A great rainy day or

How to entertain one’s self when the weather finally turns gray and one has been accustomed to sun.

 

We have been spoiled this year by a lack of rain and too much sun.  Now before anyone gets upset with my priorities, it must be remembered that one of my reasons for returning to Europe from the sunny California where I grew up was for the seasons. I love the mix and if I sometimes have been known to complain about the “eternal gray” only those of you who have lived a long time in Geneva, Switzerland will be able to empathize. There have been years when it turned gray at the beginning of November and proceeded to only be sunny if one had the odd January day where the cold wind blew: and that until the end of April.

However global warning exists even here in Switzerland (the glaciers are melting at record speed, ski resorts are trying to recycle themselves into summer activities and we now have many, many, more stores and office with air conditioning although it is still hard to get a permit for a private home).

Forgotten is the heat wave of May/June, but even the most adamant followers of the sun have begun to notice the lack of rain.  Lack that is during the week and on Saturdays as for 3 straight Sundays we have had rain.

Faced with yet another Sunday of drizzles, one needed some new ideas and here is what I came up with: take a good friend, meet around 10:00 for coffee in a different place from the usual; proceed into town to a museum (all of the city-owned ones are free except for the special exhibits and there is certainly enough to explore to cover many a rainy day) – this time the Museum of Art and History near the Old Town. An added advantage was the fact that there was street parking near the museum alleviating the necessity to pay for parking.

My favorite Hodler: The Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau

"L'Orage"/ The Storm -Alexandre Calame - 1839

Have a leisurely lunch in Carouge: we chose La Bourse and had delicious steaks with rucola salad and parmesan chips – accompanied of course by a decent red wine: sigh – they were out of the Pont de Soupirs so guess I will just have to return. Split: one to visit a house-bound friend, myself to visit a very good friend and neighbor in the hospital. Back home to check on e-mails, write this blog, watch a bit of TV and enjoy a relaxing evening.

Not only a great rainy Sunday, but simply a very good day as well.

Paris adventures

July 1 – Another day of discovery and wandering

An eclectic mix accompanied by many nationalities: the two girls in the breakfast room

came, one from Ghana, the other from Cambodia. We were very late to breakfast, understandable as my friends were 9 hours behind, but it meant that I wasn’t totally hungry for lunch with A at noon. However, it had been very entertaining getting there with the one metro line down for repairs. Lunch was in a local restaurant where the textures and food were scrumptious – packaged with a small glass of wine and followed by coffee – the French way of living suits me!

Then we wandered as A showed me some of the picturesque neighbourhoods – places so quiet and sheltered that you wouldn’t believe that you were in one of the major cities of the world. Some were places of street art – and they rivalled in imagination and creativity with any other spots worldwide.

Then we headed for my favourite museum in Paris: the Quai d’Orsay. Lines are now done in the American Disneyworld fashion: back and forth surrounded by black portable ribbons – to get in took a half hour. Once inside we again queued for the Van Gogh exhibition, but as that was the main reason for this particular trip, we chatted happily as we waited. As we came out, we would still have had time to do other parts of the museum, but we were both still totally under the influence of what we had seen and couldn’t add any more without negating what we had just experienced.

Detail from across the street from the d'Orsay Museum

It was with reverence that we exited into a lovely, breezy, sunny late afternoon.

Coffee was the next order of the day and we managed to find a typical Parisian sidewalk café: we did not manage to have any pastries with the coffee.

However, a major decision to find the ice-cream parlour that she had been introduced to by her cousin just a few days before, was taken and off we went into the bowls of the earth and the metro system: meanwhile peak time, it was still bearable. Up into the St. Germain neighbourhood and success – an Italian, homemade, chemical free gelato place where the raspberry tasted like freshly picked and pureed raspberries flash frozen, where the pistachio actually tasted more of the nuts than the usual flavouring and where the dark chocolate was unctuous enough to compete with the best of Swiss chocolates (and those who know me know that I don’t say things like that lightly!). None of the usual too-sweet chemical flavours, no icicles saying that it wasn’t fresh. And, an added bonus, two bins for separating waste: one for the cups and napkins, one for the plastic spoons and cones.

A hay truck in the middle of Paris!

Someone had a great sense of humor

Separation was difficult, but A. accompanied me to the last by making sure that I got on the right bus in the right direction, thus avoiding the problem of the currently non-existent metro.  Staying above ground meant a lovely drive along landmarks and the recognition of the stop closer to my hotel than the one for which I had originally aimed.

Awaiting me in the garden were my American friends, they themselves home from a lovely day at Versailles.