Blogs from Lake Geneva, South-West, Switzerland, Europe
July 13th 2011
Sorry for not having posted anything for a wee while. We're still alive and kicking! This from Geneva, where we're staying with Chris & Douglas Crawford-Swan (and Callum & Ailsa). We have just 8 days left of our central European adventure before heading to the UK. Katrina & Jackson don't know it yet but tomorrow is Bastille Day in France and we're thinking of zooming up the Autoroute to Chartres & Paris for the weekend, before heading back to Basel. I'll fill in details later but since my last post we've spent time in Lugano (Ticino region of Switzerland; meeting up with Mary, Peter & Emily Hart), then down into Italy (Verona, Vicenza, Venice, Bologna, Florence), before spending a very welcome 1-week break in a fabulous Tuscan villa NE of Sienna (check out "Casa Kiwi" on ... read more
October 23rd 2009
A little background for how I ended up in Switzerland picking grapes: One sunny afternoon at CanDo4Kids back in Adelaide my CEO, Paul, asked me where I’d be at the end of September. To my reply of “floating around somewhere in Europe” he said “How would you like to do some paid work in one of the most beautiful places in the world?” As it turns out Paul’s partner’s sister and her Swiss husband manage a winery out of St Saphorin (not far from Vevey) on Lake Geneva. A couple of emails later it was all teed up for the last weekend of September/start of October. I actually arrived a day earlier than most of the pickers and spent the afternoon exploring Vevey. The accommodation provided was a simple dorm bed on the third floor of ... read more
October 15th 2009
From Freiburg to Morges, a beautiful train ride highlighted by endless fields of grapes all in the process of being harvested and the gorgeous Lake Geneva with a backdrop of the pre-Alps and Monte Blanc. We met Jackie at the train station which was by far the easiest meet and greet we encountered on the trip thus far. That night we had a lovely French Swiss dinner with the our hosts, Jackie, Sylain, and adorable Marina. About 8 cheeses to choose from and a traditional hash brown like potato fritter, salad and of course some great Swiss wine. Delicious! We learned an interesting fact, that 98 percent of Swiss wine is never leaves the country. The following day we took a walk along Lake Geneva and explored the village of Morges. The weather was quite chilly ... read more
Quand les Allemands envahissent la Suisse
Published: October 14th 2009Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lake Geneva
October 14th 2009
J'ai eu l'immense plaisir de recevoir ma bonne amie Antje, son copain Florian et sa soeur Lisa, directement venus de Bremen en Allemagne dans ma ville d'adoption pour 5 jours! Comme ils étaient trois et que j'habite un minuscule studio, je n'ai pas pu leur offrir le gîte, mais je leur avais réservé une chambre privée dans une auberge de jeunesse et je leur ai servi de guide pour la semaine. Antje est une amie que j'ai rencontré il y a quelques années déjà lors d'un séjour à Terre-Neuve, j'avais rencontré Lisa lors de mon passage à Berlin (le même été) et Florian lors de ma visite de Bâle il y a quelque mois. Quoiqu'il en soit, j'étais très heureuse de retrouver tout ce beau monde et de leur faire découvrir ma belle région. J'ai d'abord ... read more
September 13th 2009
Comme je suis en perpétuelle recherche de nouveaux défis, j'ai décidé en ce magnifique mois de septembre de faire mes cours de plongée sous-marine afin d'obtenir ma certification PADI Open water me donnant droit de plonger partout dans le monde jusqu'à 18 mètres de profondeur (54 pieds). Je me suis lancée dans ce projet avec avec ma fidèle compatriote Agathe et ma copine bretonne Marianne. Ça fait plusieurs années que je me disais: "ah un jour j'aimerais bien fair mes cours de plongée", mais sans le faire concrètement. Comme Agathe et mois sommes en préparation de notre voyage en Indonésie, le timing ne pourrait pas être meilleur. Nous avons donc fait nos deux soirées de cours théoriques à la fin août à Lausanne et nous sommes prévues une semaine de libre début septembre pour les cours ... read more
September 23rd 2008
Aware that you all may be fed-up of receiving these emails now and bored of my holiday snaps (as if you could ever be!), I’ll keep this one brief. I went to Geneva for the weekend, hired a cheap car, got upgraded to a 4x4 for free, so was happy about that. Stayed with some friends in Geneva, didn’t see the city, went mountain walking (climbing more like) in France, Portes du Soleil area and also went to Yvoires on the shores of Lake Geneva. It was beautiful/pretty/spectacular/French/Swiss/Apline/Heidi/chocolatey all at the same time. Oh and I flew from City airport for the first time which is fun as I could see my house when I landed. There, that wasn’t so painful, wait until next month when I go back to China, then I might get a ... read more
September 9th 2008
So, I arrived in Geneva last Saturday morning after a routine flight. Easyjet actually was pretty good, with the same setup as Southwest with people paying more loading first and working through 3 other lines with the biggest discounts seating least (no prebooked seats at all). I got an aisle seat with a swiss girl by the window who was friendly and nobody in the middle. I had arranged a small car by priceline from Geneva Airport, and got a 1.4 Fiat Punto which was been more than sufficient for getting around the mountains etc. I took my time driving to Torgon, which involved driving around the north and east sides of Lake Geneva, then up a VERY STEEP mountain road with countless switchbacks up to the timeshare (it was 11 miles on the mountain road ... read more
April 2nd 2006
I'm still at home in Switzerland.... however, departure is now only about 24 hours away. The question now is whether I am ready to go... * Mentally - I suppose so. I'm looking forward to it actually! * Packing - The things I'm taking are all nicely laid out. Will it fit in my backpack? * Vaccinations - OK: I should now be protected against scary things like Japanese Encephalitis. * Visa - India/Vietnam/China are done. Apparently I don't need to get any for the other countries (Except for Cuba, but we're supposed to get that at check-in in Toronto ?!) So, tomorrow morning I'll be catching a flight from Geneva to London Heathrow. In England, I'll meet up with Phil, a good friend from my time at university in Southampton, and with whom I'll be ... read more
Paris, Bernese Oberland, and Holland with Sue and family...and great news!
Published: July 25th 2011Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lake Geneva
May 16th 1985
My sister Sue, my nephew Brendan and niece Alyssa, and her mother-in-law Vovo came for a visit in the Spring following our move to Brussels. After a few days with us visiting sights in Brussels, we decided to drive through France to Switzerland and back through Germany and Luxembourg. We took my youngest sister Carol as far as Paris. Linda decided to stay home, as there wasn’t room in the car. Upon our return from Switzerland, Linda had some great news for us. After digesting the news we visited Brugges, Belgium, and Keukenhof, Marken and Volendam, the Open Air Museum and Madurodam in Holland. Linda joined us for this later portion of our vacation. 16 May 1985 Thursday. Carol joined us for the drive to Paris where we dropped her off with friends. She joined us ... read more
