The Magical Adventures of Jennifer and Steve: Geneva

Today we got off to a bit later start, so we could have a bit of a sleep-in, as every other day we have had to be "on the road" very early in order to see what we wanted to see. We arrived in Geneva just before lunch and enjoyed a picnic in the Jardin Anglais. We are getting better and better at picnicking, and have decided you need at least the following accoutrements to make it successful: folding knife (or Swiss army knife), napkin (cloth) for laying out your feast, glasses (if you brought wine) or pop bottles, baby wipes (for the inevitable mess on your fingers), clean hands. As a general rule we bring a baguette, some cheese, some cured sausage and I have brought a tomato and a fruit to add some nutritional value.

We then attempted to do a walking tour around Geneva's old town. As usual hilly beyond belief - I definitely needed a better training ground than the flat streets of Toronto - my feet are quite sore. We stopped in at Tavel House Museum (mainly in order to use the facilities - as our train pass includes free admission to most Swiss museums). Tavel House is the oldest house in Geneva from the 1340s, and we were pleasantly surprised at the displays which included a weights and measures historical display, a display of money though the ages, a scale model of Geneva circa 1852 (before their defenses were dismantled) which took an architect 18 years to build (talk about time on your hands) and a period display of Genevese objects from day to day life from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

Then back to the modern life and a consumption based one at that. We walked along Rue de Marche and I bought my souvenir from Switzerland - a Swiss Army knife, "the picnicker", which they would even engrave. We then visited a chocolate store that had been recommended in our guide book the "Chocolaterie du Rhone". The macarons were excellent, although they only had one chocolate which I generously allowed Steve to have. We then walked some more and were flabbergasted at the luxury stores and their commensurate prices. I've never seen a store that sold caviar (or at least that was it's main item), it was directly beside the Bulgari store. Every high end name brand was there. Even the Victorinox store displayed a limited edition Swiss army knife that was for sale, if you had 150,000 Francs. Conversely, the restaurants seemed a little more reasonably priced than Montreux (competition at work).

We grabbed a crepe at a street vendor at a local market we found. Jennifer had a mozzerella, tomato and basil crepe, and I had a ham and gruyere crepe. The market was truly international. There was a vendor selling churos and empanadas, and another selling Peruvian food. A few vendors were selling nuts and berries from Iran. They were displayed like they were the trendy item to buy.

Back to the train station to head back to Montruex. Had a little more to eat on our balcony and called it an early day.