Fête de l'Escalade

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I had another day before my flight from Geneva to Barcelona. I arrived in Geneva a bit before 9am. It was brisk cold...a slight notch up from Annecy. Actually, I got lucky ‘cuz it was the weekend of l’escalade celebration. There were events going on at various places in the city and people were dressed up in the medieval outfit, from kids to elders, on foot and on horses. After covering decent amount of ground and encountering medievals, I sat down for a cup of swiss hot choco, not to be confused with swissmiss. Then grabbed roasted chestnuts on the street for nostalgia. Since I had some time and looked easy enough to catch a bus, I made it to the UN building and the obscure giant 3-legged chair. What’s that about?!?! The evening session of the l’escalade programs started ~4pm. By 5pm, it was dark and even colder outside and that meant one thing - vin chaud, can’t beat it. Could I have been arrested back home for consuming alcohol in public? What a pity.

A cab came by at 8am next morning. It was still dark outside. It was time for me to say au revoir to the Alps. I was a bit disappointed about my French but it was quickly coming back. In the beginning of the week, I was going from tomorrow to mañana to demain to mañana to finally demain - a total mess. And it took me so many roundabouts to reach a French word but I was remembering more past few days. So it took a bit to get into Spanish mode. It’s definitely easier to get around with Spanish. Conversation is going as smooth as I can ask for with the host parents. Let’s see where this goes in the next 3wks.

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Photos

Fête de l'Escalade
Cathèdrale St Pierre

UN Building
and the peculiar giant 3-legged chair