Easter Monday In Geneva

Having finished most of the sightseeing yesterday, today we headed to the suburbs of Geneva in search of an area called Carouge.  I had read online that this was a neat area because of it’s unique architecture and it’s “checkerboard layout,” so I figured it was worth a visit, especially since we had free use of public transportation.

Because we didn’t have any sort of transit guide, we started by taking the tram to the train station, which seemed to be a central stop for most buses and trams.  We saw a map at the tram stop when we got off, but it was completely incomprehensible and had no legend to help you figure it out! I tried to ask a bus driver how to get to Carouge but all he did was point me back in the direction of the tram stop we got off at – grrr! 

Frustrated with the confusing transit system, we decided to just hop on the next tram that came by and miraculously made it to a tram stop named Carouge. However, we didn’t have a map of the area so we didn’t know whether to go left or right when we got off the tram!  I guess we should have done our research and planned this out more

We decided to start by grabbing some lunch at a café across the street.  Although the food was pretty mediocre, it was a good thing we stopped there cuz we struck up conversation with a couple of locals next to us and they were able to point us in the right direction, as well as cheer us up with some humorous and interesting conversation.  They told us that this café is really popular because it’s the cheapest local spot for beer and food, although the quality is just “ok”.  We couldn’t complain because at 12 Francs a plate, this seemed like a bargain compared to what we’ve been seeing in Geneva!

After chatting for a while, we headed off to explore Carouge, but found that everything was closed because it’s Easter Monday.  We got bored after walking a few blocks and decided to head back to the city center and go to a beach area called the Pâquis Baths. We spent the rest of the afternoon there, watching swans build their nests on the rock beach!  They didn’t seem to mind the hoards of people around them and they let you get really close to them (although there was one who would turn and snap his beak at you like he was trying to bite you if you got within arms reach). When we headed further down the beach we found a Swan with eggs in her nest and watched in awe as she  walked away from her eggs to go for a swim with her mate! 

I had sort of expected to see some kind of Easter festivities going on since religion seems to play a bigger role in Europe than in Canada, but our entire Easter weekend was quiet and uneventful!  The only difference between here and Canada was that everything was closed, but most places close on Sunday and/or Monday anyways! Maybe Switzerland just isn’t as flashy when it comes to religion, or maybe Easter just isn’t celebrated the way it used to be anymore?