Now that I have been in Geneva for over a week, I am starting to feel like I am settling in and getting to know the city.
One thing I didn't realise would be quite so difficult is working out where to buy everything. The most simple-seeming items can actually be a lot more difficult to locate than you'd expect. For example, the other night I was looking for baked beans (for now I am on a budget when it comes to food!). For the life of me, I could not work out what they would be called. I couldn't even remember the word for beans. I found a supermarket employee who spoke English and she had no idea what I was talking about. I ended up finding them next to the tinned fruit - only one variety, haricots blancs (white beans). No idea what they are going to taste like! A colleague has told me that she has occasionally come across Heinz baked beans, so I will be keeping an eye out for those.
Another surprisingly difficult grocery item to locate has been chocolate-chip biscuits. I think I may actually be selectively blind, as the only ones I've seen are the Walkers' shortbread choc chip for 5 Fr. a packet, and there is no way I am paying that. I have been told there are other, cheaper choc chippies out there, but in the meantime I have discovered an acceptable biscuit-like substitute from Migros: Mini Karamell Waffeln. They are exactly what their name suggets; mini caramel waffles. And they are delicious!
My next concern was cosmetics and toiletries. I soon discovered that there is no "Boots" equivalent here in Geneva and that I would be better off going to the department stores. I managed to find the cosmetics I wanted at Globus, and then I found Manor, where I will be shopping from now on. It has I think five floors, and a large range of products from a number of brands. Make up, toiletries, hair dye.. all available in quantity. It also has electronics, a papeterie (so I could finally buy my Dad's birthday card), women's fashion, and groceries on the ground floor. There is a large range of attractive fresh veges and some of the cakes in the bakery were to die for.
I had to go looking for a EU-Swiss adaptor, as I bought an iron in France and sadly the plug doesn't fit the Swiss sockets (although funnily enough, the UK-EU adaptos do fit the Swiss sockets - the prongs are a little thinner). I found one for the ludicrous price of 15.90 Fr at InterDiscount, the Geneva equivalent of perhaps Maplin or Dixons.
There is still one thing I have been unable to find, and have no idea if it is available in Geneva. I know it solely as a "big stripy bag". In the UK you could get them from off-licences and those high-street pound stores, but I don't think I've seen any kind of equivalent store here. I even had a look inthe grand Carrefour, but asking the employees there for une grand sac plastique pour vetements netted me only puzzled stares (and fair enough, I'm well aware my French isn't exactly impressive!)
Speaking of Carrefour, that is another store I can highly recommend. There is a petite Carrefour in Ferney-Voltaire (which is actually quite a reasonable size) and then a grand Carrefour just outside the town (walking distance) which I would really call a hypermarket. (The locals described them to me as petite and grand). Shopping across the French border is well worth it if its easy enough to make the trip. The prices are all much more reasonable and I felt like there was more selection. Obviously you need to pay in Euros, not Swiss Francs!
My final observation on shopping for now is to remember to take your own bags - the supermarkets make you buy them if you need them. (Very similar to the rest of the Europe but the UK supermarkets are still giving bags out for free quite happily).
22 June 2011
17 June 2011
Le soleil et de la pluie
On Wednesday it was glorious sunshine as it has been since I arrived on Sunday. It is quite strange for me not to worry about bringing a jacket to work - in London I personally think you must be quite mad not to take a jacket wherever you go, as the weather can be both changeable and unforgiving. Instead, I strolled along the footpath from my hotel into Ferney-Voltaire for my third and final time (at least for now). Imagine butterflies, birds singing, wheat stalks gently waving in the summer breeze. A delightful way to start the day!
Today I submitted the necessary items to my workplace for my carte de legitimation. I will be applying for permit E, which is for non-permanent non-EU nationals residing in Switzerland (it took me several internet searches to work that out!). It looks to be a rather similar concept to the foreign nationals card I was given when I applied for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. This card is what will give me the right to live and work in Switzerland. As far as I understand it, I will be able to maintain ownership of this card as long as I am working here, not the other way around. So it's nice to know my residential status is not something I need to worry about.
It sounds as if I will need this card to do things like get a mobile through Orange or Swisscom, so I'll be putting those off until it arrives. I think the main things are bank account, residency permit, and ideally accommodation, although it has become evident that the latter may not be so easy to arrange as it is in other cities (at least not cheaply). Thankfully I have now arranged a short sublet of an apartment in Thonex, which is in the southern area of Geneva. It will take two trams for me to get to work, but it will still take less time than my commute in London, so I'm not too worried. I'm just glad that I have somewhere to go to when my stay at the Home St Pierre is up! The owner of the apartment in Thonex goes away for two months' holiday (July and August) and rents the apartment out for that time. It is a bright sunny studio with a nice balcony looking out at the mountains, so I think it will be a very pleasant place to live.
In general I am finding Geneva rather lovely. The weather has been great, although I understand it can get a lot hotter and more humid than it has been in the last week. I'm fine with a bit of sunshine though - I think I have even started developing the slightest hint of tan, which is exciting after five years of looking translucent year-round in London. My freckles have started showing up, at least!
Yesterday it did start raining in the afternoon, which meant a walk home from the Bel-Air tram stop through the downpour, although thankfully most of the footpaths are covered. It didn't stop one gentleman from merrily pounding away at the keys of the free outdoor piano next to Place du Molard, however, with just a plastic sheet to keep him (or more likely, the piano) protected from the deluge.
There is a lot of greenery, and the city seems quite peaceful. The downside of this is that the shops all close by 7pm most weekngihts, and after that there seems to be no option for buying food at all except for restaurants (which are quite often exceptionally pricey, particularly for a newcomer like me), After 11pm I don't think you have any option s at all. There are no off-licences like you would find in the UK (where at the very least you can buy bread/ milk/ cereal/etc). I have seen a few tabacs which are similar to these, but smaller, as far as I can tell. They don't have the same kind of opening hours either. And the smaller versions of the supermarkets (i.e. Sainsbury's Local, Tesco Metro) close early as well. So I'd recommend to any new inhabitants to make sure you have plenty of food in your cupboard so to avoid ending up hungry, particularly when coming home from a few drinks when you really want something to soak up the booze before you go to bed.
I found myself in this particular predicament on Wednesday, after the Glocals newcomers' drinks. I enoyed a few glasses of wine at the Mandarin Oriental (10 CHF per glass, not very large glassees either), met some fun people, had some entertaining conversation, and then headed home at around 10.45pm. On my way I realised I was quite hungry and decided to stop at a McDonalds or a kebab shop. Sadly the McDonalds I passed had been closed for some hours by the look of it, and there was not a kebab shop or the like to be found. The first couple of restaurants I passed could not serve me anything either as their kitchens were closed. Finally, I came across one restaurant which agreed to sell me a cheeseboard for an unsurprisingly exorbitant price. If only I had a tin of Heinz baked beans waiting for me at home! I learnt my lesson.
(A word to the wise: although ready meals can be found at stores like Migros or Carrefour for a reasonable price, don't be fooled by the image on the packet, because it seems to be even less accurate here than those back in England. I bought what looked like a rather nice cottage pie on Thursday only to discover strangely watery mashed "potato" paired with unappealing grey mince. However, on Tuesday I had a surprisingly delicious pork rissole with rice meal from the same company, so the jury is still out on whether such meals veer towards inedible or conveniently appetizing.)
However, it was a very pleasant and safe walk back to my hostel (the Home St Pierre, where I relocated to on Wednesday evening before the drinks). Plenty of street lights, a few people around, a very convivial atmosphere indeed. As I understand it there are a number of local laws forbidding noise in the streets at night, which is probably wonderful for any local residents, but certainly puts a stopper into any concept of a raucous night out. I haven't yet attempted such a thing however so I'll keep you updated on whether it is actually possible!
There is some excitement in the city though, to be fair. On Wednesday I was lucky enough to see an extensive motorcade racing through the streets. It included as many as twelve motorbikes, five or six minivans, a number of police cars and an ambulance. One minivan had its sliding door open with security men leaning out looking for any signs of trouble. Directly behind that van was of course the car with tinted windows for whomever the entirety of this motorcade was for. After a little research, it seems that the whole showing was for Vladimir Putin himself, currently visiting Geneva and apparently causing severe traffic delays with his motorcade!
Today I submitted the necessary items to my workplace for my carte de legitimation. I will be applying for permit E, which is for non-permanent non-EU nationals residing in Switzerland (it took me several internet searches to work that out!). It looks to be a rather similar concept to the foreign nationals card I was given when I applied for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. This card is what will give me the right to live and work in Switzerland. As far as I understand it, I will be able to maintain ownership of this card as long as I am working here, not the other way around. So it's nice to know my residential status is not something I need to worry about.
It sounds as if I will need this card to do things like get a mobile through Orange or Swisscom, so I'll be putting those off until it arrives. I think the main things are bank account, residency permit, and ideally accommodation, although it has become evident that the latter may not be so easy to arrange as it is in other cities (at least not cheaply). Thankfully I have now arranged a short sublet of an apartment in Thonex, which is in the southern area of Geneva. It will take two trams for me to get to work, but it will still take less time than my commute in London, so I'm not too worried. I'm just glad that I have somewhere to go to when my stay at the Home St Pierre is up! The owner of the apartment in Thonex goes away for two months' holiday (July and August) and rents the apartment out for that time. It is a bright sunny studio with a nice balcony looking out at the mountains, so I think it will be a very pleasant place to live.
In general I am finding Geneva rather lovely. The weather has been great, although I understand it can get a lot hotter and more humid than it has been in the last week. I'm fine with a bit of sunshine though - I think I have even started developing the slightest hint of tan, which is exciting after five years of looking translucent year-round in London. My freckles have started showing up, at least!
Yesterday it did start raining in the afternoon, which meant a walk home from the Bel-Air tram stop through the downpour, although thankfully most of the footpaths are covered. It didn't stop one gentleman from merrily pounding away at the keys of the free outdoor piano next to Place du Molard, however, with just a plastic sheet to keep him (or more likely, the piano) protected from the deluge.
There is a lot of greenery, and the city seems quite peaceful. The downside of this is that the shops all close by 7pm most weekngihts, and after that there seems to be no option for buying food at all except for restaurants (which are quite often exceptionally pricey, particularly for a newcomer like me), After 11pm I don't think you have any option s at all. There are no off-licences like you would find in the UK (where at the very least you can buy bread/ milk/ cereal/etc). I have seen a few tabacs which are similar to these, but smaller, as far as I can tell. They don't have the same kind of opening hours either. And the smaller versions of the supermarkets (i.e. Sainsbury's Local, Tesco Metro) close early as well. So I'd recommend to any new inhabitants to make sure you have plenty of food in your cupboard so to avoid ending up hungry, particularly when coming home from a few drinks when you really want something to soak up the booze before you go to bed.
I found myself in this particular predicament on Wednesday, after the Glocals newcomers' drinks. I enoyed a few glasses of wine at the Mandarin Oriental (10 CHF per glass, not very large glassees either), met some fun people, had some entertaining conversation, and then headed home at around 10.45pm. On my way I realised I was quite hungry and decided to stop at a McDonalds or a kebab shop. Sadly the McDonalds I passed had been closed for some hours by the look of it, and there was not a kebab shop or the like to be found. The first couple of restaurants I passed could not serve me anything either as their kitchens were closed. Finally, I came across one restaurant which agreed to sell me a cheeseboard for an unsurprisingly exorbitant price. If only I had a tin of Heinz baked beans waiting for me at home! I learnt my lesson.
(A word to the wise: although ready meals can be found at stores like Migros or Carrefour for a reasonable price, don't be fooled by the image on the packet, because it seems to be even less accurate here than those back in England. I bought what looked like a rather nice cottage pie on Thursday only to discover strangely watery mashed "potato" paired with unappealing grey mince. However, on Tuesday I had a surprisingly delicious pork rissole with rice meal from the same company, so the jury is still out on whether such meals veer towards inedible or conveniently appetizing.)
However, it was a very pleasant and safe walk back to my hostel (the Home St Pierre, where I relocated to on Wednesday evening before the drinks). Plenty of street lights, a few people around, a very convivial atmosphere indeed. As I understand it there are a number of local laws forbidding noise in the streets at night, which is probably wonderful for any local residents, but certainly puts a stopper into any concept of a raucous night out. I haven't yet attempted such a thing however so I'll keep you updated on whether it is actually possible!
There is some excitement in the city though, to be fair. On Wednesday I was lucky enough to see an extensive motorcade racing through the streets. It included as many as twelve motorbikes, five or six minivans, a number of police cars and an ambulance. One minivan had its sliding door open with security men leaning out looking for any signs of trouble. Directly behind that van was of course the car with tinted windows for whomever the entirety of this motorcade was for. After a little research, it seems that the whole showing was for Vladimir Putin himself, currently visiting Geneva and apparently causing severe traffic delays with his motorcade!
16 June 2011
Mes premiers jours
Sunday, June 12 - I get up at the ungodly hour of 3.45am and finish my last-minute (increasingly desperate) packing until the taxi arrives at 4.30am. I say goodbye to London and head out to Heathrow T5, where the business class lounge is, I have to say, very nice indeed. Landed at 9am in Geneva. A bonus of flying that ridiculously early on a Sunday would be that there is almost no-one on the plane (probably less of a bonus for the environment, I guess). As we were waiting to disembark, I got chatting to the pilot who was intrigued to hear that I was moving to Geneva that day on my own, and kindly suggested that I meet he and his co-pilot for a beer later that evening. As it happens, I did take him up on his offer, but first there was the small matter of hauling my insane amount of luggage from the airport to the hotel.
It is possible to pre-book a car from Geneva Airport to Ferney-Voltaire (try companies such as GVA Taxi or Coopérative 202 Taxi) but I wouldn't recommend it. I was quoted between EUR 70-80, which seemed like a lot of money. Instead, I took my chances and found a taxi at the airport. You need to go through French customs (essentially a door) and there is one of those posts at the end of the hall with a button to call a taxi. I did have to wait probably twenty minutes but the journey only cost me EUR 20 - the savings definitely outweighing the inconvenience! I can recommend this company, but not until I find the business card from the driver! The driver was very helpful and friendly - he assisted with my multitude of bags and we even had some semblance of a conversation in French (the failure to participate definitely coming from my side not his). It didn't take long before I arrived at my hotel - F1 Hotel Ferney-Voltaire. Looking like a shoebox, set back from the road, it became obvious very quickly that this was an extremely basic, barebones "hotel". This didn't worry me unduly (you get what you pay for!) but anyone intending to stay there should realise that there is no iron available for use, a limited number of toilets and showers, and no left-luggage room. Still, it was fine for my purposes, particularly as the staff member who checked me in obligingly let me have the room from 10am so that I could sleep.. and sleep I did. Coming from a week of farewells and general anxiety about my upcoming move, I could not have been more exhausted, and happily crashed out for several hours.
That evening I went to meet my pilots for a beer and some food. Had my first introduction to the insanity otherwise known as Geneva pricing. We went to a pizza chain restaurant (can't remember the name, starts with an M) and I paid roughly 15 CHF for spinach and ricotta ravioli (no sauce) which admittedly was delectable but was certainly more expensive than London. Had a great evening though and it was definitely a fun start to my Geneva experience.
The Monday was the first day at my new job. It was also a public holiday in Geneva, which means that although there is a "holiday schedule" up for the bus from Ferney, that doesn't actually mean that the bus will run at the specific times it mentions. In fact, I waited at least half an hour for the bus, which meant that I was not early but instead slightly late for my first day - not cool. Thankfully, my employers were awesome about it and apparently its not a rare occurrence - traveller beware.
As part of my job may include ferrying the my manager to and from meetings on occasion, I actually had the opportunity to try driving on the right-hand side of the road for the first time. It was.. confusing and scary. Thankfully I didn't cause any accidents and almost always aimed for the correct lane. Obviously there are different signs and indicators on the roads which may take some time to get used to.
Day Two of work was a little busier. Also, I managed to open a Swiss bank account (oh so cool) armed with only my passport, my employment contract, and a letter of attestation from my employer confirming my address in Switzerland. (Not that I have a permanent address, but I just gave them the one I am staying at for now). They sadly didn't ask for my fingerprints or a retina scan or give me a 10-digit code that I can never tell anyone, but its still a Swiss bank account! I went with UBS - there is a branch just down the road from my work, and they offer a current account, savings account, Maestro card, credit card, internet banking and loyalty programme for 20 CHF a month (10 CHF if you have over 10k in your bank account, which hopefully I will before long!) Also, as a new member of the bank, I get the whole package free for the first year. So I was happy enough with that. I should get my Maestro card and internet banking details within a week; the credit card is only issued when I supply the bank with my carte de legitimation (which I should get in the next few weeks - more on that later). My other great success was finding the "grand" Carrefour in Ferney (the small one is quite large, but the large one is gigantic) - a supermarket that I would compare to ASDA in the UK. My main purpose was to purchase un feu a repasser aka an iron, as apparently these don't come standard with hotels in this area and its not ideal going to work each day with wrinkly clothes!
So far.. so good...
It is possible to pre-book a car from Geneva Airport to Ferney-Voltaire (try companies such as GVA Taxi or Coopérative 202 Taxi) but I wouldn't recommend it. I was quoted between EUR 70-80, which seemed like a lot of money. Instead, I took my chances and found a taxi at the airport. You need to go through French customs (essentially a door) and there is one of those posts at the end of the hall with a button to call a taxi. I did have to wait probably twenty minutes but the journey only cost me EUR 20 - the savings definitely outweighing the inconvenience! I can recommend this company, but not until I find the business card from the driver! The driver was very helpful and friendly - he assisted with my multitude of bags and we even had some semblance of a conversation in French (the failure to participate definitely coming from my side not his). It didn't take long before I arrived at my hotel - F1 Hotel Ferney-Voltaire. Looking like a shoebox, set back from the road, it became obvious very quickly that this was an extremely basic, barebones "hotel". This didn't worry me unduly (you get what you pay for!) but anyone intending to stay there should realise that there is no iron available for use, a limited number of toilets and showers, and no left-luggage room. Still, it was fine for my purposes, particularly as the staff member who checked me in obligingly let me have the room from 10am so that I could sleep.. and sleep I did. Coming from a week of farewells and general anxiety about my upcoming move, I could not have been more exhausted, and happily crashed out for several hours.
That evening I went to meet my pilots for a beer and some food. Had my first introduction to the insanity otherwise known as Geneva pricing. We went to a pizza chain restaurant (can't remember the name, starts with an M) and I paid roughly 15 CHF for spinach and ricotta ravioli (no sauce) which admittedly was delectable but was certainly more expensive than London. Had a great evening though and it was definitely a fun start to my Geneva experience.
The Monday was the first day at my new job. It was also a public holiday in Geneva, which means that although there is a "holiday schedule" up for the bus from Ferney, that doesn't actually mean that the bus will run at the specific times it mentions. In fact, I waited at least half an hour for the bus, which meant that I was not early but instead slightly late for my first day - not cool. Thankfully, my employers were awesome about it and apparently its not a rare occurrence - traveller beware.
As part of my job may include ferrying the my manager to and from meetings on occasion, I actually had the opportunity to try driving on the right-hand side of the road for the first time. It was.. confusing and scary. Thankfully I didn't cause any accidents and almost always aimed for the correct lane. Obviously there are different signs and indicators on the roads which may take some time to get used to.
Day Two of work was a little busier. Also, I managed to open a Swiss bank account (oh so cool) armed with only my passport, my employment contract, and a letter of attestation from my employer confirming my address in Switzerland. (Not that I have a permanent address, but I just gave them the one I am staying at for now). They sadly didn't ask for my fingerprints or a retina scan or give me a 10-digit code that I can never tell anyone, but its still a Swiss bank account! I went with UBS - there is a branch just down the road from my work, and they offer a current account, savings account, Maestro card, credit card, internet banking and loyalty programme for 20 CHF a month (10 CHF if you have over 10k in your bank account, which hopefully I will before long!) Also, as a new member of the bank, I get the whole package free for the first year. So I was happy enough with that. I should get my Maestro card and internet banking details within a week; the credit card is only issued when I supply the bank with my carte de legitimation (which I should get in the next few weeks - more on that later). My other great success was finding the "grand" Carrefour in Ferney (the small one is quite large, but the large one is gigantic) - a supermarket that I would compare to ASDA in the UK. My main purpose was to purchase un feu a repasser aka an iron, as apparently these don't come standard with hotels in this area and its not ideal going to work each day with wrinkly clothes!
So far.. so good...
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