This Town is Made for Walking

So after a tiring first two days, Friday morning was spent settling into the flat, unpacking everything we had hauled over from England on the plane, and from storage and Ruy. We took a walk to Vero's new office so she work out how long it takes and also picked up some shopping from the local Co-op.

We expected the supermarkets to be like the French ones but they are not. They are smaller, tucked under apartment buildings and scattered everywhere. They are well stocked in terms of anything fresh though, probably better than any English large supermarket would ever be. The prices vary too, quite a few things are more expensive (such as cheese and meat) however there are bargains to be found too.

That afternoon we decided to try and walk to the city centre and surprisingly it did not take too long. On a map it looks like a big place but Geneva is really quite a small city and it doesn't take too long to get anywhere, even by foot.

Spurred on by the ease of how we were able to get into town by foot, on Saturday we decided to take a walk up the Northern side (Rive Droite) of the lake. We made our way through the Parc Des Bastions past some very ornate buildings, under enormous old trees and numerous flower beds and statues.

It was a glorious morning, the sun beaming down over the top of Mt Salève onto the lake. The Jet D'eau was powering imperiously into the clear blue sky and the Rhone and the lake were a sparkling emerald green. Even the circus was in town and took the elephants for a stroll over the river!

We ambled up the quayside to a stretch of parks ('Mon Repos', 'Perle du Lac' and 'Barton' I think). The parks here are fantastic - they are abundant with flora and fauna, as well as old buildings and countless statues, and are clearly enjoyed on both foot and two wheels by the locals and tourists alike.

We reached the Jardins Botanique where we had a quick look at the Aviary and a tropical greenhouse (Eden Project Geneva style) before heading towards the Palais des Nations (UN) to have a nosey. The Place des Nations was 'different' - where the giant chair comes from I'll have to find out! By this time we were quite tired and hungry and found another Co-op where we grabbed some bread, cheese slices swiss style and cakes and headed back to the parks for a late lunch accompanied by two dozen tame sparrows!



Sufficiently refuelled, we strolled back towards town taking in the efforts dozens of people taking part in an open air art competition before heading home, once again picking up yet more shopping on the way. No chance of a weekly shop here - you go on a daily basis!




On Sunday all the shops are shut so no chance of more shopping. After a nice lunch at home we again put the walking shoes on and headed towards the Rive Gauche and two more parks, the Parc de la Grange and the adjacent Parc Eaux Vives. The was a really nice Roserie in the first park where the roses were a bit past their best but nonetheless it was very relaxing sitting there for a while.



We then continued up to near Geneve-plage, a big swimming pool by the lake. By this time there were people everywhere either ambling, cycling or even roller blading up and down the lakeside. Vero remarked that a lot of the roller bladers were 'senior' - you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Miami or LA!

There always seems to plenty going on in this Vibrant city and Sunday was no exception. Just by the swimming pool they were lowering classic powerboats into the lake and within minutes there was a race. Noisy but spectacular.

After that was over we walked back alongside the Rhone for a while before taking a detour to a market in Plainpalais. By this time the sun was very warm and we were beat. We headed back up the hill to home and collapsed again - for the first time that evening I feel asleep watching TV on the new sofa! Bliss.