“Parlez-vous anglais? …”

Last year when Hubby came over to work in Genève for a few months I took some holiday and jetted over to join him and experience the city for myself.  We both loved the relaxed and healthy atmosphere and were surprised at how we managed to get by with no French.  Ordering ice-cream was easy enough and in the supermarket buying food was not too bad (although I did end up buying some dodgy cheese).  Almost half the population in Genève are international and most people seem to speak at least a little English, this would be easy...

Then we moved over here and quickly realised that you do need French in Genève!!!

It is easy enough to get by with no French with the basic things but as soon as you try to sort out more complicated, and important aspects of living here (apartments, health insurance etc) you quickly realise that not everyone speaks English and that French would help A LOT!

The sentence we say the most is “Parlez-vous anglais?” (do you speak English?) J
We are very happy to receive a “Yes” response but when the response is “No” there is pretty much no point in trying to speak any further, particularly on the phone. 

Even before we realised how much we would need French hubby’s work signed us up for French tuition, which we are very grateful for,  and we take classes once a week.  Now that we are taking lessons we have quickly realised how complicated French is.

Our French books

We have a long French filled road ahead but lets hope that it will be an interesting road filled with croissants and all things good.

Other than looking at people blankly when they start rattling off in French, we went on a tour of United Nations (http://www.un.org/) .  This was another glocals event.   We arrived early for the tour so headed to the Ariana Museum next door, where we saw some lovely ceramics from all around the world and sculptures.

Photos of the Ariana and one of the sculptures

Then we headed to the United Nations. Our tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable and explained that the United Nations was founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 Countries. There are now 192 Member States. Interestingly the Vatican City is not a member state.

The United Nations emblem

The United Nations has a very strong presence in Genève as the European headquarters are based here. 

The front of the United Nations building

The view from one of the windows

The tour guide took us around some of the buildings and into some of the meeting rooms where many important decisions are made.

In one of the meeting rooms
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The roof of one of the meeting rooms

We were also shown some of the many gifts that are received from countries around the world. The tapestry below is from China and is called "temple of heaven". No matter what direction you walk and from which angle you view the image it always looks like path is in front of you leading you to the door of the temple. An amazing optical illusion that kept us walking from left to right in amazement.

A couple of the gifts received. The tapestry called "temple of heaven" above is from China.

The weather here has been lovely the past week, although as I am writing this they are predicting rain and thunderstorms for later today. We have been making the most of the weather and I have been meeting Hubby in a nearby park for lunch.  We eat our sandwiches and then we lay down in the shade under one of the beautiful trees and enjoy the sunshine! 

Lying on a picnic blanket enjoying the weather...bliss!



Music is in the air…

This weekend was the Fête de la Musique Genève (http://w3public.ville-ge.ch/culture/fdm2011.nsf), running from Friday through to Sunday.  These are three days of music, food and fun where streets near the centre of the city are closed off and food stands are set up as well as a number of stages for musical performances. 

The Geneve Music Fete

You literally stroll from one stage to the next listening to the musicians and it is all free. The music ranges include rock, pop, jazz, instrumental, metal and the list goes on; so there is really something to keep everyone happy. This year was the 20^th anniversary of the event.

After a very rainy Saturday morning Hubby and I took a walk to the Fête de la Musique in the afternoon and happily walked from one stage to the next.  Some music was a bit heavy for my liking but with such variety it was easy to find something we enjoyed. 

Some of the musicians

There were performances outside as well as inside beautiful buildings, one of which was the Opera House.  As the rain started again we popped into the Opera House and were amazed by the beauty of the painting and chandeliers. We were just in time to watch a performance by a children’s choir.

Inside the beautiful Opera House

After we had our fill we walked home at the conservative time of around 20h00 because the music and partying actually starts early in the morning and lasts till around 02h00. 

On Sunday the weather had improved and we decided to join another glocals (www.glocals.com) tour, this time around the area of Carouge.  Carouge is a municipality in Genève initially being built by Victor Amadeus III, the King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. Due to this the building and architecture have an Italian influence as many of the architects came over from Italy. Carouge was eventually handed over and became part Genève.

Holy Cross Church in Carouge

Quaint houses

One of the first three houses to be built in Carouge

After the tour we decided to head back to the Fête de la Musique which, due to the improved weather, was packed with people.  We bought food from one of the many food stalls and picked a spot in the park and enjoyed the sunshine, the food and the music. 

Enjoying the atmosphere

With weary legs we took a slow walk home and fell into bed after another lovely weekend!

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

The posting title quoted from the song Closing Time by Semisonic seems appropriate as we embark on our new journey!

2011 has been an exciting year so far, to say the least. It started with a lovely holiday back home in South Africa, our amazing wedding and honeymoon in February and now our move to Geneva.

The journey officially began on the 6th June (although my Hubby has been flying back and forth for some time now)...

So far we have been trying to get ourselves settled. Hubby has been at work during the day and I have been attempting to sort out other practical aspects such as an apartment, insurances etc etc which is proving to be a challenge (but that's a posting for another day).

The highlight so far has been this past weekend. It was a long weekend here so Hubby had Monday off and the weather was great. We have decided to do as much walking as possible so on Saturday after a lunch at a lovely cafè we took a walk to the lake. Every time we go to the lake I love it, it has such a calming effect and it's lovely to see all the people enjoying themselves. We headed to town for some window shopping, but although not nearly as busy as Oxford Street we decided to head home to rest out weary feet.

As we are new to Geneva we don't know many people, so on that note on Sunday we decided to join an activity on the local expat site glocals (http://www.glocals.com/). We opted for the walking tour of Old Town. We met some interesting people and learnt some interesting facts about Old Town. We both love the look and feel of Old Town and are fascinated by the architecture and history.

Beautiful buildings in hidden streets and alleys

Stained glass windows in Saint Peter's Cathedral

After the tour we had a well deserved drink with the group and then Hubby and I snuck off to a crepe (aka pancake) cafè we noticed while doing the tour. The setting is beautiful with outdoor seating right outside Saint Peter's Cathedral and the crepes are decadent!



A good cuppa coffee



My selection: caramel, almonds, cream and ice-cream

Hubby's selection: chocolate, ice-cream and cream

On Monday we attended another glocals event to The Red Cross Museum (http://www.micr.org/index_e.html). The museum is very sobering as you see all the suffering that people have to endure but at the same time inspiring as, thanks to the vision of Henry Dunant, The Red Cross is able to provide assistance to so many millions of people that desperately need it.

Henry Dunant

All in all a lovely weekend and not a bad start to the new journey that is Geneva...