Here Comes Winter

So since my last post I have become a busy busy boy, working a Swiss working week (that's more than you lazy bums in the UK do). I have been working mainly in Geneva with the occasional trip to Lausanne and Vevey, both at the 'other' end of the lake so I have had some opportunity to acquaint myself with Swiss railways. On time, comfortable and not overcrowded (well mostly) would be a fair description. They even have double decker trains with sofas which cruise quietly and smoothly up and down the lake shore while you sit and admire the Alps on the other side (which are quite simply breathtaking some days). Plus they don't go on strike every five minutes because someone took away their free croissants.

By means of working with French-speakers, I have also been improving my French (or my confidence to speak it without sounding like a drunken fool all of the time). I even managed to go to the bank and open a bank account (I have a Swiss bank account!) all on my own without Véro holding my hand.

One thing that has been obvious as I walk across the Rhone each day (in my swanky business clothes looking every bit part of the Geneva scene) is that winter is definitely drawing in. This morning it was bitterly cold and windy, with snow blowing around on the breeze. The lake was more like the Atlantic and how the gulls and swans put up with I don't know, bobbing up and down on the icy waters like it was the middle of summer. Even the sparrows are hiding somewhere warm.

The surrounding countryside has had its first proper covering of the winter last weekend which paints an amazing picture, especially on crisp clear mornings like Monday this week. I took the pictures above of the Jura mountains on the way to work from a viewpoint in the old town. I only had a brief view of them before descending into town however some lucky people have this view all day from their desk (yes Véro!).

No snow has settled on the ground in Geneva yet however go up only another 50 or 100m in altitude to the level of the border towns such as Ferney or Vetraz-Monthoux and they have had a good covering. Who knows, maybe even our new acquisition in Annemasse is currently under a blanket of the white stuff. Anyway enough about the snow for now - it may warm up slightly this weekend anyway.

We spent last weekend in Ruy to recharge, as well as have a collective haircut(!), and catch up with family and friends. Saturday we woke up to a heavy frost and the temperature never really rose much above zero. After a trip into the chill to see some kitchens, returning to Marie-Lyne's delicious, cheesy tartiflette for lunch was pure heaven...its cold days like this when decent, hot home-cooked food really hits the spot.


On Sunday morning we were able to take one of our favourite walks from the house up to Etang Dardes, a small lake nearby. On the way there was a blanket of mist or fog down in the valley below which made for some excellent pics and added to the 'wintry' feeling in the air.

The lake had certainly changed from summer, however there were amazingly some lambs hopping around in a field nearby (too far away for the camera). The swans and coots where still present, and the former wasted no time swimming over to see if we had brought with us any left over baguette.




We certainly managed to relax and unwind - I can imagine we will spend plenty of weekends down in France, especially once we have some wheels of our own in the new year.

As for this weekend maybe we can find somewhere in the countryside where we can go for a walk in the, what was it again? Oh yeah, SNOW !