From the cathedral, everything seems beautiful and new, old and mundane, crisp but melancholy. Among the cold bite of the air and the last dying trees comes a warmth not from nature but emanating from the city, dare I say from the people under their thick wool coats. Above the walkways and in the windows there is gold and silver, red and green. Surrounded by nothing but stone and bare branch and bark, the joie de vivre of the holidays surfaces once again in the paradoxical winter.

An Advent wreath sits displayed on the dinner table. Sprigs of evergreen and holly hang from windows and above doors. Decorations hang overhead the pedestrian-filled streets. There is word that Christmas markets are open around the whole continent practically, though I have yet to lay my eyes on one, even the one here in Lausanne. Shops are beginning to open on Sundays, an attempt to accommodate holiday shoppers that still causes controversy (sigh, only in Switzerland).

Amidst the slowly creeping Christmas spirit that whispers its arrival, there are only a few loud cries, mostly in the form of the terribly tacky and brash Christmas lights at the Hôtel de la Paix. The gesture is appreciated but is certainly not a pleasure for the eyes. Despite the red-and-gold holiday motif, the Hôtel now looks like a demon among the shadows instead of a beacon of light-hearted celebration. Besides a little more “jolly” that can be added on the Hôtel’s menacing light display, there is still something missing from this city. Where is the white? Where is the snow?

Is that snow way over there?? Lucky...

The moment November turned into December, the temperature dropped as if on cue. I donned my heavy coat, scarf and gloves, happily thinking the month-long rain of November had passed and snow was on its way. Instead I was met with more rain and cold, the kind of cold that makes you bitter because it makes rainy days more miserable instead of turning them into snowy days. So what now? Better luck next week, I suppose. At least the rain has stopped for now. As I look out from the cathedral plaza, the snow atop the not-so-far-away mountains taunts me as it fades under the cover of night. If they are any inclination of what to expect, then there is much to look forward to in the coming weeks. For now I’ll just cross my fingers and wait.

This is the front of the ritzy Chateau de Bethusy in Lausanne, Switzerland, headquarters of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This is the place where they postponed once again a ruling on Alejandro Valverde’s involvement in the Operacion Puerto doping ring — a case that has dragged on for two years and blacked the eye of cycling. Both eyes, actually.

It’s a nice chateau but one wonders: does anyone work there or is this some kind of  fake backdrop to fool the public? Perhaps there is no Court and what few judgments that have been rendered come from a rented room over a shoe shop using a ouija board.

This is the road that leads to the chateau de Bethusy, home of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Apparently the road is rarely used since there is nobody ever there to make a ruling on the Valverde case. At this rate Valverde will be 75 and retired before there’s a decision.

Presumably the gardeners come and go as the chateau grounds are beautiful and well-maintained but as far as legal judgments go, the place is deserted. Where did all the “arbiters” disappear to? Wine-tasting, antique shopping, art gallery tours?

Perhaps they are out back playing croquet or badminton or lawn bowling — anything but work. Legal cases can be so complicated and really cut into one’s free time.

This is the elegant and well-stocked library in the Chateau de Bethusy of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ostensibly it is where they research the legality of cases like Valverde’s. In the library they review evidence and scientific reports, gather information and precedents and examine the findings presented by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on their two year ban on Valverde in Italy.

It would seem the ideal place to address the case brought by the UCI and WADA against Valverde.  Of course, to make use of the library, people would actually have to be present.

This is the actual Hearing Room in the fancy chateau of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This is the room where in theory they would reach a verdict on the Valverde case.

Sadly and inexplicably, the court is incapable of offering any set dates for a case that has dragged for years. In the meantime Valverde has won twenty high profile races including this year’s Vuelta.

WADA is furious, the UCI disgusted, cycling fans worldwide astonished and disappointed. An empty room, no decision in sight. Nice looking, though. A great place to make landmark legal rulings that improve the ethics and moral code of sport. Of course these things require work, a schedule, a committment, a sense of embarassment….

It’s really a stunning chateau. Picture perfect, reeks of order and calm, of reasoned decision making and impartial thinking. A place where great men and women steer the grand events of the day. But clearly this isn’t working.

Perhaps the court needs to move to a location where people make decisions rapidly. Like Las Vegas perhaps — make a ruling, roll the dice, move on to the next case. A place that understands big money and drugs and egos and is prepared to play pit boss.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, Las Vegas. They’d take care of business. It could still be a chateau but with a library, hearing room and blackjack table. What kind of odds would you give Valverde in Vegas?

Chers amis, il est temps de nous donner rendez-vous pour le Bloggy Friday lausannois de décembre, le dernier de l’année 2009!

C’est comme d’habitude: à 20h Chez Rony à Chenau-de-Bourg 17, Lausanne. Inscrivez-vous sur Facebook de préférence (lien ci-dessus) ou bien dans les commentaires de cet article si vous n’êtes pas Facebook-compatible.

A vendredi! Je sens d’ici la bonne fondue!

apartment hunting might just be the proper term, in english, but here in Lausanne it means literally apartment hunting not figuratively.  If you add a little darwinian survival of the richest. You get the behavior of people in the real estate market in Lausanne.

Imagine A hunter dressing in green, couching in the fields at 6:00 am, his favourite dog by his side, smoking a good pipe while waiting for the prey. So something like this:

The idyll of the germanic hunter that respects the forest the wildlife and goes fo a proper drink with his fellow hunters after a good days work. Well the apartment he will  get will look something like this except maybe that there would also be neighbors:

I am that guy right now and every offer I put down gets rejected  so in order to succeed here you have to behave more like This:

But instead of the gun you need money , and instead of the hat you need money, and instead of the green vest you need a suit tailored of money. Thank god that doing a PhD I am basically uncle scrooge so getting an apartment with my new attitude will be no problem.

((

Outstanding doc from inside Wheeler Hall by Brandon Jourdan and David Martinez:

And an update on last night’s UC Davis action:
Video of an early negotiation with a typical faux-sympathetic administrative snake at Mrak Hall, UC Davis:

The second Davis Occupation ended last night when administrators agreed on 5 student demands, including recommending charges dropped against the students arrested in the last week’s occupation, and not pursuing academic sanctions against those students.
Last time the administration decided to arrest all occupying students, this time the students left around 11 pm without a single arrest!
The administrators are running scared, UC! Keep up the momentum! Occupy again! Again and again!

Here’s administrator Janet Gong reading the agreement:

If she doesn’t seem too happy, it might be because she refused to meet these demands the day after the occupation in front of a ballroom of pissed students who attempted to reoccupy Mrak that night, but after this succesful action she was forced to give in!

Here’s a video of Janet Gong earlier in the night arguing the pigs she just called aren’t riot cops, they’re just armed with “tactical equipment” like tazers, batons, and shields!

More from the Davis Students’ blog: http://ouruniversity.wordpress.com/

In other news, there was another large student demo at UC Irvine this afternoon, and Université de Lausanne in Switzerland was occupied today!

Perdón por el retraso, acá van las informaciones para la noche de este sábado 28 de noviembre de 2009.

Después del éxito de la primera al fin del año pasado, organizamos la segunda Pulpería Tanguera en Pôle Sud, Av. J.-J. Mercier 3 (al lado de la Gare du Flon, Lausanne)

19h00 Bar con empanadas y vino argentino !

19h30 El alma del tango a través de sus versos

Para todos aquellos que escuchan el tango sin necesariamente comprender o prestar atención a sus letras, dediquemos un momento a traducir algunos textos que serán cantados más tarde durante el …

20h30 Concierto del Grupo Delejos

Tangos y canciones de América Latina

21h30 Milonga

Bailamos!

Entrada : CHF 10.-
A beneficio de los 3 proyectos comunitarios que Crear.ar apoya en Argentina.

Hasta el sábado!

Máquina é capaz de fazer 42 trilhões de operações por segundo. Doação foi feita por instituto de educação da Suíça.

O Ministério da Educação (MEC) anunciou nesta terça-feira (24) a doação por parte de um instituto de educação da Suíça de um supercomputador capaz de fazer 42 trilhões de operações por segundo. Ele será utilizado em pesquisas científicas, principalmente na área de neurociência. O equipamento deve chegar no começo de 2010 e começar a operar no mesmo ano.

O presidente da associação de apoio à pesquisa que vai receber o computador, Miguel Nicolelis, disse que a máquina terá mais de 16 mil processadores, com capacidade de 42 teraflops (um teraflop equivale a um trilhão de operações por segundo). “É como vários milhares de PCs operando em rede”, afirmou. Segundo ele, o equipamento poderá ser usado também em análises climáticas e geológicas –podendo ser utilizado, inclusive, em estudos sobre a camada pré-sal.

O computador foi doado pela Escola Politécnica Federal de Lausanne, da Suíça, e ficará instalado no chamado “Campus do Cérebro”, no interior do Rio Grande do Norte. A estrutura para receber a máquina ainda precisa ser construída no local e, enquanto isso, ela deve ficar armazenada em uma empresa de informática na cidade de Hortolândia, em São Paulo. De acordo com o ministro Fernando Haddad, o investimento do MEC no projeto bate na casa dos R$ 100 milhões.

Je continue mon recyclage.. J’espère que vous ne m’en voudrez pas.

Excellente journée

Mercredi soir, Muse à Zürich, Miossec à Genève et Rodrigo y Gabriela à Lausanne.
Concours de circonstances, aléas divers, c’est un billet pour un concerts aux Docks qui se trouvait dans ma poche.
Pas de regrets! Pas le moindre. Mais comment font-ils alors qu’ils ne sont que deux sur scène et qu’ils ne jouent que de la guitare?
Je vous l’accorde, ils utilisent la guitare aussi comme un instrument de percussion. Mais tout de même. C’est plein. Rien ne manque.
Et leur musique sent bon les vacances au Mexique. Elle sait se faire tendre, même si le plus souvent elle lorgne plutôt du côté du métal. Bon d’accord, un métal folk.
Et Gabriela est si attachante. Rodrigo aussi, d’ailleurs. Différemment.
Ce concert, c’était du pur bonheur. De la joie en paquet de cent. Bon pour les oreilles et bon pour l’âme.
Sur scène, il y avait Rodrigo. Il y avait Gabriela et surtout, il y avait de la joie, du soleil, de la communion. J’en suis ressorti avec un sourire béa qui ne m’a pas quitté encore longtemps après.

Si vous avez l’occasion, n’hésitez pas!

Non, vraiment.

For Diablo Rojo

Orion

The edges of the empire; Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: on fish and outer space ; Wrocklawbsters; a haunted backstage; The Congos; Dellé; saved by Big Blue.

The River Oder in Poland.

Switzerland is one of the first places I played outside California. That was with the Bay Area Wind Symphony, which was comprised of about one hundred and twenty teenagers, including nineteen trumpets (!), plus their braces and hair products, way back in 1984, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, before the Internet. Our unwieldy, hormone-saturated ensemble played seven classical concerts or so in Germany and Switzerland. It was my first taste of touring, and I had no idea I’d be coming back more than twenty years later, and that so much change would have occurred. I had hoped we’d have flying cars by now, but still…

Lausanne, Switzerland is scrunched between Lake Geneva and the unreal bulk of the Alps, in the beating heart of Western Europe. These vast glaciers spawn the two greatest rivers of the European continent: The Rhine, flowing north through Germany, and the Danube flowing east through Austria and Hungary and finally into the Black Sea. These rivers were once the boundaries of the Roman Empire, the boundaries between civilization and barbarity.

In the fourth century, Germany and Silesia (though they weren’t called by those names back then) were the barbarians, until one winter the impossible happened: the Rhine froze solid, and the barbarians walked right in the front door, goodbye Rome, hello Dark Ages.  Everyone was barbarians for a long time.

Colonialism and war brought huge changes to European demographics in their wake, and Europe has had to learn to cope with both the troubles and the benefits that come with diversity. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, who shared the bill with Groundation and the Congos at this year’s Metropop Festival is an example of someone from far Jamaica who’s made his home in this mountain paradise in smack in the middle of Europe.  You’d have to ask his neighbors, but I’ll bet he brings a bit of trouble with his gifts…

Lee 'Scratch' Perry; reggae legend, former fish.

In the late sixties and seventies America produced a number of unusual performers like Mr. Perry: outlandish costumes; quirky songs, sometimes with a childlike quality; eccentricities galore. Parliment/Funkadelic/P-Funk frontman George Clinton comes to mind. His claims to have come to this planet in a funky mothership is probably one of the least unusual things about him. At a typical performance, jazz pianist and composer Sun Ra, who claimed to hail from the planet Saturn, draped his considerable bulk in a muumuu and led his eighteen-piece ‘Arkestra’ through three hours worth of music from Disney movies. To cook up a rich culture we need not only people from the different races and religions, we need people from different planets as well. Back in America’s troubled 70’s, a jazz pianist from Saturn may have been just what the world needed. He sure gave the jazz critics something to talk about. And why not different species’ as well? ‘Scratch’ Perry, doesn’t claim to be from the planet Saturn, but he said at the concert that he was a fish before he became a man, so again, let diversity be the rule…

Straight after the show, we drove all night to the One Love Festival in Wrocklaw, Poland in the old kingdom of Silesia, once the very heart of the barbarian threat which gave the Romans nightmares. It’s the doorstep of The East, once a land of warriors and a land of war. It’s also fiercely independent, stubborn even. It was fatally wedged between aggressive powers during the twentieth century and nearly eradicated, but despite being carved up and stomped on, the Polish people rose up and made Poland one of the first nations of the former Eastern Bloc to stand up against Soviet imperialism and for social justice in their own country.

Centennial Hall, named for the anniversay of Napoleon's defeat in Silesia, 1813.

I like to blab about how this place or that has ‘history’. I suppose the place we played in Wrocklaw had almost too much of it. When it was built in 1913, Centennial Hall was a word-famous miracle of design and construction: the largest steel and reinforced concrete dome in the world. It’s awe-inspiring even today, perhaps more impressive than beautiful, with interior buttresses flying fifty meters overhead. A place built for drama and spectacle, in the 1930’s the Hall hosted not only Marlene Dietrich, but also a certain ruthless and powerful nutcase from the neighborhood. You see, Silesia was then under the influence of neighboring Nazi Germany.

Learning that fact gave me a genuine chill.  Though the time had come to play music and call on those generous spirits, I could hear the spectre of Adolph Hitler’s raging voice echoing through the curving, labyrinthine corridors. There were ghosts in those hallways threatening to drag me down. There I was, just before showtime, wandering through the cold, empty rooms we’d been given for a backstage, imagining Der Fuhrer sitting there, going over his notes for his latest speech, intent on inciting hatred and murder. Perhaps these rooms had been occupied by some troop of naïve young fascists in their matching uniforms, brainwashed and betrayed by the emotional momentum of patriotic hatred, getting ready to stand on stage behind their leader, hold the big red, white and black flags and look as Aryan as they could for the cameras.

Those things were long ago, but they may still haunt us, until new days dawn and they are forgotten. I’m a rational positivist, but I felt some spiritual cleansing were needed, and in fact there was an exorcism on the way, and it came from a very unexpected source: a suitcase called Big Blue. 

Big Blue backstage.

Big Blue is the giant diamond-encrusted suitcase Kim Pommel has wheeled along (or had someone wheel along for her) on tour almost since I first met her years ago. In the minutes before our show in Wrocklaw I was listening to my footsteps echoing down the concrete hallways, thinking about how Hitler wasn’t really dead. But then I saw that glorious suitcase, literally overflowing with colorful clothes, curlers and make up, scarves, beads and electronics. In a few words it was a big, beautiful bloom of life and color: everything that makes a mess of Hitler’s dreams of sterility and order.

 I could see Mr. Hitler sitting there, trying to enjoy his lemon tea before his speech, and here comes Ms. Pommel and Big Blue: ‘Oh, pardon. Do you mind if I put this here? You wouldn’t believe how heavy it is. Whew! It’s hot in here, mind if I open a window? Now, where’s my scarf? What’s your name? I’m Kim. I’m from Jamaica.’ Gott im Himmel!

The Congos.

And fleeing that dressing room poor Adolph might have stumbled upon The Congos, meditating or drinking tea themselves perhaps, a proud band of foreigners invited by the Polish people, the descendants of Prussians and Bohemians, to spread their musical messages of peace and spiritual wisdom. Hitler would have hated them and everything they stand for, I’m happy to say. Poor fellow. But it gets worse, because the thing that would have really pissed off the indisputed all-powerful ruler of Wolkencuckcucksheim was the band Delle, because Delle is a German band, an interracial band, and one dedicated to a musical style not only foreign, but African in origin, music that doesn’t exalt war or nationhood, but that weaves a spell of pleasure and love extending between nations who once warred and working to put the past in the past where it belongs.  That’s a mighty tough act to follower, Mr. Hitler, it looks like the barbarians are here to stay.

 “Diesel” Dave Chachere

Groundation

Centennial Hall: UNESCO World Heritage Site

PS. Centennial Hall in Wrocklaw is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The United Nations provides funds to preserve cultural treasures around the world, and its roster includes The Statue of Liberty, and Ruwenzori National Park in Rwanda where the mountain gorillas live. So then let the building stand, to be explored by architects, athletes, lovers of music, and seekers of ghosts.

This sunday, we went to a violin recital at Eglise  St Laurent, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Amandine Beyer

Partita en ré mineur, BWV 1004
Allemanda, Corrente, Sarabanda, Giga, Ciaccona

Partita en Mi Majeur, BWV 1006
Preludio, Loure, Gavotte en rondeaux,
Menuet I/II, Bourrée, Gigue

Sonate en la mineur, BWV 1003
Grave, Fuga, Andante, Allegro

Première journée où je mets un pantalon de grossesse avec son élastique confortable. Je sens que je passe à une nouvelle étape, celle du gros ventre, bien agréable à regarder, caresser, mais qui amène aussi quelques inconvénients. Je résistais un peu en mettant mes pantalons amples ou taille basse, mais finalement, c’est chouette d’avoir un gros ventre et de le montrer!

Merci à Nicole, Evelyne et Lorraine, mes trois stylistes femme enceinte, qui ont surtout fourni une garde-robe fort pratique pour exhiber mon ventre arrondi!!!

30  associations  sans  frontières  et des  cadeaux  100 %  solidaires !

” Certains hommes ne créent aucune frontière à leurs rêves ; cela s’appelle la Liberté “

(Michel Bouthot – Chemins parsemés d’immortelles pensées)

——————————–

Le Marché de Noël Solidaire – 3ème édition –

de Pôle Sud et de la FEDEVACO (Fédération Vaudoise de Coopération)

s’ouvre

du 10 au 12 décembre 2009.

——————————–

KubaLibre.net se réjouit de vous accueillir à son stand du 2ème étage

pour une incursion dans

le royaume Kuba de la R.D.Congo ;

au centre socioculturel Pôle Sud

Av. Jean-Jacques Mercier 3

Lausanne – Suisse

————————–

Horaires :

- jeudi 10 et vendredi 11 : de 17h à 22h

- samedi 12 : de 10h à 18h

———————

Au plaisir de votre visite !

——–

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]]> http://blog.sebastiangibsonlaw.com/2009/11/13/lausanne-switzerland-us-international-celebrity-attorney-entertainment-modeling-privacy-lawyer-sebastian-gibson-american-personal-injury-representation-in-california-and-internationall/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:25:17 +0000 sebastiangibson http://blog.sebastiangibsonlaw.com/2009/11/13/lausanne-switzerland-us-international-celebrity-attorney-entertainment-modeling-privacy-lawyer-sebastian-gibson-american-personal-injury-representation-in-california-and-internationall/

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VOIR – 11.11.2009

Un compatriote suisse faisant le voyage avec “le son des orages” (Le Soleil du 24 octobre) dans ses bagages, cela valait bien de tendre l’oreille. Non ?

“Un talent sûr”, me disait-on.

“Un talent certain”, m’assurait-on.

“Un certain talent”, me susurrait-on…

Stupeur et troublements.

Le concert de Jérémie KISLING n’est pas renversant. Ni vraiment marrant, ni franchement bouleversant. Plutôt flottant. Antimatière ?

La première partie du concert a même tout d’une longue traversée des maux à la rame et en solitaire : jérémiades ?

Et puis, et puis…

Contrairement à tout ce qu’on a pu vous raconter jusqu’ici, Jérémie KISLING est moins “Le Ours” que lamantin:

“Les lamantins sont une origine souvent avancée pour expliquer la légende des sirènes : leur corps peut en effet laisser penser à un buste de femme, surtout pour des marins ayant navigué pendant des mois. De même que le chant des sirènes est assimilé à celui des lamantins – il serait en effet comparé à une lamentation.“ (Wikipédia)

En fin de partie, donc, KISLING parvient à m’attendrir l’oreille, chantant “J’ai mal”, “Nouvel horizon” (en duo avec Gaële) et “Antimatière”…

Pis là, que dire ?

D’un coup d’un seul, le lamantin, cette “vache marine”, se métamorphose en sirénien !

In extremis, presque contraint, j’étreins… et claque des mains.

[Certains droits sont réservés]

I am so sorry people but I can’t be djing in Lausanne today as I have serious health problems. I apologize to all of my fans who wanted to come out and see me spin and hope that there’s another chance sometimes!

If you are nearby Lausanne (Switzerland) don’t miss the chance to see DJ Schmolli live this Saturday Nov 14th, 2009. The club is called Le XIIIe Siecle and I will be starting my mashups-only set around midnight.

Samedi 14 novembre 2009, de 9h à 13h, Marché du SDOL au Polydôme de l’EPFL (métro m1 / bus tl 33 / bus TPM 1, arrêt EPFL). Thème de la journée:

« TRAM, RER, BUS, VÉLOS, VOITURES : QUELS PROJETS DE TRANSPORT POUR ACCOMPAGNER LE DÉVELOPPEMENT DE L’OUEST LAUSANNOIS ? »

Toutes les infos sur le site du SDOL (Schéma Directeur de l’Ouest Lausannois).

Voici une annonce en provenance de Marin Epagnier, parue le 9 novembre dernier sur PetitesAnnonces.ch :

Deux chattes siamoises à adopter contre très bon soins:

Il s’agit de la mère (1993) et de la fille (1994)

C’est vraiment un crève cœur pour moi car je suis appelé à travailler très loin à l’étranger et je ne peux pas les prendre avec moi.

J’espère qu’une personne aimant les animaux puissent les accueillir pour les quelques années qu’ils leurs restent à vivre.

Dans un peu plus de 2 semaines, l’Association Argentine-Lausanne Crear.ar, dont je fais partie du comité, organise sa “Pulpería Tanguera”, qui est en train de devenir annuelle, suite au succès de l’an passé.

Cette année, nous avons une nouvelle originalité au programme: je ne sais pas pour vous, mais j’ai toujours regretté de ne pas comprendre mieux les paroles des tangos sur lesquels je danse, malgré le fait que je parle couramment l’espagnol. Alors qu’est-ce que ça doit être pour ceux qui ne parlent pas cette langue…

C’est pourquoi nous proposons dès 19 heures un petit “café littéraire” sous le thème de “L’âme du tango à travers ses paroles”, où nous allons parcourir les paroles (traduites) de divers tangos qui seront joués plus tard dans la soirée, lors du concert ou de la milonga.

J’espère vraiment que l’idée aura du succès! En plus, le bar sera ouvert, avec empanadas et vin argentin (entre autres), pour ne pas se déshydrater ni terminer affamé!

A 20h30 aura lieu le concert d’un groupe de 4 musiciens qui s’est nouvellement formé du côté de Zurich, Delejos, qui joue et chante des tangos et d’autres chansons. Vu que le but de la soirée est de récolter des fonds supplémentaires pour les 3 projets que nous soutenons, ils viennent jouer pour un cachet modique qui couvre à peine leurs frais de déplacement. J’espère donc vraiment que vous serez nombreux dès le début du concert pour les encourager. Peut-être même sentirez-vous les fourmis qui vous chatouillent les pieds et les jambes… Et alors ne vous gênez pas pour danser!

Dès 21h30 environ aura lieu la milonga, avec votre serviteur comme DJ. Comme l’an passé, nous pourrions aussi appeler cet événement “Baile a Beneficio”: le prix d’entrée de la soirée est de 10.- francs, et toute donation supplémentaire en faveur des projets soutenus par Crear.ar est bienvenue.

P.S. Pour info, la Milonga Mozaïk laisse généreusement et gracieusement ce samedi la place à la Pulpería Tanguera. Pour ceux qui le souhaitent, le cours gratuit d’initiation est maintenu de 20 à 21 heures.

Tradition pour nous oblige, nous avons organisé une soirée halloweenesque chez nous le 31 octobre.

Seule requête: avoir un déguisement, au minimum un masque et apporter ses bonbons favoris. On a eu droit à quelques déguisements fort intéressants, comme une belle princesse, des réparatrices de bonbons arrivées sur le tard ou une sorcière impressionnante qui a fait peur aux plus petits.  Quelques perruques rocambolesques, un joueur de hockey, Kadafi en personne (personnalité en “vogue” en Suisse actuellement), une hippie, et j’en passe, ont complété le tableau.

De notre bord, j’avais préparé une cuisine toute québécoise et nous avions décoré l’appartement pour la circonstance. Gaël a fait un effort remarqué pour son déguisement alors que moi, j’ai essayé de ressembler à une grappe de raisin avec plus ou moins de succès…

Evidemment, on n’a pas oublié la citrouille. Tout heureux que la lampe automatique sur notre étage soit en panne, on a été bien déçus de réaliser qu’ils l’ont réparée la soirée même! Pour une fois, j’ai regretté la lenteur d’action de mon ex proprio d’appartement sur la rue Everett!

Une bien belle soirée haute en couleurs! Et surprise : on s’est rendu compte comme le monde est petit! Une amie, ancienne collègue de Gaël, et ma soeur ont réalisé après quelques heures d’hésitation qu’elles avaient été voisines quelques mois à Genève alors que ma soeur était enceinte de Mathias, il y a 7 ans déjà!!!

Bel endroit où il fait bon d’aller se prélasser l’après-midi avec un bouquin dans leur doux canapé. L’hiver déguster une tasse de thé près de la fenêtre. L’été profitez de leur petite mais conviviale terrasse.

Le soir venez goûter leur toute nouvelle carte : authentiques galettes et crêpes bretonnes, variations autour des tartares, grand choix de salade alléchantes, croques, desserts maison et glaces artisanales, vins au verre.
Le dimanche un brunch est organisé mais je n’ai pas encore testé…

Un grand escalier central réunit les deux étages, entouré d’une magnifique mezzanine qui domine le bar et l’immense miroir central. Je vous invite à prendre une table sur la mezzanine ce sera plus conviviale.

J’ai goûté:
- Sea, sex & sun
saumon mariné à l’aneth, suprême d’oignons rouges, émincé de citron vert, crème acidulée
- Poêlée de gambas à la citronnelle, julienne de pois gourmands au lait de coco

http://www.lejava.ch/

I woke up this morning, and Rivaz still insists on sparkling under dark and foreboding clouds.  But nothing could keep us from our plans to visit Lausanne, one of the most famously beautiful cities in western Switzerland.  And sure, the beauty is important.  But what was our first stop in this Swiss city?  Why, a chocolate shop, of course!  Durig Chocolatier, to be precise.

My obsession with chocolate has known no limits, and this past November, I even paid the $50 admission charge to attend New York City’s Annual Chocolate Show in one of the enormous pavilions on the Hudson.  (Trembling from all the caffeinated truffle samples, I made the incalculable mistake of grabbing a sushi dinner with a stomach full of chocolate!)  But I had it on good authority that Durig was Switzerland’s most amazing chocolate shop, so I took hearty advantage of this opportunity to sample, savor, and devour.  The kind chocolatier, whom I affectionately called Willie Wonka, even allowed us to have a glimpse into the world of his chocolate-making factory, demonstrating how the truffles are made and packaged.  Had I not been married already, I might have proposed…

We walked through the wind and rain, hiking our way toward the stunning cathedral on the hill.  By now, I’ve seen so many cathedrals that it can be difficult to arouse much awe.  But what this particular church has going for it, in my opinion, is the incredible view that worshippers can enjoy on their way in and out of the church.  It is as though there is a continuation of the presence of holiness, from the internal space to the external creation.  It says a lot about a city when it can be perfectly cold and wet outside, and yet, the city still resonates with one’s idea of what constitutes beauty.  While I may not have seen the city sparkling under the sun, I certainly agree that Lausanne deserves its reputation.  It is one of those places that I’d be intrigued to visit again.  And again.