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28 May

During the week this week, I went to an open mike night. I was a bit nervous going up to sing, because everyone else before me had had a guitar and sang either rock or country (although I went out of the bar for the country bits because I couldn't bear to listen) and I was singing folk. But it was received very well indeed, so I might risk it again some time.

21 May

Lovely dinner on Friday night; Maroccan, with some GOLers. But as I got home at 3am, I lost a lot of Saturday, and decided to lounge at home. My friend Jurg ended up coming over in the evening, so the day was not a dead loss. Today my friends Cyrille and Alex came over and I taught them to make sushi for brunch - they had been for a walk against hunger; something my knee currently prevents me doing. Afterwards I took Alex for a driving lesson, and headed towards Collex where my choir practices - it was a glorious day, and the mountains shone in the distance. I am kicking myself that I forgot my camera, but they looked a bit like this. We took the time for a lovely walk through a quiet wood, and then did lots of hooning around the carpark practicing smooth gear changes.

In the evening my friend Sam came over for dinner. Altogether a quietly sociable weekend.

18 May

In the evening we sang (wonderfully of course... well, we were ok, and actually I was really pleased with how I was sounding on my solo). Afterwards the village hosted us to a lovely dinner of raclette - the tastiest I have ever had.

In the morning we all went together to local gorge, which was lovely. The walkway looks rathe rickety, but luckily is quite solid.

After the gorge, we headed to the hills (so to speak). Up the Dorenaz, on the telecabine. Check out the view:

What a glorious day it was. I couldn't phone mum for mothers day, but I was able to send an sms message.

17 May

Last weekend I went with my choir (that always sounds like I own it, which I don't) on tour to St Maurice (external link). On Saturday morning most of the choir went to see an exhibition in Martigny, but I was travelling in a group who, like me, are not morning people. So we met up the choir for rehearsal in Dorenaz (external link). After rehearsal and a quick drop in at our hotel, we headed to St Maurice to see the treasures of the Abbey. Sadly the most beautiful treasures weren't permitted to be photographed, but they are pretty impressive stuff and I was very disappointed that there weren't postcards for sale showing all the ones I was most interested in. You can see some of them on the website of the Abbey. The cloister was very lovely and there are some really interesting archeological excavations taking place. We did a tour (in French) but the tour guide was obsessed with the modern stained glass windows and completely skipped talking about this and this.

The Abbey is even more fascinating because of its history. It was named after Saint Maurice who was martyred nearby. Maurice was a Roman legionairre and he and his legion were ordered by Emperor Maximian to harrass some local Christians on campaigns in Gaul, but refused. The Emperor had the whole legion decimated (quite literally, the order given was "decimation": every tenth soldier executed. Apparently the rest still refused to murder Christians and the decimation continued until all 6600 were dead!). The area became a place of pilgrimage and the church built in 515. This map shows the various iterations of the church.

12 May

To see the details of my trip to Ireland, go look at April's Journal page.

But now... what have I been up to so far in May? This:

and

Two sushi making workshops to be specific. Didn't my students do well? I have a waiting list for the next one, so I am sure there will be a replay. I have been thinking too, that I would love to see Geneva online copied in Australia to make Canberra online. Its just so cool to have a place to meet other people who just want to meet other people.

Last weekend, my street held a "fete de rue". These are being held throughout Geneva in various areas. There were all sorts of food stalls of different nationalities, so I indulged in an Afgani kebab, a Sicilian Arancini and a Phillippino sorbet. There was also continuous music on two different stages throughout the day and evening.

One thing really appealed to me. Two women turned up and assembled a carousel. Completely without engine and with animals made of papier mache, the women pushed it around and lifted and pushed down the bars to move it. It was utterly charming.