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Exiting the Mummy Cocoon
We had a Halloween Party yesterday and when speaking to the other mothers we discovered something that we all had in common. Approximately 2 – 3 years after the birth of our children we emerged from what I like to term The Mummy Cocoon. Yawning and stretching, we stick our heads out of the comfort zone and notice with a shock that the world as we knew it is still there. But we no longer fit in the same place as we did pre-children. When we have small children, our whole life is consumed by them. When (if) they sleep, if they sleep through the night, if they are sleeping…
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Classic Cars, Lake Geneva and Sunshine
A pretty good combination, if you ask me. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Morges British Classic Car Meeting. It is an annual event, attracting over 1500 cars and motorbike and over 20 000 visitors. The town of Morges is situated on the banks of Lake Geneva. The pedestrianised shopping street is not far from the promenade and is particularly inviting on Saturdays because of the Farmers’ Market. We had a wander amongst the French antiques, soaps and delicacies before heading down to the Lakeside where the cars vied for attention with the lake and the mountains beyond. We had a pretty good spot, opposite the harbour. There…
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The Swiss and Their Tunnels – Gotthard Breakthrough
The Swiss are famous for many things, chocolate and watches, banks and tunnels. Tunnels? Well, yes. Switzerland has over 40 road tunnels over 2km length, with 11 more tunnels either planned or already being built. It is not hard to guess why there are so many Swiss tunnels, the picturesque mountains and valleys may be a rambler’s dream but they are a driver’s nightmare, if the driver wishes to get from A to B fast. When we travel in Switzerland we chose – scenic route that takes hours or autobahn that gets us where we want to go quickly and efficiently. When we drove to Italy last year we travelled…
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Rebirth of a Village – Gondo 10 years after the catastrophe
It has been ten years since the landslide in Gondo, that cost 13 villagers their lives, and destroyed a third of the Alpine village. Gondo is a small town, close to the Simplon Pass, right on the border to Italy. 10 years ago, few had even heard of the village, but the events that were to unfold on the 14th October 2000 meant that every Swiss person knew where it was by the end of that fateful day. Heavy rainfall for three days caused a massive landslide which crashed through the centre of the village, destroying everything in its path. Ten houses, the school, shops, the road and most of…
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Why I should never leave the house without my camera.
For the simple reason that I live in a part of the world that even nipping to the supermarket can bring me past a panorama such as this one.
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What does a ski resort look like in the summer?
The summer months are long for a ski resort, and many of them are ghost towns at the moment. Particularly in the months directly before and after the ski season, there is nothing at all to do. Most of the hotels and restaurants are closed, no cafes, no bars. It is difficult to imagine that in a few short months this place will be packed with holidaymakers, whizzing between the slopes, the chalets and the apres ski parties. We were in Avoriaz last weekend, and it was dead as a dodo. There were slightly more people out and about in Morzine, but even there we could not find anyplace to…
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My first Writers’ Workshop Experience
As I mentioned yesterday, I have recently signed up for a Writers’ Workshop. Today was the first day that I could attend. When I arrived I could smell the coffee and sense the anticipation as the women mingled. New to the whole thing, I had only brought one copy of my short story on the theme Rite of Passage, so I rushed off to copy it for everyone. Refreshed by the coffee, we began. First one to read was a woman who wrote about motherhood being a Rite of Passage. Her work was constructively criticised with the emphasis on the constructive. The pieces were varied – from birth to first…
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Rite of Passage – A Short Story
I have written a short story for the writer’s workshop tomorrow. The theme this month is “Rite of Passage”. Ella looked around the table at the familiar faces, suddenly aware that it would be the last time that they would all sit together. Sure, they would meet again when everyone was home for the holidays but the days of lounging for hours, lingering over chai lattes, sharing a low fat muffin, while discussing school work, these days were almost over. So many hours had been spent here in Starbucks, and soon she would be drinking her chai latte alone, at least until she had made some friends. An outgoing girl,…
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Vineyards in Autumn
I have been experimenting recently with the settings on my camera. Until now I have let the camera do the work for me but wanted to teach myself how to use the manual settings to get – hopefully – better pics. Different scenes – playing around with the depth of field really makes a difference to a shot. Can you spot the difference?
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You just can’t get orange cheese…
An American friend was chatting to one of his countrymen, who said that they liked living in Geneva, but ‘You just can’t get orange cheese!’ Cheese capital of the world Switzerland does not sell orange cheese in a spray can. For expats this is one of the biggest gripes – that some favourite food stuffs are just not available in the host country. Which is why the American/British food stores thrive in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe. It is the taste of home, the comfort food that we crave, no matter how good the food here is. I have been an expat for 18 years – it was my expat…
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DFDS Seaways Ferry receives a Daphne Seal of Approval
Poor Daphne had to stay in the Doggy Hotel of the Ferry to Newcastle. Along with 2 other dogs she was left in a room with various sized dog cages, plenty of fresh water and some food. She refused the food – protest perhaps? We were allowed to visit her but did not go down too often, as I thought that it might be more unsettling for her. When we did visit, she was incredibly happy to see us but did not seem too bothered about going back into her cage afterwards. She is a sleepy mutt anyway, and a bit fed up of the children being home…
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La Plage Publique des Eaux-Vives
Driving around Geneva recently, I kept seeing these wonderful posters, reminiscent of the Côte d’Azur in the 1950s. I was unaware that there was a beach at Eaux-Vives, knowing only the little beach at Baby Plage that I blogged about not long after we arrived in Geneva. When I got home, I looked up the website from the posters and found that it is an advertising campaign to inform Genevans about the new development between Baby Plage and the Port -Noir. Geneva council recently voted to approve the development which shall encompass a public beach with cafes and a new port with moorings for over 600 boats. The council meeting must have been fun as apparently…
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Holiday Home in Vaucluse, Provence
We recently stayed a week in this holiday home in Provence, in a small village called Sablet. The village is pretty, not far from Orange and Avignon, and has the basic amenities: baker, butcher, small supermarket and a chemist. Sablet is perched on a hill and the views from the top of the village, near the church are spectacular. I found the holiday home on Owner’s Direct, and the pictures and description sounded promising. On arrival in Sablet, we met the charming owner, received the keys and had our first look at the house. To be honest, when we saw the house we were a bit taken aback, there did…
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Ok, so this is a smug and boastful post. So shoot me.
After all it is not every day that one’s husband cycles to the top of Mt Ventoux.
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Architects are never on holiday
Seen on a beach on the South of France Not sure if that is his wife looking resigned and bored in the background, but the castle was a work of art
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Top Ten Provence Souvenirs – how many of these items did you buy?
After two weeks in Provence we realised that there are some things that almost every tourist buys. Just as visitors to Germany try the Bier and the Wurst, visitors to Scotland are obliged to have a wee dram and visitors to Switzerland just have to purchase lashings of yummy chocolate. These are our Top Ten Provence Souvenirs. 1. Nougat with candied fruit 2. Wine from Chateauneuf du Pape 3. or Côtes de Provence 4. Soap, mainly the big blocks of Marseilles Soap, but these flowers also caught our eye 5. Homegrown Garlic 6. Lavender 7. Sea Salt 8. A Stripy Straw Bag 9. A tablecloth or item of clothing in…
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How To Survive The Summer Holidays without resorting to G&Ts at 10am
When you have two small children, the Argh-Factor can be rather high. Especially during the summer holidays. I will admit to being a bit spoilt, during term-time I have a lot of freedom to do what I want. This does mean that I sometimes find it a bit hard-going when they are home for the summer. We have almost 8 weeks school holidays and the children just never stop. Constant noise, bickering, yelling, singing, dancing, show-rehearsing, dog-annoying, yogurt-on-the-floor-spilling. The only thing that helps is keeping them occupied and I am very grateful that the weather has been great so far and we can get out of the house. Even just…
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Tour de France – In Photos
Picnic next to Dutch fans Morzine was decked in yellow Son was rather excited The “caravane” arrived first The friendly Haribo girls chucked some sweets to the kids The first woman to ride in the Tour de France Vittel offered a cool shower at last the bikes came whizzing down the hill These American fans raised a smile and a cheer A last look back on a fun filled day
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How to make friends and bake fabulous Fairy Cakes
The good thing about blogging (and twitter, not to mention Mumsnet) is that you can ask any question and you generally receive an answer. Whether you are looking for relationship advice, ideas for a birthday party, wondering where to apply for a passport or recipe advice, there is generally someone somewhere willing to help. Added to that, I have met so many people online who I am truly blessed to count as my friends. Whether the friendship stays online, or we manage to meet up in Real Life, these are people I can count on to help when times are tough or I need a new recipe. Cooking was always…
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Birthday Cake for Football Fan
My daughter helps to sieve the sugar – still in PJs This week my son reached the grand old age of 6 years old. For the past few weeks he has been avidly following the World Cup so I decided to make a football themed cake. He is Scottish/German so has obviously been supporting Germany (as Scotland did not qualify, no surprise there). Thankfully Germany stayed in the tournament long enough for us to celebrate his birthday. I would have felt a bit daft making a German Flag cake now. My lovely friend at Kitschnbake provided a recipe for Vanilla Yoghurt Cake that is good for birthday cakes. It is a…
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Riding into a new phase of life
Recently I sold my Mummy Bike. It was bought when my son was just over a year, complete with bike seat and basket. At that time we were living in a small town not far from the Dutch border so the sturdy frame, big wheels and huge handlebar were more important that the weight of the bike. Particularly as we had no hills to climb, I could cruise along nicely. Since moving to Geneva I had only used the bike a couple of times and it was so damn heavy. We had a trip last year to Lac d’Annecy which was fun and not too hard going (except getting the…
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Bier, Bratwurst and Brezeln – the perfect combination
A Good German Housewife should be able to make Brezeln. Really? Well, normally a Good German Housewife (or at least a Bavarian one) knows where to buy decent Brezeln. Not so easy when you live 5 hours from the nearest Brezelbäcker. Since moving to Switzerland, Brezeln is one of the tastes of the Heimat that we have missed. There are the small “delice au beurre” in the bakers which are basically the same but a good German sized Brezel is hard to find. We are expecting guests this weekend for a Bier and Bratwurst WC2010 Party so I thought I would add to the list by making it a Bier,…
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MmeOiseau comes for tea
What an adventure I had on Thursday! After the school run I returned home to the sound of a bird squawking in distress. It was so loud that I thought that somehow our dog Daphne had caught a bird and was eating it. Steeling myself for scenes of carnage I searched the kitchen and dining room but could not see anything. Shouting out for Daphne, I was surprised when she wandered sleepily out from under the desk in the office looking rather put out at the shouting and squawking so early in the morning. She is not a morning person, our Daphne. I discovered to my horror that the noise…
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Saint de glace – or why it is is cold today
At the school gate today, I complained to one of the locals about the cold weather we are injuring at the moment. After several weeks of balmy Spring days it was quite a shock to have to put the heating back on and dig my winter jacket out of the cellar. I was expecting an exclamation of “La Bise, La Bise!” which is normally what happens when the cold wind whistles down Lake Geneva. Non. It is apparently the Saint de Glace, the Ice Saints. I can remember from my years in Germany that there was a rule to wait until after the Eisheiligen to put the flowers onto the…
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Genes are funny things
Looking at these two dogs, would you even consider that they are related, let alone sister and brother from the same litter? They are indeed siblings, Daphne and her biiig brother Obelix. Nomen est omen and all that. Daphne is a lightweight at just under 3kgs, Obelix weighs over 11kgs. Mum was a Maltese Terrier, Dad a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Daphne’s face is more like a Cavalier but her stature is definitely Maltese. They two of them love rough and tumble play, and race to greet each other when I meet Obelix and his mum after the school run. Today the siblings were joined by a pug who played…
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A bridge to remember
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Happy Mothering Sunday
It is Mothering Sunday today, although we are not really celebrating it. Having spent the last 18 years abroad, all of my Mother’s Days have been celebrated on a different day. It is getting very complicated now as UK celebrate on one day, the Swiss and the Germans on another and the French on yet another day. So it happens that I can be wandering around a town centre and am struck by the cards and signs in the shop windows advertising the approaching Mother’s Day. At which point I fall into a short-lived panic that I have forgotten before realising that it is the wrong country. My mum should…
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Avec la bise, lave ta chemise – it is washing day
I don’t think that I have blogged about La Bise, the bitingly cold Northwind that whistles down Lake Geneva from the Alps. Probably because if La Bise is blowing, my fingers are too cold to type. Anticyclones (whatever they are – I am copying from the fascinating Winds of The World section on WeatherOnline.co.uk) over North West or Central Europe push the air through the gap that Lac Leman was formed in, whooshing down to the end of the Lake where some silly fool decided to build Geneva. Gust can reach 7bft, which I have discovered means 60km/h. That is faster than you are allowed to drive in Geneva, I…
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Swiss Sirens
Am currently sitting by the lake watching DS and his friend play while their sisters are at football practice. I was feeling smug as I felt the gentle rays of the sun on my face, listened to the waves lapping on the shore. Rather blissful and idylic. Then the atomic air raid siren sounded, shattering the tranquil moment. The Swiss test their sirens once a year to ensure they are still working. I can hear the sirens in the towns miles away reverbating across the lake. Do I have time to empty my atomic shelter? I emailed a recently arrived friend to let her know that the sirens are merely…
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Things that we take for granted
Recently a friend lost her brother and today I shared a recipe that I had been given by my brother. It made me think about the things, the people we take for granted and how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family. Seldom do we tell our loved ones how much they mean to us. It is sloppy, silly and we feel embarrassed to share the feelings that we have. We know that they are aware of our feelings, we know that they are secure in our love. Perhaps that is why we feel able to keep our feelings to ourselves. So today I am sharing with anyone…
