Saturday ritual.

Whatever we're doing on Saturday morning, there is a little ritual that can not be missed. Reading l'Equipe on Saturday mornings is a must for him. Better than spending hours on the couch watching sports on TV I guess!

I took this picture in the heart of old city center in Geneva at the beginning of June.

Drink at Le Mirador.

There are quite a few really nice hotels along Geneva's lake but there are completely out of our price range. Since they usually have a terrasse with outstanding views, we like to stop by for a coffee and just enjoy the scenery.

Sam took this pic on June 12 (already two months ago!!) B & R had just landed and were not up for hiking at the top of the Alps quite yet. So we settled at the Mirandor for a drink and took in the swiss beauty.

Unexpected Trolley

If we stay in Lausanne during the week end, we usually start with a bus ride into the old city center to go to the market, have coffee and read the news. It was just one of those saturdays, not quite awake, we were waiting at the bus stop. And instead of the usual and ugly bus from the 70's, an old trolly from 1936 came to pick us up. Completely unexpected. I couldn't help taking a couple of pics. It felt as if we were in Lisbon. Lovely saturday suprise!

Pascal, Elodie & Charlie

We went to the Alimentarium this week end. Before we walked into the "food" museum, we said hi to Charlie Chaplin who passed away in Vevey where we took this picture.

Geneva's lake from les Rochers de Naye - Switzerland

Only in Switzerland..

can you find a fork in a lake...

Chateau de Chillon - Switzerland

Hike to the lake of Mauvoisin - Valais - Switzerland

How many weeks had it been? way too many. I couldn't even remember the last time we had sunshine. It feels like we got robbed from a nice spring here. But this week end felt like summer (even if as I'm typing a major rain storm started...) So we got out, couln't get enough of this nice weather. Sunday we went an hike in the swiss Alps. We drove up in the mountains realizing even before we were out of the car that we were not equipped to do what we were hoping for. The snow level is still low. So we hiked up to a dam and stopped there. The plan was to go around the lake but the light hiking boots were not good enough. The trail was closed ayway. Will just have to come back when the snow is gone and the lake is higher...

Val's Birthday - Costume party

Good times with some lovely air hostesses this week end at Val's birthday party.

Zoom on the mountains from the kitchen window...

Taken March 1st.

Swiss Tags (Flon/Lausanne)

Special swiss tags found downtown Lausanne on the way back from watching Une Education (movie that I would not recommend)... I can't help compare with the tags we took from Marseille (oct 08).

I never realized before I moved here how much the swiss are major fans of traditional papercutting art. "...Paper Cutting in Switzerland traces back to around 1800. Some of the most popular artists in Switzerland were- blacksmith Johann Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871), Louis Sagy (a postman), Christian Schwizgebel (1914-1993). Schwizgebel mostly worked on animal life. His prized ornamental cuttings (see picture above) are considered true masterpieces. These folk artists laid the foundation and are still models for today’s artists..."

Ice Skating anyone?

I like Fridays... everyone at work talk about theirs plans for the week end. Here is an email that we all got at work today coming from one of our coworkers. He had included the picture above.

"Dear all,
If you don’t know what to do during your weekend and want to leave the city, you can enjoy the Lac de Joux on the ice. From this week we are allowed to access the lake, but please follow the flag on the lake to be on safe place.
Enjoy your weekend AA."

What a great idea! The lake he's referring to is close by. I want to skate on a lake... I've never done it. We just might have found a great outing for the week end.

Whatever you do, have a good weekend everyone!

Alinghi 5 - Nyon

Close to the castle of Nyon, half way between Geneva and Lausanne, there is a Museum dedicated to Lake Geneva and for a couple of months there is a small exhibition about Alinghi 5. Last week we went to listen to Pierre-Yves Jorand who is Swiss and coach of the sailing team. He got somewhat technical and I won't bore you with the details.

This summer Alinghi got his catamaran on the water on lake Geneva. It was so big I could see it from the office. A few days later, we saw a huge helicopter coming from Russia to pick the boat up and drag it down (over the Alps) to the sea where they tested it for a couple of months. Next month, this 90 foot monster will race against the American monster (Oracle) in Valencia during the America's Cup.

This is a good example of what the swiss are capable of. Switzerland is a mixture of keeping old traditions alive, surprising us on how conservative they can be. And in parallel, they put their mind and money to work and come out with the latest and greatest when it comes down to technology, art, etc.

Time to book your vacation for this spring/summer...

Come and visit us!

Swiss Cows. (above Vevey)

Swiss cows= swiss milk = swiss milk chocolate. These cows are precious.

Lausanne. L'hermitage.

Just above the appartement we're staying in for now is l'Hermitage. Great view. Supposedly beautiful paintings inside.

Jean Jacques Sempé. Exihibit. Morges. Sep 09.

We went to an exihibit yesterday in Morges (Switzerland) of a french cartoonist. Jean-Jacques Sempé. In France, we all know him for his illustrations of Le Petit Nicolas: books that we all read as kids (and adults). He also worked repeatedly for the New Yorker. I choose the one above for my brothers...

Bye Bye Marseille. Hello Switzerland!

As of June 1st, I'm working in Lausanne, Switzerland. Which means less time for blogging, two hours in the car every day- it's temporary, I still live in France... I will explain -, no internet access at home (too scared to ask my neighbors if one of them is willing to share their passworded wifi), no time to discover the town. 

But all is well. The swiss are swell. And  I'm still taking pictures during the week ends... but not finding the time to post them. The only place I've found with wifi close to work is Starbucks. The one and only coffee house (american style) in town. But I can only drink so much of Starbucks juice per week...

So it's just going to take a little transition time for us to get situated here in Lausanne. I will tell you more about it as soon as I'm through this shortage of internet access.

Sisi the Empress died in Geneva.

As we walked on the promenade of lake Geneva, we stopped by the statue of Sisi the Empress. She had been walking along this same place about to board steampship Genève but a young italian anarchist stabbed her in the heart with a sharpened file. It was September 10, 1898.  

Lac Léman. Geneva.

Last Monday with Sam, we stopped in Geneva. It's was grey and rainy. We couldn't see the beautiful Alps in the background but we still managed to take some pics. More to come...

"... As an interesting historical and scientific footnote, in 1827, Lake Geneva was the site for the first measurement of the speed of sound in (fresh) water. French mathematician Jacques Charles François Sturm and Swiss Physicist Daniel Collodon used two moored boats, separated by a measured distance, as the transmit and receive platforms for the sounds of exploding gunpowder. The loud airborne sound coupled into the lake, establishing a loud underwater sound that could be measured at a distance. The flash of the exploding gunpowder provided the visual starting cue for the timepiece, and the underwater explosion sound striking a bell provided the finish cue."