Geneva Day 2

Margaret decided that she needed to get home a day earlier because she is so uncomfortable and in pain with her rib injury. Steve was able to book her on the same flight a day earlier so after breakfast we got Margaret in a cab and instructed the cabbie of her situation and asked that he give her a hand at the airport. It's unfortunate that this happened, but as we talked last night, at least it was the last day...unlike Joe who tore both ACL' s on the very first day.

Kathy and I decided to head out to a district just south of Geneva called Carouge, a suburb of Geneva proper. Today for the very first time in the past 9 days, the weather was gray and cloudy..we've been blessed with bright, sunny days on and off the slopes. Our hotel is very centrally located in the Vielle Ville, so we walked down to catch the tram to head out to Carouge. Arriving there, we set out walking and got our bearings after heading the wrong way. Found a wonderful patisserie and had a cafe au lait and patisserie. Talked to our waitress who directed us to the city center...wandered the streets of Carouge and found that most of the businesses are closed on Sunday. This is very typical of Europe...unlike America where things are 24/7...Sundays are very quiet. Restaurants, shops, grocery stores, etc. are closed. We got back on the tram and got off at Planpalais, another district just outside of
the city centre and found ourselves wandering through a large open farmers market where the locals shop. There were stalls of fresh produce, artisanal cheeses, meats, many Mediterranean delicacies, pastries, spices, teas, clothing, ethnic delicacies, etc. One thing that was very noticeable in the neighborhoods Kathy and I were wandering, is how ethnic in nature they were...most of the people looked middle-eastern, Italian, Spanish, or from the eastern Slavic countries...a bit like the gypsies we saw while in Italy several years ago. Geneva is definitely a melting pot and international...but even these ethnicities speak French, although in a somewhat different dialect. Got back to the hotel and walked over to the Cathedral St. Pierre, a large beautiful church that has a lot of history with John Calvin and the
Reformation period. We woke up to the cathedral's church bells ringing this morning. Wandered the streets of Vielle Ville...had raclette, a Swiss specialty and a glass of wine then onto dinner at a well known restaurant in the Vielle Ville, Le Pied au Cochon. We are wondering how the Swiss and French maintain their svelte physiques with all this glorious food!