Pâques

We just spent our first Easter, or Pâques, in Switzerland.

Weeks before Easter, chocolate bunnies showed up in supermarkets.

Medium sized Easter bunnies

There was an assortment of bunnies at the two major stores, white, milk, dark, small, medium, large, really large... the bunny section went on and on.

 

I saw people send a good 15 minutes in that section, as there were also Easter fish and ducks on display. But anything we saw at the supermarkets paled in comparison to the chocolate shop and bakery displays. They were simply gorgeous. True art was on display, not just chocolate. Unfortunately, as it's difficult to take photos that do not pick up a glare from the window fronts, I do not have any pictures to convey this. You just have to take my word for it. 

Now, I am a huge fan of Cadbury's creme eggs and Mini eggs, and was dismayed to find that they are not sold here (not to worry, as my family visiting from England provided us with many eggs and other chocolates!). So I instead chose to sample the Swiss Easter bunnies and also the Lindt Gold Bunny. Incidentally, I just found out that said bunny has just turned 60 and that it has its own website:   http://www.lindtgoldbunny.com/lindt-gold-bunny/happy-birthday-lindt-gold-bunny.php

Lindt bunnies were all over Geneva, and post-Easter, there were still loads to be found, in supermarkets, tabacs, and even cafes and shops in the airport. 

A plethora of Easter-themed baked goods also surfaced in March this year. I chose to try the Colombe de Pâques, or the Easter Dove Cake. It is Italian in origin, but popular in France and Switzerland as well.

It is similar to a Pannetone, with a sweet bread that has raisins and other dried fruit baked in. The top is covered in large sugar granules and also almonds. I think whether it looks like a dove is purely opinion.

Colombe de Paques, unwrapped

A cut into Colombe de Paques

But it was delicious, and wonderful with a coffee!

Also, in Nyon, near Geneva, we noticed that the fountains were decorated with flowers, flags, ribbons and eggs - Apparently, this is from a German tradition that celebrates the melting of the snow, and therefore, the return of water to said fountains, according to this site: http://www.swissworld.org/en/culture/seasonal_customs/easter/ .

Ryan taking a picture of one of the fountains in Nyon

The picture he took

A fountain at Easter, in Nyon

 It's always great to learn about cultural traditions, whether they are historically important, or they include chocolate or baked goods!

Cranes and Tramlines

Someone once told me that Geneva is a nice city, and will be even nicer when it's finished.

It is beautiful city, with lots of photo-worthy sites: the lake, the Jet D'Eau, the mountains, the Cathedral, and plenty of old buildings and narrow streets. However, it is hard to capture what you see with the naked eye on camera, due to areas of construction with scaffolding and cranes, let alone the 50s style buildings.

Notre-Dame, Geneva. I still have no idea what it actually looks like.

 I have found myself positioning the camera at odd angles, trying to get a crane- or road works-free picture. For example, this view looking down from Route de Ferney / Avenue de France is stunning, but I've found myself angling away (as much as possible) from the road signs and the cranes:

But I have changed my thought on this of late. Instead of thinking of them as obstacles to my picture taking, I think these things are what makes Geneva. It is a city growing quickly, with a very low housing vacancy rate. That means there are loads of apartment buildings are being constructed. The train station is being renovated. The tram and bus lines run efficiently enough to allow for commuters to get to their destinations, without needing to drive.

Carouge

Geneva is very attractive, for several reasons, to international companies, and the expat community is very large. And yet, it is a small enough city that newcomers quickly feel like they have their bearings.

Tramlines looking north to the Jura mountains

The cranes have become part of the landscape, moving around or increasing/decreasing in number from time to time.

The cranes seem to have multiplied in recent months

Admittedly, the road construction does not seem to move along as quickly as it could, and you can find either the lane you're used to being closed, making for interesting (or hair-raising) driving, or that a lane is closed for months, with no apparent work being done. All these things allow us to see the changes occurring within the city, which really makes us feel more involved with our new home.