Our second stop was at G-I's cousin in their beautiful new house in Geneva. (When we were back home, I discovered to my chagrin that I had not taken any pictures of the house. Next time for sure.) Since they both are working, we arrived dinner time on tuesday.
Next day we just drove around on our own in Geneva, and also checked out where we were supposed to meet our hosts in the evening. This is when we discovered that our car is really too large for this city. Parking on the street is very competitive, with small chances of finding a free space. But - street parking turned out to be our only possibility. Every parking house we checked (they were all run by hotels) were too low for our car. It is 2 m high, but the parking houses were 1.60 or 1.90 or in between.
That evening we were treated on a very Swiss dinner. Three of us selected the same dish (or is it pot?) that consisted of a cheese fondue with white wine added, and bread cubes to dip in the cheese. The portions were huge, we were not able to finish ours.
The restaurant has a pair of yodelling entertainers, that played various instruments: Cow bells, saw, alp horn, and more normal instruments like accordion, guitar etc. One of the pair also yodelled. They also made rounds in the restaurant, and played by the tables.
On thursday I went out alone to explore a little, while GI and the kids took the bus to town. I wanted to see a little of the mountains - after all, I was in the alps. So I started easy, going up past Saint-Cergue, a little north of Geneva. The road going up looked promising on the map, with 6 switch-backs going up the mountain side. But alas - the trees were too tall and numerous, so there was no view.
When I got onto the platau, I decided to check my position with the GPS connected to the computer. That's when I noticed that I was fairly close to the French border. I hadn't brought my passport, so I didn't dare cross it - there might have been a problem coming back if I was checked up. I found a small side road, and went up there to see if something could be photographed, and here are the buggy pictures.
On friday, GI went to town again. I had marked out a trip into France, through a skiing resort. Paula, Ivar and Tricia joined me this time, and I made sure I had all the passports with me. We went south east of Geneva, to a place called Cluses, where we turned into the mountains.
At the highest point of the road, we stopped to have a look. The road was a little more than 1600 m above sea level, and climbing the mountan side brought us maybe 100 m higher. Ivar and Tricia stayed in the car, but after a while Tricia came out to join us. By that time, Paula and I were on our way down again.
We had lunch at a picnic table. For some reason the kids wouldn't sit on the benches, but preferred to sit on the table itself. I think they were afraid of bugs that might have been on the ground, that would walk up their legs.
Sally came from Kosovo that day. The ladies spent some time tracing one of Sally's mahjong sets, and in the evening we were all set to play.
Saturday morning (well, not early morning) we had brunch, and combined it with a little picture taking. A little while later, Sally came, and we could take a complete group picture, including Abe.
There is a bout of picture taking and singing.
Saturday evening we went to a sushi restaurant.
Sunday morning we went to mass. Our hosts sing and play piano.
Sunday brunch was at an outdoor restaurant next to the lake, 'La Perle du Lac'. After brunch we all went for a walk along the lake.
After brunch we walked around in Geneva. We came across the Swiss 'Palais de Justice', and Sally wanted to pose and have her picture taken there in front of the Swiss flag. She was going to take her exam in french shortly, in order to be able to become a good Swiss citizen.
Later on we wanted dessert. Ice cream. Mövenpick ice cream. In a monsterous cup. G-I ate it all... with only a little help from Øyvind, Paula and Ivar.
That night there was a full moon. It was our last night with in Geneva before we continued on our trip. Perhaps we were a little moon-struck? Perhaps we will be back?