31 October

I went out into the world this morning, for the simple necessity that the Swiss government has decided to play big brother a bit, and has passed legislation requiring "pay as you go" mobile phone owners to register themselves. So it was either go get my passport copied or have my service disconnected.... However, having ventured out into the sunshine, I walked along tramtrack street, which is the nickname for Rue de Marche, the main shopping strip of Geneva. There was a man selling mushrooms, and since I haven't given you a food review for a while, I couldn't resist. Actually that isn't quite true, because I have in fact done a cheese tasting, but it was so boring that I hadn't written it up. I've now done this, so do go and have a look at the cheese page.

But back to the mushroooms. These beauties are called "Leotin". The flesh of the mushroom itself though, is the softest I have ever felt, like a really soft marshmallow. You can see that they have a wee fluffy ankle warmer, which just adds to the cuteness. For the first time, I decided to peel a mushroom; these have a very tough skin. They also have no scent whatsoever that I could detect.

I decided that frying with butter and shallots was the only way to deal with these. The flavour was very very delicate, and after frying they still had the lightest and softest texture; truly amazing. I am not sure how it would be best to utilise these lovely mushrooms but they are well worth a try, even at $50 a kilo.

I have also discovered that I have a bit of a weakness for "chick-lit"; Marian Keyes to be exact. Give her books a try if you are in the mood for something light and fun to read.

30 October

Sadly I am not entirely well, so my exciting plans for the weekend, consisting of a trip to Germany and then to Basel for a party have been scuppered. So I won't have anything much to write for a few days. I did do one exciting thing, which was to finally order a couch. Its costing me a bundle and is going to take 6 weeks to arrive, but I am SO looking forward to its arrival.

27 October

Day after birthday...

Last night I celebrated my birthday with dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. It was a fun evening. Two strangers turned up thinking it was my friend Katherine's birthday, as she had passed my invite on to some friends and they got confused. So I got to meet two new people. Marian was very taken aback by the Ethiopian food, and the fact that you eat with your hand, but seemed to settle down to it once she got used to the idea.

A parcel arrived from mum and dad, and I was given some very sweet gifts include a string of little lanterns, some plants and bath "milks". At work my friend Alison made some scrummy anzac biscuits and Rachel bought a sacher torte for afternoon tea. I had heaps of emails from friends and family, which was just lovely and made me just a little homesick. The weather here has turned very damp and depressing so the thought of Australia just going into a lovely sunny summer is very appealing!

People ask me if I am going to go home for Christmas. Sadly the answer is no. Having moved house twice this year, and gone to Australia, I just don't have the cash (or leave) to spare. My workfriend Julia has offered to let me housesit her place so at least for Christmas itself I will be able to have a big waifs and strays dinner.

22 October

Dawn has been visiting me and we have had a grand array of adventure.

We started our adventures with a trip to Annecy: I know I have been there before, but I never get tired of the stunning scenery of this little town. It is a favourite spot to take someone who has come to visit who hasn't much time, because it is only down the road a short way, and although it is actually in France, it still gives friends a bit of an idea of the countryside in my area. We stayed at l'Abbeye.

The next day we headed south. Due to some confusion, we actually drove too far to stay at the place my friend Julia had recommended. We pulled off the tollway (my but they are expensive roads there; we must have spent over 10 euro just on road tolls on one day!) and wandered into a little town. Up on the hill we could see a chapel, and we decided to go up to see it. We could drive a little of the way but the rest of it had to be walked, up a rather slippery but lushly green slope, with fallen chestnuts all around. The chapel was for St Philomel and the view from the chapel was worth the hill climb.

Onwards, to the eglise of St Antoine. This was a rather spectacular wander off the beaten track, and although I don't know that we would be able to find it again, it was definitely worth visiting. A lovely church, surrounded by old city walls, and a very interesting museum, which among things displayed the movement of the plague around europe, and some interesting pilgrim badges and paraphenalia.

Continuing our journey south, we arrived in the town of Orange and stayed the night. The hotel was quite decent, and although Dawn and I have a tendency to keep each other awake with our snoring, we slept reasonably well. We did fail to notice the roman ruins in the centre of Orange, and drove on to....

Avignon: the palace de papes. Now we were cooking! Old cities, marvellous palace with some lovely ceiling and wall paintings, and of course the famouse Pont d'Avignon. Although we didn't dance, we did do the tour and wandered the bridge. It seems very dismissive to sum up Avignon in one small paragraph... all I can say is, COME SEE IT!

We were determined to get to Tarascon before the sunset, and raced from Avignon to arrive just in time. From Tarascon we could see another fortification and got a bit confused as to whether we were in the right place.

We flew over the bridge to have a look at what we discovered was..

Beaucaire. sadly the doors were closed. We decided to press on to Nimes for the night, and to return to Tarascon in the morning. Nimes has a Roman ampitheatre in the middle of it, which we drove around a number of times while trying to find a hotel for the night. In the morning we paused briefly at Tarascon and had a coffee near the market, but the weather was vile and we had quite a long way to travel so we decided to press on.

Travelling back through Provence was very special.. the visions of ruined chateaux on the hills, and particularly driving back through the winding roads, with the falling leaves and autumn colours.

During the week, Dawn and I went across the border in Ferney Voltaire for dinner at the Chante Clair. The food was, as always, spectacularly presented, and when we told them that we were celebrating both our birthdays, our dessert was presented in fiery style.

On Satuday we had a day of assemblage... my book case, cd rack, bed. I am a furnished girl!

Sunday we headed out in the direction of Montreux and the Chateau Chillon. This spectacular 13th century chateau perches on the edge of Lake Leman. The chateau is in superb condition and many of the original painted walls were there, as well as tapestries and furniture. Check out some of the pics!

It was very special having Dawn to visit, and although it made me a wee bit homesick for Australia, it also made me feel once more as if I am still connected to my country and my friends there.