Fresh bread

We both love fresh bread, but rarely get it just out of the oven.

The area where we lived when we first moved to Geneva, Grand Saconnex, has an organization called Four a Pain, ("bread oven") that held a Fete du Pain one Saturday.

We thought it would be worth a look to see what was being shown. Ryan really likes the Swiss bread called La Tresse au Beurre, or braided butter bread. It's available in the local supermarkets here. As a Swiss friend says, it's great, but you cannot slice it properly - you just have to grab it and tear off a piece.

The Fete was held in a courtyard of a school. It was a nice sunny morning, not too hot, and there weren't many people there. However, inside there was a small crowd, watching the bread coming out of the ovens:

A tray of the Tresse bread

I got the breakfast plate - so simple, and yet so tasty!

Seeing as it was breakfast, I opted to not have wine with my meal.
There were a few guys grilling out, so Ryan had the "'amburger" which was pretty good, he said.
A lively band played what I call local Swiss music, which got the people dancing.  It was getting pretty lively as we left!

Caves Ouvertes

Every year in May, there is an open house day of Geneva's wineries. Held on a Saturday, locals and visitors are encouraged to spend the day near Geneva, visiting wineries, tasting all there is to offer and having an overall enjoyable day. We contemplated taking the train and using the courtesy shuttle, but our friends were driving there, so we gladly tagged along with them.
Just a short drive and we were in a nearby town, where we found a place to park and walked a couple of minutes to our first stopover place. It had been raining that morning, and we were worried about the weather so we packed rain gear. 5 Swiss Francs was the cost for a glass, and we could sample whatever we wanted.

We noticed throughout the afternoon that a lot of people were English speakers. It's clearly the thing to do if you are Australian/Canadian/British/American!
Or maybe the bad weather scared away the other people.

There were food options available, such as sausages, breads, cheeses, desserts, and meals served too.  We did not sample any as we had just eaten, but probably would go hungry next year.

A very enjoyable experience was cut short, however, due to the weather turning sour. With high winds and sideways rain landing on us, there was very little shelter, and we called it a day a bit sooner than we'd wanted!
It was a great day out, though, and we look forward to trying it again.

(I was too busy having fun and talking to take any photos. Luckily, Ryan did! Our friends kept asking where he was, as he would leave us for periods of time, taking good pictures like the ones on this page.)

Lakeside cinema

For about five weeks every summer, CineTransat shows films lakeside just after sunset. For free, you can bring blankets, chairs, food, drinks, umbrellas, whatever you like really, and enjoy a movie. We decided to go and see Blade Runner (director's cut) in August with some friends - there were 7 of us in total.

Comfy chairs for hire

The forecast wasn't looking too good, so we decided to wait and see what would happen. Ryan volunteered to go early and reserve a large space for us. Thankfully, he took our large umbrella, as the skies opened soon after he ventured out! The organizers, however, told the few people there that the forecase looked as if the rain would go away in time for the movie, and then they proceeded to play rain-themed songs - Here Comes the Rain by The Eurythmics, Purple Rain by Prince, etc.
Ryan gave me updates while the rest of us collected in the apartment, waiting for the rain to let up. By 8.30pm, about half an hour before sunset, we ventured out and found Ryan (Thank you, giant umbrella) had saved a great spot for us. We got chairs, and broke out the cooler for some refreshing beverages.

Before the movie. Notice the "paper" chairs and the robot DJ setup to the left

This was an impressive display and really built up anticipation to the movie!

Only 3 of us had actually seen the movie before. I'd heard good things about it from friends, and I love Harrison Ford and think highly of Ridley Scott's work, so I was looking forward to it. And it was a really good film! It's 30 years old, and it was funny to see the futurist LA (which is only 7 years from now); pouring with rain, and full of buildings so tall you couldn't see the ground; with constant noise and lights, yet it dim and grim.

During the movie, the following really enhanced the experience: the fireworks that went off across the lake and also to the right of us; the moon rising over the lake; and the lightning.

While we stood around discussing the film and the "ambience," Mother Nature decided to do what she had threatened for the entire evening - the rain started and suddenly we were all chased away by a massive storm! We couldn't have been more soaked!

What a great night we had! It is yet another reason why Geneva is such an amazing city in the summer.

Château de Chillon

My friend Tracy was here from the US, and we decided to go to Montreux and visit Château de Chillon while we were there. I love castles, so I was pretty excited to go and see it. It's on tons of postcards of Switzerland, with most pictures taken from the lake. We had expected to spend about half an hour at the Château, then most of the day at Montreux, but there was so much to see, we spent most of the afternoon wandering around the Château, exploring the castle and the grounds!

The weather was fantastic: warm, but not hot, and sunny. We took a pleasant train trip from Geneva to get to Montreux, then took a short bus ride to the Château.  On the way, a quick read through the guide books taught us that was "made famous" by Lord Byron, who wrote the poem The Prisoner of Chillon.  It has become a very popular tourist destination, It's in the very corner of Lake Geneva, and surrounded by tall mountains.

It is on what is now a very busy street, so it's hard to imagine how it was centuries ago. It must have felt like such a serene place to those who lived there.
Upon crossing a small bridge, you can see the natural moat.

The map given to us showed a suggested path to follow for a self-guided tour, which we chose to do. One of the first places we went to was the cellar, where we got to see the dungeons made infamous by the afore-mentioned poem. It's quite chilling to see pillars and posts where you can almost picture prisoners being shackled. I think if the lighting was any dimmer, it would be a very ominous place.

There are windows dotted around that show the stunning lake and mountains. Nowadays, a large ship full of tourists will sail by (very rapidly) or smaller boats.

The tour continued to 30 more different points of interest... it was full of narrow staircases leading to big halls or small private rooms.

There are many signs that this castle was built in stages, over centuries. There were three or four courtyards, for instance, and more than one private quarters.

We spent a good few hours exploring this lovely castle, with great views looking out and into the grounds. There were so many windows and scenic spots!

This excursion cut into our "Montreux time", but it was an afternoon well spent.

View of Château de Chillon from lakeside Montreux

The photo opportunities in this place are almost endless, and I thank Tracy for taking her wonderful camera and sharing her photos with me!

Basel

I just spent the weekend in Basel with my sister. Basel is the most northern city in Switzerland, and it is on the France/Germany/Switzerland border. As it's not far, I took  the train there, which was a really enjoyable trip, especially for the first part around Lake Geneva.

I knew Basel would be pretty, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how attractive it is. All around are old buildings, narrow streets, plazas and great spots to discover and enjoy! We did not have a plan for the weekend, except to walk around and explore...

The Offene Kirche Elisabethen, or Church of St. Elizabeth was the first stop on our self-guided walking tour of Basel. It's on a busy road, and it's in Neo-Gothic style. It's beautiful, and we were confused when we found that part of it was a cafe. Turns out (thank you internet) that it was up for demolition, and now it is now hired out for events.

 We then walked by the Tinguely fountain. Jean Tinguely has a museum in Basel that we didn't get to, so it was nice to see the fountain. This is a hot spot for teenagers later that night.
We meandered through the town and then headed to Münster Cathedral, going through the Münsterplatz to get to it. It's under construction but impressive nonetheless.

The Münsterplatz

Münster Cathedral, under construction

We then went around the back of the cathedral to see the river. The Rhein/Rhine is massive, and flows quite swiftly.

We then went through the narrow, winding streets to go to the Rathaus. We couldn't stop snapping pictures on the way!

The day had been cloudy and sunny, but when we got to the Rathaus, the sun came out and shone on the lovely building. There was a little market in front, that was closing up for the day.

Rathaus and market

We walked into the courtyard area to take a look.

The Marketplatz is a busy area, bustling with trams, traffic and tourists, with plenty of places to have a coffee, including a McDonalds (which we avoided, but great real estate!), so we sat and had a coffee in a spot across from the Rathaus.

Walking to the Spalentor, the city gates was a gradual uphill climb through more winding streets lined with narrow, attractive buildings with boutiques, shops and cafes. And periodically we'd find a nice fountain!

Fountain and Spalentor in background

 The Spalentor was built in the 14th century I believe, as one of 3 gates built to protect the city.

We then walked back to the train station or Bahnhof to get the bus back to the  hotel. Like Geneva and other cities, tourists get free city transport during their stay.

That night, we ventured back into the city to have some dinner and watch football. Then, we found the Imagine Festival, which we'd walked by earlier that day, was continuing.  We caught the last act, a Spanish group called Fuel Fandango, that really got the crowd going!

The next day, we went to the Kunstmuseum, a grand art museum containing contemporary and more classical art. We saw a fantastic Renoir exhibit, where pieces had been collected from around the world.
There were many more exhibits to see there, and our feet were aching after we finished exploring the museum!

After more walking around and lunch, we ended the weekend with a drink on the river, at a nice terrasse, where we had a good chat with Amanda's colleague.

Basel is the first place I've been to where Swiss-German is spoken. We muddled around with our very limited German, but of course people spoke English too. I was delighted to find Bretzel, soft pretzels served plain or as a sandwich. We had one with raclette and also one with olives. Both delicious!

This was a great weekend trip that passed by quickly.

Les fleurs

I love taking pictures of flowers, whether I know what they are or not! Here are a few shots of some pictures I have taken.

In Grand Lancy, Switzerland, we found this nice spot while on our way to watch a football match:

This was on the way to Versoix:

All around Lac Leman:

I love this ivy-covered building!

On top of the Saleve:

I love this flower, but don't know the name of it:

Near the flower clock in Geneva:

Around Lake Leman, Geneva:

And, around Thonon-les-Bains, France: