Today is the kind of day that reminds me why I love living in Geneva and why I am still here, more than 12 years after I first arrived with the plan to stay for just one year ;)
It started with a great day of skiing Saturday in La Clusaz, with beautiful mounds of snow, regretfully already traced, but still lots of fun allowing us to use the whole La Balme part of the station as our own playground. Fluffy, lovely, but quite tiring snow. A great day, spent with a great group of people (there were about 12 of us and we managed to stay together almost the whole day and have fun - the advantage of a station such as La Clusaz being that those that ski well can go off and play in the 'half-off piste' slopes, while the ones that are less fast and secure on their skis can go down the normal pistes and everyone can then meet again down by the chairs!).
And then today we woke up to a blue sunny sky :D Walked into work, down by the lake in the sunshine and just enjoyed everything. The view of the snow-filled Jura Mountains in the background, the lake filled with birds, the sunshine, and the fact that I can walk into work and just enjoy it all. And I felt how much I love this place!
In how many cities can you find the following:
- Great skiing in less than 1h drive from the centre;
- A beautiful lake, filled with birds and boats, which is great for swimming in the summer, and lovely to walk by in the winter;
- A city surrounded by mountains in 3 directions (the Jura on one side, the Alps on the other, le Salève in the third) only in the direction of the lake is there no mountains;
- A 15 min walking distance from your apartment to your work, with more than half of the way passing down by the lake - probably one of the more beautiful walks to work anywhere;
- Lots of international people making the place full of life, and allowing us to meet and make friends from all over the world!;
- Good working opportunities, especially when one is interested in international relations, NGOs, development, humanitarian and human rights issues etc;
- A very good standard of living;
- An airport with flights all over Europe, many to a very good price; and situated in the centre of Europe meaning that you can be in Italy in 3h by train or car, in France, well in less than 10 minutes, but in Paris in 3.5h by train, etc etc;
- Loads of restaurants with food from everywhere in the world;
- and so on...
So, today is a day when I remember very clearly why this is where I am living - as this place was my choice. I was not born here. My family does not live here (although I am lucky to have one cousin that has also fallen in love with this city). The language is not my mother tongue. I do not really have any reason to have ended up here. It was a choice, and sometimes I tend to forget how lucky I am. But not today. Today I'm in love with this beautiful beautiful city - and it has put a stupid smile on my face ever since this morning. No matter that it is Monday today. No matter that I am at work instead of on the slopes as I would have wished. I am still very happy :D
And now it is time for me to go down by the lake for lunch!
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