A Chocolate Shop to Call One's Own!

Hello and welcome to my penultimate destination - Geneva. The home of the United Nations in Europe, and many other international associations (like the Red Cross/Red Crescent). As a result both the look of the locals and the options in restaurants in this international city are quite diverse - except of course when they are all shut for the New Year's celebrations. :-( But as a result, I took many photos over a couple of days (as there was nothing else to do but walk around and take photos). So, get comfy, and check out the Blog Gallery!

My first priority on the one day when I knew everything would be open (the last day of 2013) was to visit a shop I had researched online - a company I had heard about for the first time in the 1980's - Favarger. They have had a factory and store in Geneva since 1826, and sadly they don't export any more (although they did - which is how I heard of them originally in Australia...)

Why the interest? Because of the line of chocolates that they offer (look closely in the accompanying picture... look very closely!):

Yes - Avelines! In the 1980s and earlier they were also marketed as "Avelinettes". Awwww...

They offer much more in the store, and Evelyn, the lovely assistant who managed with my terrible Franglais, kept giving me free samples of other chocolates in the hope I would buy something other than "Avelines". Not a chance!

I must confess I was probably a little too excited that morning at meeting my chocolate namesakes, and the extra chocolate she kept feeding me did not calm me down one bit! But they had a great morning too with a crazy Australian lady who could speak French, kept waving all her credit and ID cards around to prove there was good excuse to be excited, and managed to leave with a rather large stash of chocolates.

Ah... well, there goes the surprise for your presents this year, I suppose! ;-)

Geneva was a nice city, but left me a little underwhelmed - perhaps it was the chocolate rush subsiding? Maybe I had had my fill of picturesque towns around an alpine lake?

So, check out the Blog Gallery for a picture of the famous floral clock... not so impressive in this day and age really; I suppose I should be grateful that they had any flowers showing at all for the time of year! It was crowded with tourists taking their photos with it, even as I took this - so I have no idea what magic managed to get them all out of frame (other than experience)!

There are other pictures as I walked a little further on to the lovely English Gardens, and the lakefront, which is a serene walk, especially as the sun sets. Although on the first day, I missed the famous water jet (144 metres high) as they switch it off around 4pm I discovered!). And there's a lovely little lighthouse on a spit of land that the local ferries cross before, as they zigzag across the city end of the lake. It is possible to walk along the foreshore and out past the "Sea Baths" to this little monument. In the end I had to be rather rude to several people to get my shot... So please appreciate it! I was so over thoughtless people walking in front of me for three months while trying to take a picture. I finally snapped. It seems a bit of grumpy old lady can actually go a long way (I believe a young Italian gent is cowering behind the tower *chuckles*)!

While Geneva is very stately, I think I prefer Zurich, particularly the old town, which felt a little more historic (as in more medieval - Geneva reminds me more of its heyday in the 19th and 20th centuries - and I was a bit morbidly thrilled to see a plaque commemorating where Sisi was assassinated!). This was during the era where anyone who was anyone came to Geneva. But everything looks stately - even the main church in the old town looks like a stately building rather than a church (that's the church behind the portico on the right!). It looks more church-like in the photo taken from the other side of the square. And it had a spectacular chapel within.

I suppose looking at pictures of the old town, there is a French connection - particularly with the cafés on little squares. I liked that the one pictured provided blankets for its customers (it was probably around 3-4 degrees when I was there appreciating the Glühwein). And the cold certainly didn't keep the keen gamers out of the Parque des Bastions - all quite serious players judging by the looks on their faces.

This park has a famous wall - the Reformation Wall, which was an opportunity to use my panoramic feature on my iPhone - boy did I miss this throughout South America... well, an excuse to go back, maybe? Notice in the photo the one person standing in my shot (not my shadow - the dude at left)? There's always one... So I've also provided a better close up. As you can see it was beautifully sunny on this day.

But mostly, the city was closed, leaving me with wintery, empty pictures. Thank goodness for Chinese calendars being different. I had a very nice meal in a rather packed Chinese restaurant one night, but struggled to find alternatives for the other three nights I was there (kebab one night)! I was disappointed to go out to the UN headquarters and find that as it was closed, all the flags had gone missing... Surely flags don't need a new year's holiday? At least the artwork decided to remain on the walls. All together I found this style of art a bit too much, but looking at sections of the mural, it has photographed quite nicely!

And like any city, it has its quirks. I have included a delightful one of a shop window... I am guessing Herr Muller is a married man who perhaps reminisces about a time when things were much... simpler? (Please note the artistic use of reflection to show you the Quai des Bergues! This is where Avelines are sold - the chocolates that is, my holiday funds were not in need of additional sales to top up!).

So - homeward bound. I did finally relent on my carry-on rule when I left Geneva (blame the chocolates), checking in my little bag, so I could carry three totes as carry on and "shopping". Although I had to fork out good money to get the case wrapped in all that clingy film, as the security belt I wanted to buy was not even a remote possibility with all the shops closed in Geneva. I managed to buy a Samsonite one in Dubai - the last in the shop, in safety orange, which looks a treat on my little purple case!

But more about Dubai in the next post... until then, thanks for reading! Aveline. xxx