Joyeux Noël

I can't believe that Christmas is less than a week away. Its a little different not being home to celebrate the holiday with family and friends, but Travers and I are making the most of it here in Geneva.

We started celebrating last week at the Hotwire/Expedia Holiday Party held at the wonderful Swissotel. There was a contest as to who brought and wore the best snowflake. Travers gave me the rules a few days before the party and asked if I could make him a snowflake. I said no at first, thinking it was a silly idea, but the day before the party, I was a little bored at home, so I decided to see what I could come up with. Who knew that I would discover a hidden talent in snowflake-making!  I somehow made this HUGE snowflake and tied a string at the top so that Travers could wear it around his neck. I only wish I had glue and sparkles to make it shiny. But, we got to the party, and campaigned for our snowflake, and ended up WINNING!  Granted there were about 6 other winners, but we still won, and got lots of good compliments on it.

We then got more into the Christmas spirit on Saturday by taking the train up to Montreux to see the Christmas Market that they have every year. It lasts about a month and is full of pop-up shops where people sell all sorts of holiday decorations and gifts. We went with our friends Shelley, Mike, Emil & Todd.










We started off with a little vin chaud (hot wine for all the non-french speakers). Its a traditional wintery drink here in Switzerland that at first I didn't quite like, but I've tried a few different kinds, and the one at the market was delicious. I'm not sure how you make it, but its essentially hot mulled wine.


We then walked the rows of shops and found a pretty hand-blown glass ornament that is hand-painted red with a snowy village picture on it. Its now hanging on our tree and will always remind us of our first Geneva Christmas.  We also found a covered area that had still more shops and things, and we found Christmas stockings. They are extra long and have a couple tiny bells at the top that jingle when you move them.  I'm so excited that Travers and I now have coordinating stockings. Now we just need to get a few stocking stuffers to put in them!

Outside the market, there was a garden that had all these figures made out of hedges. They are from a cartoon called Barbapapa. My friend Katy grew up with these characters and she introduced them to me when she came to visit. These hedges were amazingly done with all the right shapes and accessories. Not sure why they are part of the market, but they looked really cool.









We stayed at the market, shopping around, eating some snacks, and drinking some vin chaud to keep us warm until it got dark. The lights then came on around the village and it definitely put us in the festive spirit.  Here are some photos of what the market looked like at night.

Inside the covered market area

Fun festive lights!

View of the carousel

On our way back to the train

This is something I want to do next year as well. Its such a fun event that really gets you in the Christmas spririt.  I've heard that Vienna also has a Christmas Market that is supposed to be one of the best and largest in Europe. We might have to check that one out next year as well.

Jardin Anglais

Now all I need to do is finish getting the accessories for our fireplace so we can sit by the fire and watch the snow fall outside our window. That's right. I said snow. Its been snowing here in Geneva!  It started Sunday night and when we woke up Monday morning, there was a blanket of snow throughout the city.

Its so exciting and just puts a smile on my face. It was the one thing I was hesitant about when we moved here because I have never lived anywhere that snowed before. But it is such a beautiful site to see it covering everything!

Travers in the snow!

Bord du Lac

 









Happy Holidays!