Friday, December 25, 2009

Day 3 - Wednesday

Off to French lessons this morning! Elder Doyle, a former French teacher from Utah, teaches the senior missionaries on Wednesday mornings. Elder Doyle had Rob and I try to read some French and we did a pretty good job, especially since it was the nativity story and some words looked very similar to English. :)

After class Crystal decided to take a bath outdoors... but couldn't quite figure out how to turn on the tub.

On the way to downtown Geneva, there was a beautiful stopover point, with a map of the Swiss Alps in view.



Other sights along the way:
Old and interesting architecture

United Nations Building/Entrance


Red Cross Museum

Art Deco Buildings



Jet d'eau (Tallest water fountain in Europe)

Russian Orthodox Church


We then headed to this cute place called Hameau de Pere Noel, or Home of Father Christmas. The owners had turned an old barn and grounds into Santa Clause's home with many detailed scenes, as you will see. I loved seeing the children's faces light up with excitement.
The elves dining room (hence Rob's huge size)

Elves Workshop

Elves Bedroom

Infirmary
Roudolf had been hit by a car because he didn't look both ways when crossing a road. The sign warns children to look both ways before crossing the street. The elf is in the infirmary because he ate too much candy and Santa thought this would help the elf control his eating.

Santa's Sleigh

After a nap at home and a quick bite of chocolate (of course)...

...a trip to the grocery store was in order. We will be taking pictures the next time we go, but to summarize the trip Rob and I determined that the French subsist upon cheese, yogurt, bread, and seafood. Shopping carts with magnetic bottoms, used to go up smooth escalators, were fun to try and move and see how strong the magnetism is.

Dinner was at a fabulous restaraunt called Beaucaire, which we highly recommend. I had perch in a cream sauce that was delightful and the best scalloped potatoes I've had in my life. Besides steak, Rob enjoyed a scallop salad that we loved. Desserts we savoured include: a merangue and pudding dish, pistachio and pear ice cream, a peach tart, and a cheese of some sort with sugar on top (which was good, despite how it sounds). Dinner was at a slow and leisure French pace. The host was excellent.

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