I finally get to Geneva.
Whenever I talked about this trip, I was describing it as going to Geneva. The city of Geneva is the main city of the canton (like an autonomous state or province) of Geneva. So I was going to Geneva, but by this point in the trip, I had only been to the city of Geneva for accessing the train station. I hadn't actually "been to" Geneva since we arrived. To count off so far, we've been to Onex and Versoix (suburbs of the city of Geneva), Morges, Lausanne, Montreux, Gruyères, and Fribourg--but not Geneva.
When we got off the train, the first thing Etienne did (after stopping at one of the five Starbucks in the whole canton for my caramel macchiato) was to walk me past Geneva's famed Jet D'Eau, a single fountain that shoots up some 50 metres in the air, and the Horloge Fleurie (Flowered Clock), but as it's early October, the clock was "unflowered" so the dramatic effect was lost on me. We continued on to the shopping area of Geneva. We had decided that Monday was shopping day, and I really wish I had more fun with it, but it's two days before pay day, so it was less enjoyable for me, as I could only walk around, looking at all the bankers in their expensive suits, shoes, bags, and scarves with envy. The afternoon slipped by quickly, and as Etienne had ruled out going up into the old city (it was a cool, rainy day, and it wouldn't be fun climbing up in my blister-causing shoes), we were at a loss for something to do.
After a lunch of salad for him and a strawberry tart for me (dessert for a meal--it's a theme of my trip to Switzerland), Etienne decided we'd head over to the University of Geneva so he could show me around his alma mater, and maybe we'd run into Laurent, his friend/brother-in-law, who works there finishing his PhD in political science. When we got there, Etienne showed me the main building his classes were in, and then he showed me the doors he'd walk through to go to the bars instead of going to class! We went to locate Laurent's office, hoping he was still there, but he wasn't. We went down to the infamous doors, and there Laurent was, deep in conversation with a fellow student. Laurent hadn't observed either myself or Etienne, so when the conversation was done, we sneaked up on Laurent and surprised him.
The thing is, when you get Etienne and Laurent together, they live like it's the old days, so straightaway, we headed to a bar for a drink. Laurent decided I needed to see the place where Etienne lived while he was at University, so we set off for his old neighbourhood in Carouge, a former village that had been subsumed by the city of Geneva. While there, we headed for Etienne's old haunt, the Bar du Nord. Much of the decor had changed, but the guys seemed to have no trouble slipping back into their old routine, and the chatter was lively and joking.
We needed to eat, so we went back to a restaurant near the University, which served food that Etienne could eat. By this time, we'd figured out that Switzerland was not yet the friendliest of places for those with Celiac's disease (though it has improved a lot, according to fellow Celiac sufferer, Carolyn).
It was fun to watch Etienne; I caught a glimpse of how he was in his school days, out with his friends, and I could get a sense of the fun he would have, drinking and talking about a variety of topics that might stimulate his intellect. Sure, on this occasion, the talk was mostly about the impending wedding details, but none the less, it was easy to see why he and Laurent were friends...the boys just had fun in each other's company.
Comradery...
...Wish you were here.
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