Bits from the Last Week Not Involving Torches

It's definitely still summer around here, and now that the Fêtes de Genève is in full swing there seems to be something going on constantly.  

The hot weather makes lunches at the lake even more enjoyable.  There's a rock wall that runs along one of the harbor areas close to my office where we can sit and eat and jump in and have a swim during lunch hour.

Our apartment has a grill on the balcony which is getting a ton of use these days. 

Plus the lovely view of the sun setting over the mountains on that side of the house isn't too bad either.

The heat has also meant some really clear sunny days...and you've even been able to see Mont Blanc from downtown Geneva which apparently doesn't happen all that often.

As I've said before, part of the Fêtes de Genève are carnival rides and various food stands set up all around the lake.

Saturday morning I took the tram and headed out to Carouge, which is at the end of the line that runs past my house (I'm almost at the end of the line in the opposite direction).  Carouge has a farmer's market on Saturdays and is supposed to have a decidedly different feel from downtown Geneva.  Some describe it as "more Mediterranean" and it is supposed to be "the Greenwich Village of Geneva".  

You don't see sand and palm trees everywhere around here...

All day Saturday there were various water events on the lake.  Early Saturday evening I headed down there to check out some of the waterski jumping and of course to stick around for the fireworks show.

Not the greatest video clip ever...but just to mix things up a little

Once they cleared off the ramp they moved the fireworks boats into place

The lights of the carnival rides beginning to turn on

Now these were just the "Petit Feu d'Artifice" or "small fireworks" as opposed to the "Grand Feu d'Artifice" next Saturday night.  

Considering I had nothing really to compare them to other than my normal fireworks in the US...30 minutes of in your face beautiful fireworks were just fine by me...I got laughed at a bit by those who know what's in store next weekend.

Looking back across the lake at the rides.

That's about it for now.  Sunday I played super tourist a bit and finally explored the old town and climbed up the hundreds of tiny spiral steps to the top of the cathedral.  Still working on editing down those pictures, but I do feel like I now have a better sense of not only the layout of town but more of the history of Geneva itself.  The internship is still going very well, lots of cool projects and things going on.  Also trying to plan the final bits of some travel coming up...super excited about that as well!