Sights, sounds, smells of Geneva

As I look out my bedroom into the brilliant sunlight, a frisky breeze catches a flock of yellow leaves and they hop off their branches and dance their way down to the ground creating a yellow carpet.

Later in the day I walk through the city. Certain smells escape from the stores. The parfumerie is flower sweet and could come from any place, but when I pass the chocolateries that make their own, the smell of rich chocolate forces me to stop. Only in a place that values chocolate as a national treasure can this smell be so frequent. At this time of year their windows are decorated with pumpkins and black chocolate nuts in green marzipan spiked coating so they look like the real chestnuts that have just broken out. I’ve never bought one, but I love looking at the display.

Under the train station in a certain spot the smell of melted cheese brings the desire for a fondue racing. Not this day but soon I hope.

Outside the UBS a musician plays The Anniversary Song…”Oh how we danced on the night we were wed, we vowed our true love, though a word wasn’t said…” It was an old song which I learned it in Junior High when all the seventh graders were crammed into the auditorium and the words were flashed on the movie screen, a 1950s group Karoke. Surely accordion players must have other pieces that can be played on their instruments, yet I enjoy the familiarity and I find the notes dancing in my head, not unlike the leaves from the trees in our front garden.

There’s the library with the smell of books and the friendly people behind the counter and we chat about the upcoming book sale. I can’t help with the set up this year because I will be in Bern, but hopefully I can volunteer to work on one of the sale days before I leave for Italy.

I walk down by the lake. The water is calm. One of the travel boats is finishing its trip. I stand there for several minutes loving it all and once again thank my good fortune at being here.