drive from Geneva, in Broc.   It is located right next to Gruyeres and the Cheese Factory making it convenient to hit both in the same trip, time allowing.   We had been to Gruyeres before with Andres, but not to Broc.  As we drove and got closer and closer to Cailler, we realized we were in the middle of nowhere.  Where I grew up, we would call this BFE.

Our GPS showed we were one mile away from the famous chocolate factory. Really?

Questioning what we would do if we met a tractor trailer of chocolate coming the opposite direction on what appeared to be a one-lane road to the chocolate factory

Our GPS didn’t fail us – we were in the right spot.    Later in our tour, we learned why Cailler is in the middle of nowhere.   Basically, they wanted access to great milk (cows) and a water supply (Alps).   They also say the chocolate tastes better because of the fresh air of the alpine landscape.  Thus, the undisturbed panorama in Broc could provide both.

And no worries about a collision with a tractor trailer on the one lane road – every piece of chocolate is shipped out via rail.   That is except what goes out in tourists pockets!

Arriving at Cailler.

We were grouped into a small cluster of other English speakers for our tour.    The tour was “self-guided” and started by shuffling us through a series of rooms/exhibits to tell the story of chocolate.

It started with the Aztecs and the story of their discovery of the cocoa bean.   They mainly used it to make Chocolati, a cocoa-based drink, which they considered a drink of “the gods”.   Trouble soon arose when Cortez conquered the land and the Aztec people and took the cocoa beans and recipe for Chocolati with him back to Europe.    There, the beans became used as a currency and grew in popularity amongst the nobility (poor people couldn’t afford it).

The controversial drink raised question with the Dominicans, as they suspected that it was a drink of sin and could provide a way for evil to enter the body.  Luckily, Pope Pius V declared it okay and also indicated that drinking the yummy substance didn’t constitute a break in fast during Easter.   It’s popularity continued to grow throughout Europe, particularly in Paris, and it was marketed as an aphrodisiac.

The Belgians and Germans contributed a great deal to the Chocolate Movement.  However, it wasn’t until the 19th Century that the chocolate movement moved to Switzerland.  And, they caught up fast.

1n 1819, Cailler opened the first chocolate factory in Switzerland.  In 1875, Peter “invented” milk chocolate by figuring out how to fuse the chocolate with a valued Swiss resource: dairy.  Nestlé who had invented baby formula from milk, helped add to this new delicacy with his know-how around milk and manufacturing.   During the Great Depression, Nestlé and Cailler actually merged for survival.

Swiss chocolate is said to be the best because they were the inventors of milk chocolate.   However, don’t discredit the dark so fast….it is also a specialty because of the specialized conching (the process in which chocolate gets smooth and shiny) and aging that is unique to Switzelrand.

After learning the history, we got to touch the beans and ingredients, learn about why chocolate is good for us, and watch Branches being made.   If we have brought you chocolate from Switzerland, there is a good chance you tried a Branche bar.

Got a flashback to I Love Lucy watching the chocolate on the assembly line

We got mini branches to taste and then we got to go the tasting room, with 15 types of chocolate.   They were smart and had a chocolatier on guard so that guests couldn’t scarf up all the chocolates.

Also, we had heard to “hold out” in tasting as the ones at the end are the best and you don’t want to burn out, so we did so.  The tip was accurate.  The nicer ones were at the end.  I adored the dark Ambassador ones with coffee and hazelnut filling.

Me & Couch Surfer, getting ready to taste!

We wrapped up around 4pm and decided to skip the cheese factory in lieu of more time in the Lavaux wine region.   Lavaux is an easy stop to add to any trip on the other side of the lake.   We drove through the adorable wine village of Chexbres before parking at Vinorama, known to be open on Sundays and a place that hosts a variety of Lavaux types.

Vinorama is a nice spot to take visitors, you may remember it from when The Captain and Swiss Miss were visiting.

Gabe and Couch Surfer in Lavaux. The last time I came, the waterfall was frozen solid.

Last time I came, we did a formal tasting.   However, this time, we opted to each select two half glasses.    Our selections rounded out the chocolate and the afternoon with a nice taste of another Swiss product.

Related Links:

The Swiss Watch Blog: Famous Swiss Foods – Chocolate

Schwingen in Switzerland: Chocoholics Anonymous