An Update on Life's Great Pleasures: Wine, Chocolate and Football

Hello friends and welcome to a quick instalment of the SCR to bring you up to date on what we've been doing for the past few weeks. We left you with the promise of a pending hike to a chocolate factory in the woods. In fact, this turned out to be a long uphill walk to a chocolate factory on a mountain.

Woods

Mountain (not Woods)

I hope our longterm subscribers will see fit to stay with us after this unfortunate error. Those responsible have been sacked. In any event, a few weeks back Sam and I joined some colleagues to walk from the lakeside town of Rolle to the mountain village of Bougy-Villars. Surrounded by vineyards, B-V is a rather upscale little part of Switzerland (will let you know once we find a downscale part of Switzerland), in part owing to the fabulous views of Lake Geneva.

Bougy-Villars

The distance was only about 5km or so, but mainly uphill with some impressively steep sections. This didn't bother Sam though as at the steepest bits he wisely insisted on riding in his stroller. That he hates. On flat ground.

Sam Taunting His Father As They Drop Farther Behind the Group

While a bit of a gloomy day, the outing coincided with the annual grape harvest so we got to see the vineyards during the thick of the action.

Delicious Wine Seeds

Buckets of Harvested Grapes, About Twice the Size of Sam

On Their Way to the Winery

Despite the appearance of lots happening, in practice, vineyards are pretty calm and picturesque places even at the height of activity.

Wine Country: Bucolic

Chateau Something-or-Other: Nice Neighbourhood.

When we arrived in Bougy-Villars, we stopped in the churchyard to enjoy a picnic lunch and the promised views of the lake and Mont Blanc.

Sam and the Church at Bougy-Villars

Sadly, there was fog and the views were unremarkable, so we had no choice but to introduce ourselves to the small winery (Fechy) across the street. A few sample bottles and a tour by the affable owner Georges-Claude Blanchard was enough to convince us of the merits of this fine Swiss enterprise, so we loaded the stroller with a few bottles of their Grand Crux for the trip back down the mountain. (Please stroll responsibly.)

The Busy "Fechy" Winery in Bougy-Villars

Before we could head back though, we first had to make a stop at the famous Tristan Chocolatier, which is considered by many (at least according to Wikipedia) to produce among the finest chocolates in Switzerland.

The Best Chocolatier in Switzerland?

I am by no means yet an expert on Swiss chocolate, although I did invest considerably in my ongoing education during this visit, but in my opinion this place certainly deserves consideration for the title.

Chocolate: Delicious.

On the way down the hill, we took a short break to enjoy some grapes and wine from the fields of a family who bottle only for their own use and enjoyment.

Sam Joins a Lumberjack Biker Gang

The following weekend we had big football related plans. The local club, FC Collex-Bossy (as in the club that plays at the field directly behind my house) had unexpectedly advanced to the final 16 of the Swiss Cup (unexpected as they are a fifth division semi-pro side) and were taking on Swiss Axpo Super League giants Sion. This is not Collex-Bossy's first brush with footballing titans, as the wee field had once played host to Liverpool, Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the heady days of the early 1980s (and the way things are going at Anfield, they may be moving in the same circles as the Reds again soon).

FC Collex-Bossy's Home Field

We planned to go as a family and with friends of ours, but the weather on game day was "good football weather" as they say. Meaning it was freezing and raining and awful. While about 2000 made it to the match, the game-going crowd from our group was reduced to me and a friend who left at the end of the first half. I, soldiering on alone, enjoyed a fine display of football. By Sion. Who scored 45 seconds in before dismantling the plucky upstarts from down the road 4-0. I felt a bit responsible for this given the way 2010 is unfolding on the sporting front, especially since they had been doing quite well up to that point and haven't won a game since I became a fan.

Alas, that's the way it goes. Those are the high points from the past few weeks. We'll be back with our next update soon, wherein the family takes up the battle for French pension reform by derisively shrugging off the fuel shortage and blockades to visit riot-scarred Lyon for the weekend.

Now here's a parting shot of our village, Jura mountains outlined in the background.

Collex

Woah Baby!! It's a...

...Peacock?

No joke (but not what you were expecting, was it?) As I exited today from the massive United Nations complex, full of up-and-coming 20-somethings carrying designer bags (they can't ALL be real...can they?) there, strutting it's stuff in front of the main doors was a peacock. Minus tail feathers mind you, but a peacock none the less and looking just as cocky as one would expect.

The peacock

I soon noticed that noone else found this to be strange. It WAS, after all, my first meeting at the UN. Perhaps this is a resident peacock. We get geese on campus at home. And there are also palm trees and bamboo all over Geneva. Maybe peacocks are par for the course. Anyway. All I know is that I need to get a designer purse.

But back to the subject of this post. Aaron and I went in for the 20 week ultrasound this morning - the one where they check out all the organs and where you can find out the gender. We are happy to report that the baby has 2 legs, 2 arms, a head (with a brain inside), a beating heart (130 - but clearly in chill mode), 2 kidneys, a stomach a bladder and a little face. However, after a lot of back and forth, we decided not take a look between it's legs. I learned my lesson years ago when I hunted down and opened my christmas presents before the 25th (Ok, so it took a few christmases to learn that lesson). We are looking forward to the surprise, and to surprise you all.

Sorry Darlene.

Baby from outside - 20.5 weeks

Meanwhile, we hope you are satisfied with this pic of the blob (as my grandmother would say). Although this particular blob is now 20 cm long, the pics aren't that clear. Looks like a boy to me but maybe that's because all fetuses look slightly neanderthal-ish at this point? (big eyebrow bones and protruding foreheads). not very delicate. And those ears...

Baby from inside - 20.5 weeks

Vickie, can you tell if it has the Woodworth chin?

The ultrasound experience, like the rest of my health care experiences so far here in Geneva, was very pleasant. it was a very nice, modern facility. There was one ultrasound and a small desk in a big room where in Ottawa they would have crammed 2-3 machines. The technician was very good - took no time at all to discern that all was well and the supervising doctor came in midway to review and give the ok...right then and there. clean bill of health. The technician also took the time to tell us what everything was and tried to get some good shots of the face (kinda weird, negative-type image, frankly).

We expect that we will have other ultrasounds along the way, as my ObGYN has an ultrasound machine right in her office. Unheard of back home. Again, her office is very modern/contemporary - I couldn't believe it when I walked in there the first time. It is going to be hard to resist the temptation to find out whether Sam is getting a baby brother or sister, that's for sure.

Finally, let me share with you some images of the place where I will have the baby, sometime in the week of February 13 - 20 as I'm told I need to have a c-section (after last time, i'm not complaining). Hmmm..I was initially disappointed that I wouldn't get to deliver at the newly remodeled Montfort hospital when learning we were moving to Geneva, but I think that this has it beat.

Classy Geneva private hospital food: no Jell-o.

And this isn't even the hospital (ok, private clinic) where they have a one star Michelin chef on staff. Apparently people go to the clinic just for dinner! Unfortunately, my OBGYN doesn't deliver there...I'll have to make do with simple, gourmet food, rather than world class gourmet food. Oh well. You can see more here:

http://www.la-tour.ch/votre-sante/maternite/galerie-d-images/

Lastly, when asked about what was in Mommy's tummy the other night (a daily topic now) Sam said: "...come out, and POP! a baby chicken!" . In addition to the new baby books, he has a book where a chicken hatches from an egg. I hope he isn't too disappointed come February.

Any baby chickens in there?

Blogging 'till the cows come home...

Hello gentle readers, and welcome back to another edition of the Swiss Cheese Report. This week we go in search of traditional Swiss culture, with visits to a mountain festival, a mountain and a restaurant serving big pots of cheese. Obviously, there's a lot of ground to cover, so let's get started.

Found it.

First up was a Saturday morning drive to the lovely mountain village of Saint-Cergue, nestled high in the Jura range, for their annual desalpe festival. Desalpes are common festivals in Switzerland where thousands come out to celebrate the return of the cows from the high mountain pastures where they spend the summer to the lower altitudes where the herds winter. No seriously, that's it: Cows are back. Party time.

If only the Islanders could draw crowds like this...

Okay, maybe the origin of the celebration had more to do with the return of the cow herds to their families than to the cows, but it definitely seemed like it was the cows getting the applause. Just saying.

Cow herds sporting gang colours.

It may go without saying, but the Swiss really love their cows, which are in many ways the embodiment of their connection to the land, the symbol of their heritage and the source of their wide selection of middle-hard cheeses. This deep appreciation is demonstrated by the loving manner in which the Swiss march them repeatedly up and down mountains adorned with giant crowns of wildflowers and extraordinarily heavy bells that clang incessantly. Because the one thing missing from a cow's life is pageantry.

Cow: Thrilled

Frankly, No Stranger Than Most Beauty Pageants

But there's more to the desalpe than the cow parades. I know what you are thinking: What more could you possibly need? True, but nevertheless, there are smiling people sitting in wooden huts selling all manner of things: hot chocolate, pastries, sausages, and strong mountain wine in tiny plastic cups (hence the smiling). There are also such Swiss hallmarks as yodlers and alpenhorns.

Alpenhorns: practical

And, lest the cows get all uppity about their celebrity, there are assorted other animals decked out in their Sunday finest for the amusement of ignorant tourists like me.

Dogs Pulling Carts of Flowers

Runner Up to Butterfly Landing on Baby's Nose Under Rainbow, Most Adorable Moment of 2010.

And there was lots to occupy the kids: assorted cow bells against which to compare their height, a playground, animal feeding area, face painting, games, and lots and lots of cow poo to jump in. Sam couldn't have had more fun.

Cow Bells the Size of a Child. Why?

Sam Feeding One of the Stars of the Show

Alas, eventually the crowd got so big that we had to go home. No, seriously. But stoked from our first truly Swiss experience (not including the five week bureaucratic shell game that is the vehicle registration process), we decided to double-down and go out for our first fondue!

Fondue: Healthy

We went to the place we'd been told sold THE best fondue in Geneva. I can only say that it was certainly the best I've had so far. That night, sitting on a terrace, eating little bits of bread dipped in wine-infused melted cheese we contemplated the shortcomings in our diet and decided that we'd really better get out and do some serious exercise.

So, on Sunday with the sun shining and the city effectively in lock-down mode, as is all the rage on Sundays, we headed out to do a hike on Le Salève. Known as "la montagne des Genevois", the mountain which rises to 1400m and towers over the city of Geneva is actually, shamefully, located across the border in France.

The Mountain in Question: French

We took the cable car to somewhere very near the top, then hiked the remaining half hour or so to the summit. I'd blame this rather feeble excuse for exercise on the fact that we were hiking with a two-year old, but Sam embraced trail running and actually overtook a group of adult hikers on the way up the not entirely gentle trail, thus confirming my suspicions that he is in fact a robot child with infinite energy reserves. The views from the top were great, but, due to unfortunate issues with downloading the pics from our camera, you'll have to make do with this picture I stole:

Dramatization

Well, that's all for this issue. Thanks for joining us for our introduction to the real Switzerland. Tune in next week when we hike to a chocolate factory in the woods.