Parade in Geneva and trip to Annecy

Sunday evening, a group of us decided to go to Geneva. We had no real plans or agenda, we just wanted to get out. We heard there was some sort of event or party happening, so we went to one neighborhood after another looking for the rumored event that we knew little about, but were unsuccessful in our search. Then we started to see huge hoards of people walking in a certain direction, so being the lemers that we are, we followed the crowds and soon lined the sidewalk to await, well we weren't sure what we were awaiting. But we soon heard the sound of military drums, trumpets, flutes and marching, and then saw a huge parade coming down one of the main streets of Geneva. Young and old were marching, dressed costumes of ancient times, sporting old guns, cannons, etc. We later learned that this was the celebration of when the French from this region tried to take over Geneva in 1602, but of course the people of Geneva prevailed. Thus, every year since, the artifacts from the time period normally kept in the museum are brought out and used for the parade to commemorate their victory. As the story goes, the city was saved because of one old lady who was making a huge pot of soup when she saw the French scaling the walls of the city. So she sounded the alarm and then proceeded to pour her soup on them. Nice.

Today was a wonderful day. I love vacation. This morning, Sarah and I woke up around the same time, about 7:15 AM (we're both morning people, obviously) and decided to go downstairs and make breakfast. The day before, we had gone grocery shopping, but not for breakfast food. We make it work, none the less, and took some of our potatoes and fried up some tasty hashbrowns, and had some fruit, pain au raison (raisin bread fresh from the boloungerie (bakery), yum), and she had her coffee and I my apple cider. We then went for a nice brisk walk in the chilly air, did some good hill exercise, lunges, and then came back and did abs and stretched. Very rewarding. We then watched an episdoe of the Office :) before heading to lunch to meet up with Stephen and confirm plans for our little outing.

We had heard many a good thing about the cute little town of Annecy, but had yet to make it there, so we figure "porquoi pas maintenant" (why not now). So Sarah, myself, Stephen, and his roommate piled in his car, and with Sarah's iPOD plugged in for tunes, we were good to go for the short ~40 min. trip to the capital of our region. There was nothing really specifically exciting or amazing to go to see there, but it is still worth the trip. There is a nice lake, and it's just a cute town. Lots of little canals all through town, cobblestone streets, tiny, pretty little alleys, etc. One interesting fact about Annecy is that the water in the lake and canals is the cleanest in all of France, maybe Europe (I can't remember which). Pictures to come on Friday when I get my power cord, so check back at this and some of my other recent posts for pictures. Overall an enjoyable day. And now, we're off to have ice cream and cookies to wish a girl farewell who is going home tomorrow, and then a movie at the boy's dorm. Life is rough when you're on vacation in France.