Return to me

Our last day in Geneva let us get some souvenirs (most importantly chocolate), take a long stroll out to the Water Jet, and leisurely meander along the boardwalk while people watching.  First things first, one of my coworkers (Melissa) made me promise to sing "The Sounds of Music" while in Switzerland with the mountains around me. Nevermind that the movie takes place in Austria, but being obliging, here's the silent proof. Sadly, no one asked me to participate in any remakes of the movie.

So if you walk the Lake Geneva shoreline, past the English Gardens, you come to an outcropping that takes you next to the Water Jet. Along the way, I was mesmerized by the boats in the marina, so I couldn't help but take a photo of them. I'm so excited that I get to spend the next two months on a boat. The water of the lake was this fantastic shade of transparent blue green. I've only ever seen it in the Caribbean before, and never in a lake. 

After a few minutes on a park bench, watching the locals pedal by (seriously, everyone owns a bike), we headed for the train station.

On the way,  we passed by one of my favorite parts of Geneva-the street signs. I love that they include a history lesson with each road. It's a unique legacy for the person after whom the street is named.

Since I failed a photo-taking on the trip down, here's a few of the sights on the way back. Please ignore any reflection shots you see.

Sunflowers!

My Chocolat town

The 3 hours train ride was made a little longer by engine failure, but apparently is wasn't that bad, because we were only 15 minutes late. Well done, TGV. After retrieving our bags we'd stowed at our hotel (which were thankfully still there), we deposited the extra luggage in our room and took off for Notre Dame and the Centre Pompidou. The last time I was in Paris, I got to visit both places, but it was fun seeing my mom's enthusiasm for the history and the beauty of them. At Notre Dame, mass was going on while we were visiting, which added an extra sense of the true purpose of why such beautiful monuments were built. And apparently it was at Notre Dame that members of the church stated the process to "rehabilitate the reputation" of Joan of Arc. Who knew? 

"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag"-name that movie

And the Centre Pompidou is this brightly colored, plastic covered building that houses modern art. There's Andy Warhol, Picasso, Robert Doisneau, and so many more that I didn't know but loved after visiting the museum. 

And now I have a great idea for a future wall decor for my apartment. And out of a chain link fence. I love it! If nothing else, how awesome would a dog feel being in such a decorative fence rather than a boring one? Seriously!

I think a dragon or an owl would look really cool