Geneva Day 2

Not much new to report today, but as we are heading to the Alps tomorrow I thought I should fit in one more post before heading off into the internet-less wilds.

Today we headed to the Red Cross Museum which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.  That seems to be the theme of the trip for me. Good thing I go to all these things! It was inspiring to see something started out of selfless compassion that has made such a difference in the world. With all these places, Paris mostly, it felt like everything I was looking at or experiencing was done or created in the pursuit of money. The Red Cross was started by  people who just wanted to help.

We just had to cross the street for a tour of the UN Headquarters.  A guide directed us around the New Wing that was added onto the original League of Nations building in the 70's.  He explained that the fixtures and artwork were all gifts from various UN nations.  The marble walls from Italy, the coconut fibre carpet was from Thailand and the doors from France.

This tapestry was a gift from China, the temple of peace and the entrance stairway seemed to be directly facing you no matter what angle you viewed it from.

We moved onto the original section of the building, viewing the gardens from the breezeway between the two gardens.  There are peacocks roaming the grounds to honor the man who left the land the building stands on to the city of Geneva.

After our sightseeing we hit a local supermarket called Migros for some stinky swiss Gruyere cheese and swiss chocolate. Tonight is fondue night!

PS - Can you tell Jason wrote the bit about the UN Headquarters? His writing always has actual names, facts and dates.

Geneva

I knew there was beauty in France! It took a trip outside of Paris to see it but we had a great day at Versailles yesterday. We took a tour of the palace which was full of loud pushy tourists (worse than the Louvre... way worse) but it was the gardens that we loved. Jason figures we walked about 15kms in that garden.
We stayed there until it closed! I can only imagine how it would look in the summer. This picture was taken by a friendly couple who were getting a kick out of watching Jason trying to set up the camera on top of a pop bottle:

We got the fixins for a picnic at a nearby grocery store and sat down at the edge of the canal in the gardens behind the palace. Jason was so excited to have found this huge Babybel for 2 euros!

We were joined by a pair of ducks while we ate and then a very bold swan. At first I was super excited but as with most of my encounters with birds, I soon freaked out. We have some great videos of this swan almost helping itself to our baguette and making what Jason refers to as "terror noises". Here's me, in the ready position:

So after a good day in Paris, we said aurevoir!

We left this morning and arrived in Geneva, Switzerland 3 hours later. As soon as we stepped off the train we liked this place. You can see the alps in the distance and the air smelled so fresh and clean. The weather is fantastic... sunny with a little breeze.

We wandered for only a few hours and came across lots of old buildings mixed with extremely modern shops. The people don't seem to take themselves as serious as Perisans. We decided tomorrow we would have our very first fondue experience so had dinner at this little resteraunt that served only organic chicken!

We were so excited to eat "meat & potatoes"!

We are now in our room, drinking beer. Jason is about to do laundry - I would join him, but a lack of clean pants prevents me. I'm off to have a shower and then run back into the room in my bathing suit. Fingers crossed the hallways are empty!