Exploring Annecy!

Having lots of fun exploring the canals and cobbled streets of Annecy, France. The town dates back to the early 12th century but the Romans lived here several hundred years B.C.! We visited the "Palais de l'Isle" , currently a museum but in the past was, among other things, a house and a prison. Most recently, members of the French Resistance were imprisoned there. The boat-shaped building is directly in the middle of one of the canals!
Also, the food and shopping (which I have not yet had the chance to enjoy) are excellent here! The lovely old streets are lined with charming restaurants and extravagant shops.
We have also visited the smaller towns of Ferney Voltaire and Bretigny (north of Geneva) and have even looked at a lovely old house in the region! The whole area is quite old but very quaint and beautiful. We hope to be installed somewhere semi-permanently by the end of March, although nothing is decided yet.
Tomorrow, we head in to Geneva in order to touch base with the people at the WHO and the Center on Conflict Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP).
Blog ya later,

Elizabeth ;) 

We have arrived!!

After a very busy and chaotic morning and early afternoon we finally said  a tearfyul goodbye to Chewy (our kitty) and to Marcella (our nanny for four years) and rushed out the door, hoping and praying that all was in order for Sandy and Simon who are living in our house while we are gone.  We had the usual "oh no, we didn't do this or that" on the way out to the airport but so far, we are not aware of any catastrophic problems we left behind.  We flew to Montreal and then caught our connection to Geneva.  We arrived this morning around 10 am, Swiss time, feeling a little grubby and tired but excited all the same. We picked up our car at the airport, bought a couple of phones, changed some money and away we went.  Annecy is about half an hour from Geneva and at first we were completely fogged in and couldn't see the mountains at all.  Then the fog lifted, and voila!  Beautiful scenery  magically emerged.  Annecy has yet to be explored, but from what we have seen, it is really a lovely old town.  We can see the mountains from our windows.  With luck i should be able to post the picture I just took.  We had crepes for lunch and now are showering and relaxing.   Tomorrow we plan to explore Annecy (there is a castle here that is apparently quite wonderful) and we hope to find out about a few places to go skiing!

Packed and ready to go

Just a quick update since we are leaving today.  The house is packed and clean (!!) and the jobs are done.  At the last minute we had to buy a new stove since the old one went on the frtiz.  Predictable that a few things would go awry as the time of departure draws near.  Still no confirmation that the kids and Dave will get visas but we are much more hopeful than before. We head out to the airport at 3pm and head to Montreal.  We then are on an overnight flight to Geneva. Will let you know when we arrive safely.

Preparing to leave!!

Well, I am technically finished working at the hospital (although lots of loose ends to tie up) and we are packing our bags!  Lots of glitches along the way (getting visas for example) but we are excited and looking forward to this adventure.   We are all challenged by being able to take only one bag but it is a good exercise to go through.  We have a very nice couple living in our house while we are gone, and looking after our cat, so we have had to put away a lot of stuff to make space for them.  A chance to purge!!  We are flying to Geneva and then have a place for one week in Annecy (south of Geneva, in France) and then we will be a week in Ferney Voltaire which is closer to Geneva but still in France.  We are hoping to find a more permanent place to stay once we are there.  Many unknowns, like where the kids will go to school and if we will need a car long term. We have one rented for the first three weeks and then will need to decide if we need a long term lease.  I start work with the WHO in mid March and Dave has a place at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.  He can tell you more about that himself!  We are hoping to make a number of weekend trips and are also planning a longer trip over the Easter break (perhaps to Greece).  We will let you know where we are and what we are up to! This blogging stuff is new for me, so be patient!  I will have to learn how to post pictures and that kind of stuff.  For now, we will save you from seeing pictures of us looking frazzled!
Heather