Geneva Week 2 (5/17 to 5/23) - Discovery, Becoming Swiss, Saint Prex and Chamonix

I am starting to feel at home. Although the smells are still new and I don’t understand the language of those speaking around me, I am really enjoying all the nature, as well as the very large lake I am anticipating swimming in.

This week was the first time Natalie and I were on our own. April had left to return to San Francisco on Saturday and Jason was back at work.

Each day started off with Natalie and I walking Jason to the bus, which he took into work. After the walk, Natalie usually set off for a 30-60 minute run.  Based on Natalie’s lack of grudging before each run, I could tell that she was enjoying her daily jogs and if she keeps it up she may actually be ready for a marathon this fall.

During the day, Natalie and I took walks to discover interesting areas near our house.  We found a futbol (i.e., soccer) field behind our home, which is the perfect size for throwing frisbee. Our landlords also tipped us off to a very peaceful and enclosed dog park, which is just a ten-minute walk from our house. Natalie calls this place ‘twilight’ park since the scenery reminds her of the Twilight Saga books.

(Here I am sniffing out Twilight park.)

Probably the most interesting thing we discovered right near our house was a small, flowing river. This river is on the border of France and Switzerland; therefore, when I’m on the home side of the river (near our house), I’m in Switzerland. If I cross the river (which is only about 8 feet wide), I am in France.

In addition to locating all the fun play areas near to where we live, I also discovered lots of farm animals. My human cousin, Tommy, will go nuts for this and I can’t wait until he comes and visits to watch all of them with me. The farm animals consist of cows, chickens, goats and donkeys.  If Natalie and Jason wanted to, they could pet every one of these animals; however, they like to save all of their pets for me.

(Goats!)

(Cows!)

(Me! the wannabe farm animal and oenophile, sniffing out the vineyards, making sure this year will be a good vintage.)

Natalie also spent a good part of this week doing laundry, figuring out how to drive the new car (she’s already hit a pole with the side-view mirror, so, now Jason says it’s officially not a new car anymore), and doing her best to grocery shop, while not being able to speak any French.

The week was also spent making me a Swiss citizen – that’s right, I’m Swiss and my dog-parents are not. In order to do this, we had to go to the Vet (those people follow me everywhere!). The Vet Natalie and Jason chose is near their house, in Vesenaz. The Doctor’s name is Gabor Luka and, even though I’m not a fan of the Vet, he is really nice and speaks good English, which is helpful for Jason and Natalie.

In order to make me a Swiss Citizen, the Vet gave me a couple more vaccinations and then they filled out my Swiss Passport! I was now officially official! The last thing we need to do is get me acknowledged in the town Jason and Natalie live in and pay a tax on me. I am so official, I even have to pay taxes!

The last major logistical task Natalie and Jason did this week was finalize my doggie day care.  They had taken me to Truffes and Co. the week before, which was in Vaud and they took me to a place in France.

I, of course, wasn’t a fan of either, since no one could ever replace Doug and Ashley from the Hound Lounge; however, I understood Jason and Natalie’s need to find me one. I am, deep-down, a sociable dog and also Jason and Natalie would be flying to Sicily in a couple of weeks; therefore, they’d need a place for me to stay overnight.

Natalie and Jason ultimately decided on Truffes and Co. and it sounded like, from Natalie’s phone conversation with the owner, that I’d be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting with the next week. I’m not sure about all of this; however, I do get to sleep in the owner’s living room when I stay overnight, which isn’t too bad.

The evenings were spent enjoying a few meals at home and on a few nights, Jason and Natalie ate in downtown Geneva. On one of these occasions, they took me and we went to pizza in Carouge with Jason’s co-workers. On another occasion, they left me at home, but from what I learned when they got back, Natalie and Jason had beers at a Belgian Bar in Old Town, Geneva (Natalie discovered her new favorite beer, which was Tripel Karmeliet) and then they went to a trendy restaurant nearby called L’Armoire. They both had burgers and it sounds like the most expensive burgers they’ve ever eaten at 26 francs each!

(Tripel Karmeliet - it was so good, it was worthy of a picture!)

The one thing about Geneva dining is that it is not cheap. Apparently, it is not that uncommon to pay upwards of 40 francs just for the main course. Starters (called ‘entrees’ in French) are about 20 francs.

When the weekend arrived, Natalie and Jason left me at home (on a beautiful Saturday, I might add) to do home shopping at Ikea. Ikea is no different than the Ikea in the U.S. – it’s always busy and they have Swedish meatballs. Natalie and Jason picked up some storage furniture and it’s now sitting in our storage unit downstairs waiting to be put together.

After Ikea, Natalie and Jason picked me up and we went for a nice walk in downtown Geneva. There, I discovered swans, and again Tommy is going to be so excited when he sees all of this! Prior to dinner, Natalie and Jason went back to the Belgian beer place for drinks (and a new favorite was discovered, called Duchesse de Bourgogne) and then for dinner. They had pizza (again) at Lacustre, which was a restaurant on the Lake.

Since all the retail stores in Switzerland close on Sunday, this was our day to travel around and the day that we’d be visiting the beach for the first time!

The Canton of Geneva is actually fairly strict about my kind swimming in the Lake. The Canton of Vaud is not that strict. Therefore, we took a nice drive up the right side of the lake to Vaud and found an area in Saint Prex that is not completely restricted to dogs. 

When I say ‘not completely’ it means dogs are allowed on leash only; however, we met a very nice person at the beach who’s dog was playing in the water (off leash) and he said that we all just need to use judgment when determining if I could go off leash, or not. 

Luckily, for this beautiful Sunday morning, Jason and Natalie used good judgment and I got to play Frisbee in the water at the Saint Prex beach for the first time! It was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back. Apparently, my new doggie day care is right near this beach, so, my hope is they’ll be taking me here on occasion and applying good judgment, as well. J

(My first time in Lake Geneva!)

(Getting some water at the 'water fountain' in Saint Prex. I know it's drinkable when the fountain says 'eau potable' and there's a wine glass symbol next to those words.)

After a fun time of Frisbee playing, Jason and Natalie headed up around the lake towards Montreux. Montreux is another lakeside town on the tip of Lake Geneva. One event it is known for is its music festivals. In fact, the Montreux Jazz Festival is occurring this July and Natalie and Jason are going to see Vampire Weekend and Broken Bells there!

We went for a nice, long walk in Montreux and had some lunch (which wasn’t that good; therefore, Natalie asked me to not bother writing about it). After lunch, we hopped into the Qashqai again and made our way towards our final destination of the day, which was Chamonix. Chamonix is a town in France that is well known for great skiing.

We got into Chamonix in the afternoon and were all amazed by the absolute beauty of the place. It is essentially surrounded by mountains on all sides and has a very quaint, ski village feel to it. We explored this town a bit and Natalie and Jason stopped at a nice café to get a cappuccino and double espresso.

(Beautiful Chamonix!)

After coffee, Natalie and Jason visited the most delicious chocolate shop they’ve ever been to, plus the nice shop person gave Natalie and Jason a lot of samples. Natalie and Jason decided on blueberry truffles, rochers and the most scrumptious ‘candy bar’ they’ve ever eaten. This ‘candy bar’ had two layers of marzipan filled with a hazelnut-like praline, all of which was enrobed in dark chocolate.

We left Chamonix in the early evening and took the short drive home (it’s only an hour from our house). We decided to eat at home for the evening and Natalie and Jason snacked on a fabulous cheese they bought in Chamonix and then cooked up this very interesting pasta (it was thick and shaped like really tiny squares) they also picked up at a store in Chamonix, served alongside with pork roast.

(The storefront of a cheese store in Chamonix - April, I know you love cheese, so this picture is for you!)

Needless to say, it was a very busy week orienting ourselves to this fabulous new country we’re in. I am having a lot of fun so far and am excited for the weeks and months ahead.

Paws,

Sabrina