sajawata

Wonderful weekend.

Friday night
Met up with Sharron, Anna, Harriti and Nicole for girls night out. Started at Heaven Lounge for a birthday party. Then made our way to this really classy place called shakers where 20 francs at the door gets you a choice of cocktails: radioactive blue or yellow. The boys far outnumber the girls and swarm to you like bees to honey. I prefer to think of it as a lesson in geography as there are boys from just about every continent there. I danced with Andy, the Australian hunk slash hulk as he was about 6 foot 7, a guy from Saudi Arabia who professed his undying love for me but wouldn’t tell me his name, and Fernando, the Brazilian salsa dancer. We danced till about 4:30, then walked all the way back to Harriti’s place who was SO nice to let all of us crash at her flat. That walk was both the most painful and hilarious experience of my life. Slept for maybe an hour, then Molly and Eva picked me up to go to Chamonix. Eva absolutely saved my life with a Chocolate croissant.

Rode the cable car up the Aiguille du Midi which peaks at 12,602 feet. Stunning 360° views of Mont Blanc (which we decided was one of the most fun French words to say), the glaciers, and the valley of Chamonix. Mt. Blanc is the highest point in Europe and quite impressive. There were lots of climbers tackling the peak and Eva has set her sights on doing the same. Next we took the cable car back to the bottom and caught a train over to another glacier area called Montenvers or Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice). The glacier there is enormous and they have dug a section of it out so you can walk inside. We had a lovely picnic at the bottom of the glacier and a red fox joined us. Very exciting to know Chamonix is less than an hour away and offers so many hiking and skiing opportunities.

Slept better than ever Saturday night and drove to Annecy with Eva on Sunday. It is about an hour south of Geneva in France and possibly the most charming town that ever existed. Lake Annecy is gorgeous and there are huge parks all around the lake where you can rent a boat or join the multitude of picnic-ers with a bottle of wine and a nap in the sun. We bought a baguette at the patisserie that was without a doubt the best thing I nearly ever tasted. Unfortunately we were cut short on time so we couldn’t hike in the Alps like we wanted to, but we did have a nice stroll through the town, which has canals built all through it. We took the country road back to Geneva which was very pleasant and the best thing to do on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

These kinds of days will make you look at the world with new eyes…

Have been major slacker in posting what I’ve been doing. Yes Mom I’m still alive!

Since I last wrote:

Bike ride to Divonne, France

Bike ride to Geneva, went to the Jardin Botanique: They have many greenhouses with rare species of plant life from all over the world. Also they have an exhibit on renewable energy that I’m sure would be informative if I spoke a lick of French. Cool aquariums with a lookalike Dory the fish from Finding Nemo (sans Ellen Degeneres’ voice) and the ugliest sucker fish I’ve ever seen in my life. Also a cool bird-arium (yes it’s a word, I looked it up dammit) where I almost got pooped on several times.

Hike through the vineyard country near Rolle. GORGEOUS!

Learned the value of a decent mattress!!!!!!!

Went to Yvoire, a really quaint old town in France then on to Evian, where they bottle the water.

Biked with Sharron through Plais de Nations and the parks around town, biked around Carouge listening to the Police concert- no 150 franc tickets for me!

Went to new friend Laura’s place for girls night of wine/cheese/chocolate. Met a new friend Lisa who lives right around the corner in Commugny. Ran to catch train home, missed it, rescued by her boyfriend.

Drinks at Cafe Ethno & Club Heaven, Trivia night at Mr. Pickwicks.

Wednesday
Bike ride to Nyon, the medium sized town 10ish miles north of Commugny. The chateau there has been turned into a museum with a slightly bizarre blend of contemporary art and Roman-era collections. Building itsef is quite fascinating. I want to be a princess, or better yet a knight so I can defend the castle and launch cannons at the boats coming into the harbor.

Saturday
Zurich
Molly, Anna, Sharron and I to Zurich today (3 hour drive). Biggest city I’ve been to so far. Too much to do in one day so must go back to visit the Gestalt Museum, the poster museum (!!!!!!), the Dada museum (Zurich is the birthplace), and the last building ever designed by Le Corbusier, which has been turned into a museum. Also book shops galore that I wanna get lost in for a few good years.
Did visit the 14th century Fraumunster with stained glass windows by Marc Chagall and Augusto Giacometti. Then smaller Grossmunster founded in the 9th century by Charlemagne.
Onto the Kunsthaus Museum. Very nice museum with many of the post-renaissance movements represented and most of the major modern artists represented. Possible second visit in the future? Yes please.
Lovely stroll through old town then on to the lawn of the Swiss Natural Museum for a cheap picnic dinner complete with wine straight from the bottle and a sausage thingy I’m pretty sure wasnt actually food. Must remember to spend more $ on dinner than morning’s coffee.
Good art, good traveling companions, good times.

Sunday
Went to Gruyere (dairy town) with the ladies.

Started out at the Chateau which was built 1270-1282. It is very interesting, a very small old town out in the middle of the country, and most of the buildings havent been updated much, so it gives a real feeling of the way life was.
The interior rooms were very diverse and exquisitely furnished and adorned.
Also they have cannons and armor on display. I really wanted to play capture the castle.

Next we went to the Cheese factory/restaurant. They have four 4800-litre vats where they make the cheese and a vault where 7000 wheels of gruyere can get good and stinky. We had a lovely fondue lunch.

On our way back to Geneva we stopped in Nyon and had drinks and walked around the harbor. Lots of people out and about and all the pubs had stands set up in the park. Happy vibe.

A very good weekend.

I have a mobile now! The # is 079 299 8966 so if you want to reach me this is the best way.

Last week was very long due to the fact that the kids were not in school yet, so I was with them all day every day. Plus it was raining most the week so we were stuck in the house.

Tuesday Anita’s neighbor came over and we had Indian cooking lessons in French. A bit overwhelming but I now know more about Lentils than I ever thought possible. Yummy dinner.
On Thursday I went to the grocery store and they were having a wine tasting of the local vineyards. There’s actually 2 vineyards right here in Coppet! I splurged on a bottle thats a blend of Pinor Noir/Gamaret/Garanoir. I should mention that their grocery store is basically in a mall. It has an H&M (yay for cheap clothes!), Lacoste, Esprit, Benetton, and a host of other fashionable places that really are not affordable for an au-pair.

This weekend got off to a rocky start but ended up being magnificient.
So last week I got on Facebook and emailed several au-pairs that I saw in the Geneva area. Several emailed back and one asked if I wanted to hike the Saleve on Saturday. We made plans to meet on the border of France and Sharron would pick me up there. Well, I went to the wrong place, only I didn’t know it was the wrong place. And my cell phone died. So I had to walk back to Geneva from this wrong part of the French border to get to the Swisscom so I could call her and tell her I was lost. Poor thing had been waiting on me the whole time (several hours). She was incredibly sweet about the whole thing and even drove into town to pick me up. So then we went back to France to get to the Saleve. It was a wonderful hike with amazing views of the city. There were cows with bells around their necks all around in the pastures. I was just waiting for Heidi to come along to complete the perfect Swiss scene.

Sharron is wonderful. She has been here for almost 4 months so she has lots of friends and knows all the fun places to go. After our hike she took me to her house so we could change and then we went back to Geneva. She took me to her fav. Mexican restaurant, which has really good food and prices. Then we walked around for several hours with bottles of brew (You can drink in the streets here!) and she showed me all the fun places to go out and the reasonably priced places to eat and shop. Then we met up with several of her friends at this outdoor café in Old Town. So I met 4 au-pairs that day. Sharron (Michigan) Molly (Wisconsin) Anna & Catarina (Poland). The girls are very nice and we have started talking about road trips we want to take together so I am excited to have someone to talk to about more than poo-poo heads and scary monsters hiding in the toilets!

Sunday I went to Lausanne, a biggish sized city on the lake just north of here. I walked for what seemed like forever and I couldn’t have asked for a better day. i started on the lake which is beautiful. Walked around for a while, then stumbled on a photography museum. An amazing and extensive exhibit of Leonard Freed. There was even a photo he had taken on Johns Island S.C.

Nextdoor to the Musée de l’Elysée was the International Olympic Museum. The Modern Olympics were apparently started in Lausanne. I walked around outside and a little bit inside, but decided to come back some other time because it was a bit busy.

Found the museum of Design but decided it could very well take an entire day to soak it all up so will come back.

Walked up to the Cathedral area. Saint Francis Church (Franciscan Monastery), Chatuea (15th century), and Notre Dame Cathedral (Midieval pilgrimage site in gothic style)

Then walked over to the park area where everyone was basking in the warm sun. Gorgeous views of lake from above, plus impeccably maintained gardens all around. Esplanade de Montbenon (Belvedere’s vacation castle)

Finally walked down to Flon district which is famous for modern architecture, art & music.

This day is exactly what I envisioned when I decided to come to Europe.
Going to bed happy.