Switzerland
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Abondance Abbey
We spent the day in the mountains, in Abondance and Châtel. The Abbey in Abondance is beautiful. The sun shining through the stained glass windows made for colourful shadows around the church.
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Fète de Genève
We went to the Fête de Genève today, a massive carnival that runs right around the lakeside. Geneva is busy busy busy, lots of tourists come especially for the Fête, and this years Guest of Honour is the Sulanate of Oman. We have heard that they are talking about moving next years Fête from the traditional start on 1st August as it will clash with Ramadam. My son enjoyed the rollercoaster; his sister slightly less so. After the second circuit, she had enough and spent the last couple of circuits yelling that she wanted to get off. After a couple of hours we were exhausted and skint so headed for…
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1er Août 2009, Fête national suisse
On the 1st August 2009 Switzerland celebrated the country’s 718th anniversary, referring to the creation of the country in 1291, although independance came some time later in 1648. The population voted in 1993 to make the 1st August a day of celebration and a public holiday and since 1994 the Swiss have celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and lantern parades How fab is that, that the population can vote to have a day off?
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Mer de Glace – Sea of Ice
Did you know that cut into the glacier at Chamonix Montblanc, there is an Ice Grotto? To get there we travelled on the Montenvers Train, which was built 100 years ago. The train takes around 20 minutes and travels just over 5km, taking passengers from Chamonix up to the edge of the Mer de Glace at 1913m altitude. The construction of the line required 118,000 m3 of earthwork, including 33,000m3 of rock and 32,220m3 of brickwork. 35 mules each day carried between 80 and 150 kg of materials. In 1960 a cable car was constructed to transport the tourist part of the way to the grotto, there is still a steep…
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Jingle bells, Jingle Bells…
I know it is too late for Christmas songs, but this was one that we should have been singing today as we dashed through the snow on our 2 horse open sleigh. We were in Gstaad today and husband suggested a spin in a horse drawn sleigh. You can imagine that he did not have to ask twice. We were snuggled up together, including Daphne, under a couple of big warm blankets. The weather was cold but wonderful, and we enjoyed the sleigh ride very much. Afterwards we retired to a lovely cafe to warm ourselves with tea and hot chocolate. From our window seat we could watch the passersby. Sadly,…
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Escalade and Marmite pots
Geneva celebrates the Escalade each December to commemorate the defeat of the troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy in the night of 11/12 December 1602. During that fateful night the Genevoise were alerted to the troops gathering just outside the city walls and fought alongside the town militia. Legend has it that Mére Royaume, a mother of 14 children grabbed the cauldron of soup that she was making at the time and poured it out of the window, killing one of the attackers. To celebrate Mére Royaume, the Genevoise now smash a chocolate pot, or Marmite, that is filled with marzipan vegetables, while reciting “Ainsi périssent les…
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There’s snow on them hills, Billy Bob
We left Papa sleeping at home and walked down to the village to get rolls for breakfast this morning. It was a beautiful sunny morning with just enough snow on the ground to get the kids jumping for joy. A short stop at the little park down the road gave them a chance to build a mini snow man and make tracks in the fresh snow. I found one pair of snow trousers but son’s are still AWOL so more searching to be done before the next snow falls. I did find a big box of winter clothes though, which some clever clogs had put in the same box as…
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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
It is SNOWING !!! We noticed just before we put the kids to bed that it has started to snow, big fluffy flakes. The kids are bound to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Now I need to go into the cellar and sort out the boxes that we have not unpacked. Somewhere in one of the boxes are the kids’ snowsuits.
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Baby Plage
We visited the fabulous Baby Plage today, the kids had a great time. The playarea is made of tyres and is not a typical Swiss play area. You do have to be careful with as there are no safety nets. In the summer you can buy a coffee in the little kiosk cafe right next to the play area. In winter the cafe is not there so we took a flask of coffee and one of hot chocolate for the kids. We are off to the neighbours for a glass of wine now, to warm ourselves up after our couple of hours in the cold. Featured Image
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They really do take recycling seriously here in Switzerland
There is a recycling bin for coffee capsules in Carouge
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Speaking French
I am so proud of myself. I just made an appointment with the paediatrician for daughter. Not a big deal, I hear you say. The receptionist spoke no English and no German. I had to speak French. I had Babelfish open for some basic phrases, and somehow I managed to make an appointment for Wednesday at 3pm. Well, I hope so anyway. We will know for sure on Wednesday at 3pm
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Scary Switzerland
Or do the Swiss celebrate Halloween? Well, I don’t know about the rest of Switzerland but here in our village we certainly do. In typical Swiss fashion a list went around the school this week to ask if we were going trick or treating or if we would prefer to stay at home and hand out the goodies. A few days later another note was sent to us, listing the children who were going Trick or Treating and which houses were awaiting a visit. We decided to stay home this year so I stocked up on sweets, the kids got into their costumes, the pumpkins were carved and lit, then…
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Starting school and our first guest
I had an appointment to see the headteacher of the local school on the Friday after we arrived and she told me that the kids could start school right away. Not even a week after our arrival, the children started school. Son is very proud that he is now in school rather than in kindergarten, it seems to be similar to the Vorschule, preschool in Germany with a bit more emphasis on learning. It is also starts a year earlier, when the kids are 4 years old. Son’s teacher does not speak English or German so it is a bit of a struggle sometimes, but we understand each other. She is…
