Les Scènes du Week-end {17}

Well, it's already late on Tuesday night 
{how on earth did that happen?!}

I saw Anna off yesterday morning 
& was happy to hear that she made it safely home
back to Poland after an epic train & bus journey.

We took a {much less epic} journey to Geneva last weekend,
so get ready for some Swiss-tastic content in the following photos.

home-made pizza on our balcony Friday night

market day in Annecy's old town

 close-up of my favourite fruit & veggie vendor's offerings

Anna at my favourite café in Annecy

the famous "Jet d'Eau" fountain in Geneva

Swiss flag on a boat in the harbour

Geneva's famous floral clock

less-famous-but-still-gorgeous floral fountain

Geneva loves clocks & nerdy street signs

Geneva shutters & lavender window-boxes

Les Scènes du Week-end {19}

Let's sum up the weekend, shall we?

Saturday morning:

* wake up early & head to driving school to do practice DVDs

* after a few hours, feel like head might explode

* catch the tail-end of the market

* go home & eat lunch

Saturday afternoon:

* go back to the driving school to do even more DVDs

* after a couple hours, feel like head may in fact honestly explode

* go for bike ride between rain showers

Sunday morning:

* wake up unable to deal with the thought of more driving DVDS

* decide to go to Geneva for brunch

* walk in the park in Geneva in-between downpours

Sunday afternoon:

* sit on couch & watch driving DVD I borrowed from the driving school 

* drink tea

* too much tea, too much DVD

* wander down to the lake despite huge threatening clouds

* try to not feel cranky about driving test, terrible weather

or insanely long line-up outside a fancy luminarium we wanted to visit

* go home

grapes from the Saturday-morning market

I treated myself to this bouquet from the market

at our favourite brunch place in Geneva

blue eyes & beverages at brunch

post-brunch dessert options

water lillies in the park in Geneva

 our balcony garden's cherry tomatoes are finally ready!!

 Behold the luminarium:  a huge bouncy-castle type thing set up by the lake in Annecy with a light & sound show inside... unfortunately the line-up was never shorter than 2 hours long, so we didn't get to go.  Le sigh.

 Tired of Annecy's beautiful canals yet?  Me neither.

Annecy's vielle prison at night makes the tourists (& me!) swoon

So... there you go.

Not such a bad weekend after all, despite the DVD overload.

As for the result of my theory part of the driving test this morning?

Well, you'll just have to check back tomorrow!

À demain !

Les Scènes du Week-end {1}

Another week and-a-bit without blogging?

Tsk tsk.

In an attempt to give mon blog a little kick-start,
I've decided to take a page from the book
of a fun new blogger I've recently discovered,
Kayla at Exquisite Banana.
{With a name like that, you know her blog has got to rock, n'est-ce pas?}

Early each week, Kayla features "Scenes from the Weekend",
where she posts photos from her Saturday/Sunday wanderings.

Since we usually get up to fun things around here on le week-end
{& because I almost always have my camera handy},
I thought I'd do the same.

This past weekend seems like a good place to start.
My parents-in-law were in town visiting,
the weather was fairly cooperative
& there was a lot going on in Annecy.

On y va ?

A quick trip to the market on Saturday morning =
 lettuce, radishes, cheese for raclette that night, organic bananes...
& tulips!

Saturday afternoon, we drove to Geneva.
{It's only 30 minutes from Annecy by car!}
That yellow thingy shows the border between France & Switzerland.

It was a bit gusty & rainy in Geneva,
so we wandered around & looked in all the fancy shops.
I like this photo because it looks like a still from a movie
{don't you think?}

Men playing chess in the park in Geneva.

Me & a teeny tiny Fiat {love!} in Geneva.

Sunday morning meant a wander down by the lake in Annecy.
Can you see the people out rowing?

In the shopping bag?
Oranges to make fresh-squeezed OJ to have with brunch.

Delicious Sunday brunch at home.

Our after-brunch stroll took us past a protest against nuclear power.
The sign says "no action today, radioactive tomorrow".

These lovely ladies were part of the Venetian carnival 

taking placce in Annecy this weekend.

{Don't worry... more photos of that soon!}

Et voilà !  

I've decided to limit myself to ten photos per weekend, 

which is probably a good thing, given my snap-happy tendencies.

Speaking of, I still have loads of photos of my Back in B.C. visit 

last month that I'd like to post.

I'll be back tomorrow with another 

"Why I Haven't Been Blogging" update.

Café de Paris, Genève

As you know, I really enjoy living where I do.

But one of my favourite things about Annecy is that it's very close to Geneva, Switzerland.

Like 30 minutes.

In the car.

From our apartment to le centre de Genève.

Whee!

That is fabulous because there is pretty much everything a person needs in Geneva:

- an international airport
(that we have already used for our trip to Budapest last November
& which we will be using again soon!)

- great shopping, including a million fancy-dancy watch stores
(for those of you who are independantly wealthy),
all sorts of fun boutiques
& an "American Market" with really expensive comforts from home,
like Kraft Dinner, Mountain Dew & Starburst.
(Luckily for my wallet, I don't like any of those three things!)

- Starbucks (five of them!)

- movies in English (films are usually dubbed at the theatre in Annecy, ugh!)

- yummy restaurants

Whew. That's a list of a lot of fun stuff.

This past Saturday, we headed to Geneva for the afternoon.

We arrived around lunchtime & decided to try a well-known restaurant.

Yes, I know it's confusing.  But this place is in Geneva... trust me!

Like all restaurants in these parts, there's a menu posted outside.
But the le menu du Café de Paris is pretty darn simple,
because they only serve one thing!


Ok, ok... three things. Steak + home-made French fries + green salad.  That's it, folks!

 
See?

The steak came covered with a sauce made with 
(are you ready for it?)
butter + herbs.
Which is obviously a fantastic combination.

Of course the recipe for this amazing butter, which dates back to 1930, is a secret.
You can read more about it on the restaurant's website here.


Y U M.


So, so, so delicious.
And so, so, so artery-clogging.


Anyway.


Or if you prefer, "enfin bref".
(That's an expression French people use when they don't want to spend any more time
thinking about gloomy things like clogged arteries.)

Lunch was delicious.
 

I also liked the décor, the stained-glass window near the entry & the waiters' pinstriped vests.

Oh & the fact there was a Starbucks right next door.

But that's another post!

Instasamedi {8 & 9}

OK, it's been really really REALLY quiet on Rue de France lately.

That's too bad... I know!

And my newest feature, Instasamedi?

The last post was already two weeks ago.

Two weeks is a long time... I know!!

But I have the best excuse ever for not blogging lately.

My family is here visiting.

That's fantastic... I know!!!

Speaking of knowing things, let me explain what you need to know...

I live in France, 

my brother lives in Australia, 

my parents, my sisters & my nephew all live in Canada.

It's been ages since we've all been together in the same place, 

yet here we are in zee Alps!

That's amazing... I know!!!!! 

As you can imagine, we are having a wonderful time.

And!  

Despite not blogging,

I have still been taking daily Instagrams, 

so here are the last two weeks' worth.

You've been waiting for a while... I know!  

So here you go!

Instasamedi {8}

My little sister Liz + maple taffy = best Saturday night in a loooooong time!!!
{samedi, Annecy, chez nous}

No swimming??! But it was so tempting, given the rain...
{dimanche, Annecy, Plage d'Albigny}

No more icy cobblestones, youpi!
{lundi, Annecy, vielle ville}

My brother Dave in my living room!!!
{He'd just gotten off a HUGE Melbourne to Geneva flight...
with his Quicksilver Annecy T-shirt & huge smile!}
{mardi, Annecy, chez nous}

My brother's travel mascot/dinosaur posing on our balcony!
{mercredi, Annecy, chez nous}

Dear Instagram, 
Thanks for making my nephew Ben look as if he grew up in the 1970s like me...
{jeudi, Annecy, chez nous}

Setting off for an hour-long lake tour with my siblings on the Lac d'Annecy !
{vendredi, Annecy, Quai Napoléon III}

OK, so we've caught up on the first week of my 

February Family Festivities!

Ready for the Instagrams from last week?

Instasamedi {9}

Siblings shadow shot.
{samedi, Annecy, au soleil}

‎(Non-shadow) siblings shot avec chocolat chaud.
{dimanche, Annecy, chocolat chaud central}

Could my husband's hometown in Le Beaujolais be any more scenic?
{lundi, Pommiers, view of the village & its vineyards}

Did this West Coast girl make her brother take her out
for {really yummy!} sushi here in the midst of zee French Alps? Mais oui!
{mardi, Annecy, restaurant Ô Sushi}

I love how there are 3 languages on the cinnamon etc in Swiss Starbucks.
Geek? Moi? Mais oui!
{mercredi, Geneva, Starbucks}

Thanks for putting up the blinds, Dad & Dave!
They sure help frame the view from our living room.
{jeudi, Annecy, chez nous}

I see you, Dad!
{vendredi, Chambéry, little street dans la vielle ville}

So voilà... there you go!

Now you're all caught up on the Instagrams & family fun

from the past two weeks.

Here's hoping you've enjoyed this {très belated} post,

even though I used a few too many exclamation points 

& "I know!!!"s...

Any photo capture your fancy?

Also, how about you?

Are your siblings scattered around like we are?

Have you had any family reunions lately?

En route!

Outside the Geneva International Airport

And I'm off!

While you're reading this, 

I'll be smack-dab in the middle of 

the surreal nowhere & everywhere of international travel,

somewhere between Geneva & Vancouver.

Next update will come to you en direct from the West Coast!