Tuesday 30 August

Happy Birthday Megan!

Saturday night I went to the housewarming party of Andrew and Tania. I had hoped to travel to Basel for a big party, but financially it just couldn't happen, due to other reasons that I will tell you about in a minute.

Anyway, the party's theme was "Old Shanghai". It was a great night, and sort of familiar; everyone at the party spoke English, most as a first language. There was food, "Shanghai Fizz's", lychee cocktails & jelly shots. Unlike a Swiss or French party, there was no dried meat, and no cheese! We finished up at about 1am when the neighbour came knocking on the door, which was not unexpected, and in fact we had expected it rather earlier.

Now... there are actually two reasons for the sudden economy.

However, this also means buying furniture for the new place, as I will sublet the old place furnished. So there is another financial slug. Even shopping Ikea, I am going to be pretty poor for a while. I figure I will buy a bed this month, and maybe a cheap folding table, which can go on the balcony once I get a proper table. I have a stool I can take from my current place, and I can just use a piece of foam in the short term for a bed. There is no stove; seriously here they rent out places without an oven or stove, and, in fact, usually without any light fittings. And by no light fittings, I mean that you are faced with bare wires! Luckily the friend who is passing her flat on to me is kindly going to leave the light fittings behind.

Next month will be a sofa bed I think, so I can have somewhere for you to crash when you come to visit... yes that is a rather unsubtle hint. <grin>

Number 2. I am going to Paris this weekend for 8 days holiday. How cool is that? I know I am kind of crazy to try to do both of these things in the one month, but my boss is away at the moment and things are really quiet so I am taking advantage of the time to have a bit of a break. Once he gets back things will get hectic again pretty quickly. There are two public holidays next week (Jeune Genevois), so with taking 3 days of leave, I get a nice long break. As this is not a French public holiday, things in Paris may be quiet enough that I will be able to go up the Eiffel tower, so watch this space. I might not be able to update while I am there, but soon afterwards, you should get some nice piccies.

Congratulations to my dear friends Adam (also my consort) and Claire, who got married on the weekend!! And Happy Birthday Robert and Tony!

This weekend past I hired a smart car again, and drove up to Grandson for the Grandson medieval weekend. My work friend James lives in the town of Grandson, which is just next to Yverdon les Bains, around Lac de Neuchatel, the largest lake in Switzerland. Lake Leman/Geneve is actually larger, but as a fair chunk of it is in France, it doesn't count. The whole of the edge of both lakes are filled with little villages, in a chain. Yverdon and Grandson are at the bottom end of the lake, and are less than one hours drive from Geneva.

The castle is relatively new (compared with the one in Yverdon) much of it being 16th and 17th century. It's got five circular towers, and only quite small courtyards. The banqueting hall contains a Flemish tapestry from the 17th century and can apparently be hired for private functions.... I must find out how much it costs. The "Knights Hall" is apparently a typical example of a 19th century attempt to recreate a medieval hall, and is surrounded by gloriously carved seating stalls, dated about 1610 carved by Giacomo Brustolloni. (Also available for hire)

Of all things, in bottom of the castle, in I suppose what may have been kitchens or store rooms, is a Car Museum. There was a room with some dioramas of local wars, and a bit of armour but I didn't get a chance to fully explore the castle, as I was distracted by the other things going on.

There was a play for the kids, which was a sort of introduction to medieval wind instruments, called "the Dragon and the Sorcerer" (translated from French). It was entirely in French, but being a thing for kids, I could make some sense of it at least, and the lady had some really interesting instruments. The star of the show was the dragon. She brought it out of a chest, and thrust two pipes up its nose. Her hands went through loops on its claws and voila! he was a set of bagpipes. Here is a pic, you can see how effective he looked.

There was a 15th century camp set up in one of the narrow yards, with archery displays, spinning and weaving and other such activities. They even let off some cannons, which was very loud and exciting. Most importantly, there was music... and dancing. I approached a man who had been practicing his shawm and explained in my non-existent French that I too was a musician, and could I play with him?

He swept me up the steps to where the dancing was taking place, explaining that he was actually overdue to be dancing. I ended up dancing around in simple branle, to a vaguely familiar tune. After that dance, I bolted to the car and grabbed my instruments, then joined the musicians up on the stage to play a tune or two.

After the performance, three of us sat and played trios together for a while. I was in heaven. But... my hosts were waiting for me, and I decided that I would head back to them. James and Elianne were catching up on the Olympics, so I watched for a bit and then we went and had pizza at a local restaurant. The next morning I could have headed back to the Castle, but the lure of Boggle was too great, and we sat and played some games. I have to admit that I did not display my skills particularly well, but although I lost, it was with only a narrow margin most of the time.

It was time to head home, via Coppet, and the local "taste of Thai" food festival. Sigh... more Thai food minus chili.. its just not right. The weather was absolutely stunning, and I just HAD to pull the car over to take some photos as Mont Blanc was the clearest I have seen in a long time. The full size images will be a bit slow to load, but I couldn't bear to shrink them down, as it just was so magnificent.

Sunday evening was a quiet evening of doing my washing and reading two books that I borrowed from Elianne. A fun weekend really.

12 August

This weekend I am supposed to be driving up to visit Christoph. I have hired a smart car for the weekend, but I have to tell you I am really seriously contemplating not going. I just feel like I really need some time in my space. The week of the fete was crazy and I also don't have much cash. I want to see the Egyptian exhibition that is on up there though, so perhaps I will go up for a day visit or just for Saturday night and Sunday.

Tonight was the semi-regular "Thursday pub night" with some Canadians with whom I am casual friends. They are a good bunch and quite fun to hang around. Tonight they were offering to let all their American friends move to Canada if Bush wins the next election.

11 August

I had great plans tonight. I really felt in the mood for a lamb chop. But... when a single lamb chump chop costs you $10, you tend to have a rethink. Yep, it really was going to cost me $10. So pork curry it is instead.

I have mostly recovered from the fete - my knee has been paying the price.

I know I have been a terrible correspondent: forgive me? I realised today that its now been one year since I left Australia. The time has flown by, and in many ways I feel like I only left yesterday, while also feeling like it has been forever.

9 August

Its kind of fun to think that for a few young men, part of their recollection of the night of the fete de geneve, will be a curvaceous Australian woman singing italian arias at 4am. Yep, I have been having lots of fun over the last week.

Dancing in the streets, watching fireworks, eating food from stalls around the lake and generally having a good time. I loooove summer in Geneva. Various people ask me "so, where are you going for summer" and I tell them "this is the one time of year that Geneva really rocks, why the hell would I go somewhere?". And believe me, it does.

Just being able to go for walks around the lake, or meet friends and have a picnic, or a swim off the bain de Pacquis is just lovely. I live in the perfect spot, just one block back from the lake's edge, so it is pretty easy to get to where it is all happening. One of the oddities is that everywhere around Geneva there are sort of drinking fountains. I say sort of, because they are basically a fancy looking continuously running tap. Every time I saw one over the fete I got a bit shocked and couldn't help thinking of all the water being wasted, pouring down the drain - even after all this time I am still in drought mode!

One night I ended up in the Jazz Tent with Danijela and Maria. The band was fabulous, and Danijela even stood up and sang, which was fabulous. Doesn't she look professional?

 

I have just gotten home from the big fireworks at the end of the fete de Geneve. These are supposed to be one of the most famous and large firework displays in Europe and I would believe it. Put it this way, they had two intervals! They were huge and spectacular and the finish was particularly impressive, combining the Jet d'Eau and fireworks. The lakes edge was packed with thousands upon thousands of people.