We Survived the Fete de Geneve!

 Every year there is the Fete de Geneve, which is a festival that takes over the Rade de Geneve (the lakeside).  Before we went to London, there was the pre-fete which was just one small area in the Jardin Anglais that had a stage, restaurant booths, and bar booths all set up. Then after we got back from London, it was like the Fete exploded! The Jardin Anglais section doubled in the number of restaurants and bars, and other vendors and the "country of honor" India had their displays out and ready (every year the fete honors a different country). And as you walked along either side of the lake, Rive Gauche or Rive Droit, you came upon roller coasters, bumper car rides, cotton candy shops, more food vendors, and tons of other rides and things.  It was basically like a carnival. It brought in a lot of people and lots of kids to the area. And they held concerts almost every night at one of the many stages throughout the fete.

 
We went to the official Fete kickoff day. Our friend Michelle came with us and we started at our usual location in the Jardin Anglais.  By the time I got there around 6:30pm, it was packed with people and I barely was able to find Travers and Michelle. Once we were all together, we finished the drinks we were having and set out to find some delicious food.  The food vendors were a mixture of Thai, Indian, Persian, Swiss, Italian, Mexican, etc....It was amazing. We don't typically get a lot of variety here in Geneva, so this was heaven to us. To be able to get Pad Thai and Eggrolls was such a treat. We also got an Arancini which was a fried rice ball basically. It was so delicious that we went back another day and got the same thing.  We didn't try it, but saw something called Travers Du Porc. I think its essentially a pork spare rib of some sort, but it was fun to see cause its called a Travers. haha.  We then saw the fireworks show around 10pm and we watched in awe as they lit up the sky. We then decided, for a weeknight, it was time to head home.

Our next run in with the fete was the next week on Wednesday. We heard that a band called The Black Eyed Peaz (a cover band for the real Black Eyed Peas) was going to be doing a show that night. So we got a group together and headed to the area called Funkytown where they had several restaurant/bar vendors set up ready for the show. There were a few opening acts and the band didn't start till after we had been there several hours, but it was worth the wait. The Black Eyed Peaz were so good, they sounded exactly like the real band. We danced and sang along to the music. The crowd had gotten so large that you could barely move, but it was so much fun regardless.  There was also some debate as to whether 'Fergie' was a man or a woman, but I'm pretty sure its a woman based on their website. We ended the night around midnight and all of our throats were soar the next day from speaking over the noise and singing along to the music.

Two days later, we celebrated one of the last nights of the Fete by having a cocktail party at our house, then heading out to a bar/club called The Gold & Platinum Club (Click on this link, they play a great song on their website!). The permanent club is across the river, but they set up this temporary one just down the street from us for the fete. Our friends Shelly (Michelle) and Mike, and our new friend Mich (Michelle) (thanks Jen!) all came over and we got the night off to a good start. 

We then headed down to the club where some of Mich's friends had a table reserved. We mentioned this to the door guy, and he let us in, no questions.  The people before us were not so lucky. They should have just told the bouncer that they had a table reserved. He wasn't checking at all!  Anyway, when we got inside, it was unbelievably crowded, but it added to the ambiance and we all had a fun time sipping wine, dancing, and listening to the dj. We celebrated the final night of the fete in the best way possible, surrounded by friends and good music.

Needless to say, none of us were feeling great the next day, but some managed to rally and head out around 10pm to see the final fireworks show. It lasted about an hour and you could see the smoke everywhere (they had to take a break in between to let the smoke subside) and hear the blasts of the fireworks everywhere you were. It was definitely something to see and quite an end to the Fete De Geneve.