Geneva: December 26 2023… On the Day After

Greetings on the day after Christmas…
Geneva takes these holidays seriously, so most shops and restaurants are closed on the 26th as well as the 25th.

We were to meet everyone for lunch at Bistrot des Halles (which is located inside a wonderful, downtown, upscale, indoor market) at noon. The only place to get anything that resembled breakfast (since we chose not to eat the big buffet breakfast at the hotel) was at Starbucks!! Conveniently located about 100 feet from our hotel. By the time we finished, we got a message that lunch was cancelled. I think that Julia and Julian were just exhausted from yesterday and little Siena was fussy and the nanny was ill. So, Mike and I strolled around town and eventually decided to get lunch at the Halles—just the two of us. The Bistro des Halles is a wonderful little restaurant that sits inside the market and utilizes local and seasonal ingredients. It’s pretty much meat and fish and some very traditional Swiss and French cooking. I had a veal dish and Mike had crayfish ravioli. We opted to stay away from the traditional and ever-present cheese fondue.

Then Mike, still feeling a bit under the weather, decided to skip the circus and head for a nap at the hotel. I headed out on foot to the circus—Cirque du Noel—about a 2-mile walk, I think. I met up with Em and Hem and Finn, and then with Julia and Louis and Ella. Ella promptly noted that I had no one, meaning I suppose, that I was alone. Ella was sporting her own circus outfit: a mermaid dress complete with tail which dragged a bit on the floor and made me nervous that either she or a passerby would step on the tail and get her off-balance. She complemented the mermaid outfit with high-top sneakers that glowed and sparkled and also lit up as she walked. Definitely a little trend-setter who is very aware of her “look.” We had first and second row seats for the big event… and popcorn (and later there was some cotton candy in the mix).

It was a small circus in just one small tent. No large animals and actually no clowns. There were acrobats, jugglers, a ventriloquist, some dancers and singers, and a modified high wire performer. The women performers were dressed in garb that would work well in Las Vegas casinos and bars with pole dancing. The cast all looked like they were from Slovenia or Poland or some former eastern bloc country—quite blond. Louis and Finn managed to get some “high-5s” from the performers because they were sitting so close to the performance area. And at one point, Julia got selected to come to the center of the stage (which she politely declined but it was difficult to say ”no”) so she wound up in one of the acts.

By the time the event was over it was dark, and the kids and parents decided to stay so everyone could go on the rides and probably have a bunch of junk food. As it turned out Ella ran into a little friend, Leo, from her class and the two immediately walked hand in hand—quite adorable.

When I got back, Mike still wasn’t feeling up to par. So he ordered soup from room service, which turned out to be not such a great decision. I decided to stay at the hotel for dinner and am now back in the room. Hopefully all will be better tomorrow. We’re hoping to visit a very special housing development that we saw once before in the rain. The Swiss refer to it as “Smurftown.” If the weather is good, I will probably go, but the plan had been for both of us to see it again.

Take care.
Best for the post Xmas and pre-New Year period.

Fern