This was taken shortly before midnight Seattle time, covering today’s theme for picture of the day: air travel. Taken during our layover at CDG, in Paris.
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Category: France
Despite all the highlights of the long weekend, I was grateful to wake up in a familiar place at Maya & Janet’s home. I had a slow morning before we ventured out into the big bad world. Appropriately readied to face the Geneva metro area, Maya and I drove into town. We parked at the UN, then went to the waterfront to take in the Cool Globes exhibit, designed to raise awareness of solutions to climate change. It was scheduled to end in August, but for lucky me, it was still in town.
For lunch, we found Pakistani doner kebab in the Paquis (Les Pâquis), not far from the waterfront. After, we walked towards Gare Cornavin together, with plans to part so Maya could head to French class and so I could tram it solo to Carouge, a village adjacent to Geneva. Not two minutes after saying good-bye to Maya, I ran into another expat friend of a friend I’d met Friday. Small world! I was feeling very much at home in Geneva after this.
Okay, onto Carouge. This Summer another friend (N.) moved to the Geneva area, settling in Carouge. We saw each other often in Seattle until she was relocated by her company to Cincinnati around 5 years ago. Once again this Summer, she relocated — but this time to Switzerland. Rough. I hope she gets hazard pay.
I’d left Gare Cornavin with enough time should there be any mishaps en route my 30 minute tram ride. But who was I kidding? This is Switzerland. They pretty much invented timeliness. So when I arrived far earlier than expected, I took the hour to photograph. Turns out, I picked the perfect location to spend my time — Carouge is tres photogenic and one of the most charming and arty districts in the Geneva metro area. It was built hundreds of years ago by Sardinians looking to escape harsh big city life. I found it as delightful as Bern and plan to revisit. Should I ever need to rent my own apartment in Geneva, Carouge would be right up there with Ferney-Voltaire. 🙂
N & I spent a couple of hours catching up before heading to our evenings. But once again, I miscalculated time & found myself with a little extra. Instead of hopping on the first tram outta Carouge, I started walking. Pretty soon, I’d walked over halfway back to Vielle Ville, making my tram plan mostly irrelevant. I refused to accept the idea I might get lost and pushed on with the faith that Geneva was as small & cozy as it had been feeling all day — past Plainpalais, past men playing giant chess, up the hill into the center, and arriving with seconds to spare.
As the sun set, we rendez-voused in Place du Bourg-de-Four, where Maya & I hung out last week in the Vielle Ville. We chose Soupçon, not least of all because Janet told me over the weekend that it served the best steak she’d had in Switzerland yet. ‘Twas a lovely final dinner, with a stracciatella nightcap at the nearby gelateria. We took a final stroll through Geneva to the waterfront, under the harvest full moon.
Then, it was time to go home.
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More Carouge and Geneva photos in two sets below:
Today, Diana took us to The Alsace. The day was so beautiful, I was ready to pack it all up and move to Central Europe, in order to be closer to this region for all my Sundays.
We hit the highway early, headed for Niedermorschwihr. This little-known town is the home of Christine Ferber, who we took to calling The Jam Fairy. Ferber’s shop, Au Relais Des Trois Epis, is 13 km west of Colmar. Inside, I stocked up on jams, other preserved fruits and one chocolate macaron for the road.
Next on our itinerary was Bergheim. Our mission in Bergheim was two-fold: a) visit the Jam Witch and b) lunch at Wistub du Sommelier for the best foie gras EVER (trademark: J) and a delicious duck with choucroute. Bergheim’s Jam Witch (L’Eglantine de Bergheim) was well worth the stop and added a touch of positive drama to our morning — after each jam request, she would disappear, then re-emerge through the shop curtains with fresh supplies. Her Gewürztraminer product is To Die For. After visiting her, we scurried back a few streets to Wistub du Sommelier for our luxurious Alsatian lunch. We didn’t leave WdS without extra foie for M&J to take back to Ferney.
After lunch, we drove through Alsatian vineyards to see Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr, two picturesque towns in the region. As the story was told to me — when artists for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast began their work, they visited Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr to sketch and to be inspired. I could see this everywhere I turned. I also learned here that the stork is the spirit animal of the region.
We stopped for late afternoon “tea” (er, Cremant) & a snack in Riquewihr, before heading back to Basel.
Between villages, J&I found a vineyard before twilight. I am so sold on the Alsace — it is a must visit en France.
All pictures from the set, here:
Where do I begin? Today was packed so well it seemed like I got two days out of one. I’m going to break today into two entries.
We began the morning at the weekly Saturday morning market in Ferney-Voltaire. Every week, M&J pick up their goods for the coming week and meet with fellow expats at the Cafe Voltaire. Today, I made the shopping rounds with J — first stop, Bernard (pictured above) at the fruit and veggie stand. Next, we visited the bread guy and the coffee lady and the cheese dude. And there was a spice & tea booth! It rivals any other casual food or farmer’s market I’ve ever seen.
Char-LEE (how I think of his name now) at the Cafe Voltaire, far friendlier than this photo suggests
It happened to also be Le Marché des Potiers — the annual pottery market festival for Ferney. While M&J bought housewares, I admired the trinkets, did some people watching, and brought home a photo-holder.
Then, we hit the Swiss highway for a road trip to Basel via Avenches. Entry coming up next!
For more pictures of the market day, here’s a set:
M and I ventured into Geneva this morning to check out La Vieille-Ville, or the old town. We made ourselves a little walking tour of downtown under blue skies, with a lunch rest for Tartare at Au Carnivore in Place du Bourg-de-Four. After lunch, I climbed the bell tower of Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
Clouds rolled in late afternoon to set the scene for our drive to Le Refuge de Florimont located halfway up in the Jura mountain range — up Route de la Faucille in Gex, France. The temperatures dropped considerably, so in a cozy space, we enjoyed Raclette and Gexiflette while fondue parties carried on around us. The Raclette came with its own charbon (a grill), which we used to melt this amazing cheese for our potatoes, charcuterie, and cornichon. The Gexiflette was a turn on Tartiflette — a french version of potatoes baked in cheese. In this case, the Gexiflette was cooked with the local Pays de Gex, a very blue cheese. The dinner was delicious & I’d recommend the trip to anyone in the Geneva area looking for a traditional restaurant, especially groups. For three of us, a perfect place to end the day.
More photos in the set here:
Welcome Basket!
My flight to Geneva touched down sometime around 7 AM this morning, well ahead of schedule. I strolled through Customs with Nothing to Declare and in minutes, my pals whisked me back over another border into France where they live across the street from Switzerland. J headed off to work, while M distracted me from jet lag.
We got off to an energizing start by taking a long, leisurely walk through the countryside. Past Collex, past Bossy, past apple orchards and cornfields and vineyards, along an extensive path system shared by both France & Switzerland. We lost count of how many times we saw border stones, which indicated we’d crossed yet again. One woman stopped to chat with us, en Francais, ’til she realized the conversation was rather one-sided and switched into English. She introduced us to her Bulldogs (French?) and gave M leads on where she could find a shelter dog near Versoix. A full two hours later, we returned home & I got in a quick nap.
J came home after work, with a coworker in tow — a British Intern working with her at the intergovernmental organization (say that 10 times fast!). We walked with the intern to her new home in Ferney before heading to dinner at Crèperie Ti Breizh. M, J, & I each had savory crepes & cider & dessert crepes.
The affable owner even gave us today’s French lesson:
“French is all about learning the proper inflection of vowels. Practice emphasizing each in “Du! Bon! Vin! Blanc!”
I kept the post-it note he wrote us for emphasis.
We capped off the evening in the town square for a drink. My Franco-Swiss vacation was off to an excellent start.
Photos of the Day: