Jet d'eau

The Jet d'eau is the awesome fountain on a jetty that stretches into Lake Genève.  It is one of Genève's most famous landmarks and is definitely a must see for any of our friends and family planning to visit us in the near future (HINT HINT J). To be honest it is so huge it is hard to miss!

According to the Genève Tourism website (http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/?rubrique=0000000172&lang=_eng) and Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_d'Eau) the Jet d'eau was originally a simple security valve at the Coulouvrenière hydraulic factory, this water fountain has, over the years, grown to be the symbol of Genève.  In 1891, it was transferred to the "Rade", to become a major tourist attraction. 

The present Jet d'eau was installed in 1951 in a partially submerged pumping station to pump lake water instead of city water. The pump propels 500 litres of water per second to a height of 140 metres at a speed of 200 km per hour (124 miles/h).  When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 7,000 litres of water in the air. 

Since 2003, the fountain has operated during the day all year round, except in case of frost and particularly strong wind. It also operates in the evening between spring and autumn.

If you do not mind getting a bit wet you can stare up at the Jet d'eau via the jetty leading you to a few metres from the base of the nozzle exit.

Hubby and I really find the Jet d'eau beautiful and are often fascinated by how different it looks depending on the weather and the time of day. If it is windy the area of spray is huge, in the evening it is lit up by clear lights and on some evenings it is lit by a red light. The best, however, has to be when the weather is rainy and overcast and a rainbow appears. The rainbow on Monday was truly the most beautiful and breathtaking I have ever seen (the pics don't do it justice).

Below are a variety of photos we have taken of the Jet d'eau at various stages of our stay so far. Which is your favourite?

Is this a WRINKLE…

So this Saturday was my birthday.  Do I feel older – not really!  Do I look older – well...maybe, there are some signs of wrinkle development (note to self, buy some ridiculously expensive face cream that promises eternal youth to make me feel better J ) but on the up side no sign of grey hairs yet! Plus I am remaining positive because this is the last year I can say I am in my 20’s.

To be honest I did not have time to think of or plan anything for my birthday as we moved into our new apartment on Saturday morning.  The move already started on Thursday with a friend offering her car to drive 1 load to the apartment for us. Then on Saturday morning we got moving very early and packed like oxen we made our way to the bus stop.  Two bus trips later and feeling exhausted we made it to our local sports pub in time to watch the second half of the England versus Argentina Rugby World Cup match.  We enjoyed a full English breakfast and after the rugby headed home for a well deserved nap.

In the new apartment I was surprised by a lovely gift from Hubby, my Parents, Sister and Brother-in-law.  Hubby had dropped off my gift the day before so it was waiting for me on the dining room table – it was a lovely welcome to our new apartment.

Hubby took me for a lovely romantic dinner.  It was a beautiful evening so we walked across the lake to the restaurant Le Perron. 



On our way to dinner

We arrived as the sun was setting and we sat outside under the awning enjoying the warm evening by candle light.  

Romantic atmosphere

We started by ordering a bottle of Recorba red wine from Spain. Hubby ordered the Steak Tartare (a meat dish made from finely chopped raw beef marinated and spiced and served chilled) which was served with fries and warmly toasted bread.  It was the first time Hubby (or I) tried Steak Tartare and he really enjoyed it.  The steak nicely spiced and was very tasty.  The warm bread was a nice side however the fries were nothing special.



Hubby's Steak Tartare

I ordered the lamb dish served with the chef’s salad.  I loved this dish!  The lamb tasted like slices of roast leg of lamb, cooked medium rare with a flavoursome gravy.  The lamb was melt in the mouth tender.  The salad was a good light accompaniment for the meat.  A nice addition to the salad was crushed walnuts.  I think this was my best dish in Genève so far and I would definitely have it again. 

My delicious lamb

We ended off with a portion of profiteroles to share and luckily we shared because it was a huge portion.  They were served with vanilla ice-cream in the centre and loads of warm chocolate sauce...YUM! 

Dessert

After dinner we took a slow stroll back along the lake to spend our first night in our new apartment.



Lights under some bricks in the town centre



The bricks light up in the evening to highlight words in different languages

  

Lights reflecting on the lake

Then on Sunday South Africa were playing their first Rugby World Cup match so we met up with some friends (4 South Africans and 1 Canadian) and headed by train to a South African bar in the nearby town of Gland.  

The pub is across the road from the station and is called Bull’s Pub (The owner is from Pretoria and supports the Blue Bulls so I asked him why the sign was red and he said it was because it was easier to see from far – fair enough!).  It is quite a small pub but it was not that busy that early in the morning so we managed to find a seat. 

Bull's Pub in Gland

Enjoying the rugby

We enjoyed the rugby but it was a tighter match than we would have liked, which of course had most of us stressed until the final whistle.

We ordered some food which included a bacon and sausage roll and traditional South African Bunny Chow, which was delicious!

Bunny Chow

All in all it was an eventful and busy weekend with the move, my birthday and the rugby.  And then it was Monday...

“Je parle un peu français…”

I have graduated from “Parlez-vous anglais?” (Do you speak English? – refer to the post from the 29^th June 2011) to “Je parle un peu français” (I speak a little French) followed by either an attempt at speaking French (i.e. stringing together enough French words to be understood) or if the situation is too complicated I revert back to the good old faithful “Parlez-vous anglais?”.

How, you may wonder, have a taken graduated and taken this huge jump (ok it’s not huge but never the less a step in the right direction)? Well in addition to my weekly 1h30mins of French at Hubby’s work I decided to enrol on a 3 week French course at the University of Genève.  This was an attempt to improve my French but I was also bored of being a ‘woman of leisure’ while waiting for my work permit and needed to meet new people and make some friends.

In front of the University of Genève

The course started the 8^th August and on the first day we had to write a French test to assess our level of the language. Levels were A1 and A2 (beginner), B1 and B2 (intermediate) and C1 and C2 (advanced).  Unsurprisingly I was on A1!

Actual classes started on the 9^th and we were assigned to smaller groups with people that are meant to be at a similar level.  Classes started at 9:00am till 12:00 noon and then in the afternoon there were various workshops and activities you could attend (all in French of course) for additional learning.  These included pronunciation, grammar, oral and my favourite, Swiss Folk Stories.

We were 12 in our group in total and I have to say we were a very interesting group. We had students, lecturers (including a professor of chemistry who specialises in bubbles), a lady on her way to work in Haiti for 2 years, a documentary film maker, a photographer and film editor (he edited Big Cat Diary – I love that show), a lady wanting to learn French as she is pregnant with her first child, another marketing professional and a fellow South African!

Even more interesting was that 5 of us are in Genève due to our partners being transferred here for work. So many of us are in the same boat, needing to learn French to try find a job (unless you are self employed of course).

Our lecturer was also very nice. She is Swiss and is very creative and arty and was very patient with us. She only spoke French during the lessons, which proved a challenge, but towards the end I was surprised at how much I understood (although I still have a long way to go, of course).

The 3 weeks really flew by and on the last day our group had a lovely picnic in the park les Bastions, which is just outside the university.



Some of the members of my French group

I definitely feel the course was worthwhile because, although I sometimes felt out of my depth and do not remember all the vocabulary we learnt, I met wonderfully interesting people some of whom I have continued and will continue to stay in touch with.
Genève est très bonne...