Sunday, March 31, 2013

Geneva Outfits

I am done with my Geneva reports and I’ve had an amazing time (as you probably noticed)! I loved wearing matching Lolita outfits with my dear Emilie and since I really loved our coords, I decided to make a separate post with a rundown of both of them! Inspired by Emilie I decided that from now on I will make a more detailed rundown of my outfits. I hope you like it. ^^

Powder Rose Rosalynn
My outfit rundown:
♥ Bow- and Rose clips: Claire’s
♥ Cardigan: Angelic Pretty
♥ Jsk: Angelic Pretty’s Powder Rose
♥ Socks: Angelic Pretty
♥ Shoes: An*Tai*Na
♥ Necklace: Claire’s
♥ Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
♥ Rings: Angelic Pretty and Zygomatics
♥ Bag: Angelic Pretty

Powder Rose Emilie
Emilie’s outfit rundown:
♥ Bow- and Rose clips: Claire’s
♥ Bolero: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
♥ Jsk: Angelic Pretty’s Powder Rose
♥ Socks: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
♥ Shoes: Secret Shop
♥ Necklace: Claire’s
♥ Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
♥ Rings: Angelic Pretty and Zygomatics
♥ Bag: Angelic Pretty

This was the first time I wore Powder Rose. Emilie made me fall in love with this print at the Angelic Pretty Tea Party, so wearing this matching outfit with her was so wonderful!

Candy Treat Rosalynn
My outfit rundown:
♥ Barrette bow: Angelic Pretty
♥ Bolero: offbrand
♥ Jsk: Angelic Pretty’s Candy Treat
♥ Tights: offbrand
♥ Shoes: An*Tai*Na
♥ Necklace: Claire’s
♥ Brooches: Angelic Pretty and Chocomint
♥ Bracelets: Chocomint, Swimmer and offbrand
♥Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty and Chocomint
♥ Rings: Angelic Pretty

Candy Treat Emilie
Emilie’s outfit rundown:
♥ Barrette bow: Angelic Pretty
♥ Cardigan: Knight’s Bridge
♥ Jsk: Angelic Pretty
♥ Tights: offbrand
♥ Shoes: Bodyline
♥ Brooch: Angelic Pretty
♥ Bracelets: Chocomint and offbrand
♥ Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty and Chocomint
♥ Rings: Angelic Pretty and Claire's

Emilie started to like Candy Treat thanks to me! We really complete each other as Lolitas. XD I thinked I liked these outfits even more than the Powder Rose ones.

I hope you like our outfits. ^^

Friday, March 29, 2013

Geneva, Day 4 – Returning Home


On Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast (I was really going to miss Emilie’s delicious Kellog’s Trésor chocolate thingies, haha). Then we got dressed and I put the last things in my suitcase, when suddenly Emilie’s mom walked in and gave me a huge box of chocolate’s for back home! Too sweet! ♥
After that, I browsed a bit in Emilie’s wonderful Hobbit artbooks. She also showed me bits of the Lord of the Rings movies in French. It was so strange for me to hear different voices for all the characters!
Then it was time to leave. We put on our coats and I said goodbye to Emilie’s wonderful appartement (XD). We took the elevator downstairs and walked for a while, just talking about all kinds of things. Finally, we arrived at the bus station, where the bus to the airport was already waiting for us! We sat down and not long after, the bus departed.
The view in the bus. XD I love buses.

The busride was really nice, because it drove all around Geneva and then up to the airport. I really like to have like a last view on the place I visited and buses are perfect for that! And I had a nice chat with Emilie about school and the city. ^^
We arrived at the airport, where we had to wait for a while until I could check in my luggage. Finally the desk opened and I let my suitcase go.
We decided to have some lunch and we ended up at Burger King, where I only got a hot brownie (or as I call it: ‘a brownie thing’) with ice cream. ♥ Since I couldn’t take my delicious peach drink from the Japanese supermarket with me, I drank that as well.
Perfect lunch~!

Finally, Emilie’s mom joined us too. She had to go somewhere that morning, but wanted to say goodbye one last time so she had come to the airport. So sweet!
After our lunch, it was time to say goodbye. I thanked Emilie and her mom for the three (and a half) wonderful days and then it was time to stand in line for the check in. After one final last wave goodbye Emilie and her mom left and I felt a bit sad. I was all alone again. I didn’t have much time to feel sad though, since I started to worry a bit about the time! The line was moving so slowly, I was afraid I would somehow miss my flight! My worries were for nothing though and I finally passed customs.
I quickly went to the toilet (where it was super quiet, until I almost ran into a cleaning lady) and then to my gate, where people were just waiting to board. Me and my worries! XD
I went to stand in front of the desk for passport check and after some waiting, I was allowed to pass the desk as one of the first people! I followed the tunnel up to the plane.
The plane, waiting to take me home.

I quickly found my seat at a window and just waited. Many people came after me (of course), but also a lot of children! :/ There were two kids accompanied by their grandparents who were so annoying, ugh. Oh well.
After a while, a woman asked me if I perhaps wanted to switch with her friend so they could sit together, but her friend had a middle seat and I really prefer the window, so I said politely declined (I felt a bit bad. But then again, I had a window seat!).
After a while, the plane started moving and took off, leaving Geneva behind.
Bye bye mountains! :(

After a short while, stewardesses walked by to hand out food and drinks. I chose a waffle and coke again. ^^
I read the Holland Herald (new issue, yay! It had a superinteresting article about famous books, so nice) and looked out of the window a lot. Despite the many children, I didn’t really hear them that much. There was an old woman who got really sick during the flight though. Poor woman… We also had a bit of turbulence (you usually have that, but it was more than I am used to), so I was happy when we finally started to descend again.
The plane hit the ground and not long after we could leave our seats. I followed the crowd and quickly found the signs guiding me to the luggage belts. I could already see my dad waving at me from behind the windows (I was a bit surprised to see him as it was a working day), but not my mom. I went to the right luggage belt and waited for my suitcase to come, which didn’t take long. I walked through the doors into the airport, where both my mom and dad were waiting for me. My mom was holding a heart-shaped balloon! She is so crazy. ♥
The text says: ‘Welcome home’.

I got to hug both my parents and my dad drove us home, where I could hug my dogs again too. It was strange to go on Facebook and tell Emilie I had arrived home safely, while we had seen each other only a couple of hours before! Suddenly we were so far away from each other again… I did like to be home again though. I really had the most wonderful time in Geneva and I really hope to go back there someday again!

Thank you for reading my Geneva reports. I hope you enjoyed them. ^^


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Geneva, Day 3 – Lolitas at Ladurée and in the City


On Thursday we woke up and had breakfast. We had planned to go to Ladurée on this day, but since we wanted to go in the afternoon we could take things easy. Of course we wanted to wear Lolita again and for this day I had brought my lavender Candy Treat jumperskirt, which Emilie owns in black. We lay our dresses on Emilie’s bed and started to pull out all kinds of accessories. Because Candy Treat has so many colours, lots of accessories fit so well! Emilie coordinated her black dress with her lovely polka dotted lavender cardigan, while I would wear my black bolero. After we put all the possible accessories down and decided to wear matching tights, we took some pictures of our outfits.
Our Candy Treat outfits! Don’t you think lavender and black match really well together?

After that, I put on my make-up and brushed my hair well, for Emilie let me try on some of her beautiful dresses! After browsing for a moment, I asked for Melty Chocolate first (one of Angelic Pretty’s best prints, in my opinion!). I matched it with my brown cardigan and tights (which I hadn’t brought with me for this sole purpose, nooo). Emilie then finished the coord with all of her Melty Chocolate accessories (she owns nearly the entire series) and her adorable chocolate bar bag!
Me wearing Emilie’s beautiful Melty Chocolate jumperskirt. I love that print even more now!

After I took Melty Chocolate off again (*sniff*), Emilie suggested I tried her Little Bears Café jumperskirt. Another one of those dresses that is far more beautiful in real life! I left my tights on, put the dress on and Emilie added a beautiful white Baby cardigan, white shoes (which I adored!), a lovely white head bow and her pink heart pochette. She also put one of her handmade collars around my neck. So pretty! I felt like a doll, getting all dressed up! ♥
Wearing Little Bear’s Café. I was totally dressed up in Emilie style!

As third and final dress I wore Emilie’s gorgeous Princess Honey’s Tea Salon jumperskirt, which she wore to the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tea Party. Ever since the Tea Party I am in complete love with that dress. I hope to find it someday! I put on my patterned white tights, Emilie’s pink Baby cardigan and side bow and pink shoes. I loved wearing Princess Honey so much!
I felt like a princess wearing this outfit! ♥

After the third dress, Emilie and I both got dressed in our Candy Treat outfits and took some outfit pictures, alone and together.
Our outfits! I really loved all of our accessories, though Emilie
had to get used to the amount of bracelets. ;)

I absolutely loved our matching outfits, even more than our Powder Rose outfits from the previous day! Of course we also took some pictures together!
Doing my classic sailor pose together! ♥

After our pictures, Emilie asked her mom to take a picture of us with her instant camera. The result was so awesome!
Before we left for Geneva, we ate a little lunch and some strawberry mochi, which is really nice!
We put on our coats, said goodbye to Emilie’s mom and went downstairs. We took the tram and I enjoyed the view for a while, even though at a certain stop some loud and rude boys got in. We were glad they didn’t notice us. ^^’
I followed Emilie and got out of the tram. We walked for a while until I noticed a sign in the typical Ladurée light green. We arrived at the shop/café, with a beautifully decorated shop window.
We went inside and ordered two pastries. Emilie chose a Religieuse Cassis-violette, while I chose an Ispahan, a pastry I had been dying for to try! Emilie asked the shop girl if we could eat them in the little sitting area behind the shop, which was alright of course. We sat down and took a look at the menu, which had the most elaborate kinds of tea!
Ladurée’s beautiful logo and menu.

After reading a bit through all the different kinds of tea, I chose the Marie Antoinette tea, while Emilie chose the Eugénie kind. We took pictures of our pastries while waiting.
Emilie’s pastry in the front, mine in the back. ^^

After a while, our tea got served in two cute little silver tea pots. The cups came with a little chocolate. ^^ When the shop girl noticed both our cameras, she asked if we wanted her to take a picture of us together. Of course we said yes!
I love this picture! *^^*

We poured in our tea and started eating our pastries. I can tell you: mine was wonderful! The light pink parts tasted like raspberry macaron and the raspberries were wonderful. To my surprise, I found lychees in the middle of my pastry! Sooo good! Emilie enjoyed her beautiful pastry very much too! ^^ Our tea was also wonderful! Mine tasted sweet and was so delicious… I think we both poured at least five cups from the tea pots!
The tiny tea room, which had been nearly empty, had some guests sitting down after us, including two men who finished their pastries so quick I hadn’t even noticed them eating them! How could you just devour your delicious pastry so fast? I can’t imagine they really enjoyed it. Oh well. XD
When we were finished, I bought a box with six macarons. Ladurée had put a picture of a wonderful macaron box with flowers and a flying bird on it on their Facebook page and when I could pick out a box, I noticed they had it! Of course I chose the little bird box! We left the shop and took some pictures of and in front of the Ladurée shop window.
All those pretty boxes and colours! Mint is really back in fashion these days.

Emilie showed me the cute shop next to Ladurée she had been talking about, so we went inside. The shop sold the cutest things, from tea sets to jewelry. I found a cute little bow shaped phone plug, which I decided to buy. I looked in my bag for money while Emilie talked a bit with the person behind the counter, who had asked why we were dressed like that (the everlasting question. XD). I walked up to the counter to pay and then we left the shop. We still don’t know whether the shop person was a very manly woman, or a very womanly man…
We took some last pictures of Ladurée’s big logo on the shop’s side wall and then went on our way. We walked for a while, until we arrived at a part of the city I recognized. We walked around the corner and I could see the Geneva Lake. And the Jet d’Eau was on! We walked along the waterside, under a bridge and arrived at a square next to the water with beautiful view on the fountain. There were a lot of Asian tourists walking around and it didn’t take long before they asked us for a picture. ^^ Of course we didn’t mind. After a while, we were able to take pictures with the Jet d’Eau ourselves. First, Emilie took pictures of me.
Finally a picture with the Jet d’Eau!

Then I wanted to take pictures of Emilie, until I realized something was missing: the Jet d’Eau was gone! Without us noticing it the Jet d’Eau had gone down! When we checked our pictures, we could see the fountain going down in my last picture! XD Poor Emilie… We could laugh about it though.
The view on the lake was still beautiful and we walked around the square for a bit. We also went to see the Horloge Fleurie, a big clock with flowers around it, where two parents wanted to take cute pictures of their little daughter, who obviously had had enough of posing. XD When the father saw us he asked if his daughter could be in a picture with us. She was so shy, awww!
We walked the same way back (someone asked me where I had bought my coat. She was disappointed to hear it was all the way from Japan, haha). We went back to the restaurant in the shopping mall we had been on the first day to visit the toilets, which was not a very pleasant experience. Lolita + public toilets = not so fun. ^^’
We left the shopping mall again and we walked through the beautiful streets of Geneva. Emilie wanted to show me the old part of Geneva, which was quite an adventure. We had to walk up a very steep hill, passing a group of children who couldn’t stop staring at us (they were so cute)! We also passed some wonderful shops. One sold all kinds of old devices, like binoculars and telescopes. Then we arrived at a street I recognized from some of Emilie’s pictures. There were beautiful buildings and flags everywhere! We took some really nice pictures. The only shame were the tourists and a big parked yellow car. XD
Emilie in the beautiful old street, with the Swiss and Genevan flags.

We walked around the corner, followed the street and found ourselves on a beautiful, car-free square with trees and a wonderful view over the city and the mountain! There was a really long bench next to the fence near the edge. We took some pictures on it and also next to one of the pretty lantern poles.
Sometimes you have those pictures of yourself you really like and this is one of them. ^^

Suddenly I noticed three wooden horse play sets. Of course I couldn’t let this opportunity get past me, so I had to ride one! It actually took quite some effort to keep the horse rocking. Such a great way to exercise!
We left the square and walked back the way we came, only went right this time. We walked through the streets, went around a corner and in front of us was the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, the cathedral I had seen on our first day from the waterside.
The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. ^^

We walked up to the big wooden door and went inside. I always find it so magical to step into a church. The atmosphere is always so mysterious and overwhelming. Whether you’re a believer or not, everyone is as silent as possible.
We walked around through the cathedral, also visiting a beautifully decorated chapel. After sitting down there for a while, we left again.
Some pictures of inside the cathedral. Isn’t it beautiful?

I followed Emilie around the cathedral and downhill again, passing a wonderful square with beautiful houses. There were also a lot of posters about voting for all kinds of things. Emilie told me Swiss people vote a lot. XD
We arrived back at the big street that I came to call ‘the familiar street’, because I recognized it every time. We walked past the shop windows of a toy store filled with Furbies and I couldn’t resist to take a look. It was such a wonderful shop! Little robot animals were walking around with balloons attached to them, planes flew around the ceiling and I won’t even start telling you about the stuffed animals section! I really loved the store so much! I ended up just buying a really kitsch Geneva magnet, haha!
We left the store again and Emilie felt really, really tired. I was tired too, but I still walked around on adrenalin. We passed some cute shop windows with tables with cupcakes and I bought chocolate for my parents at home. Then we took the tram back to Emilie’s apartment, where we got out of our Lolita clothes and into our normal clothes. Even though Emilie was so tired, she still offered to go eat Swiss cheese fondue in a restaurant a few tram stops away. I thought that was just so sweet! ♥
We took the tram and entered the restaurant, where luckily there was place for us (even though the waiter looked a bit doubting at first). After a little waiting, our fondue arrived!
Cheese fondue~!

It was sooo good! I really loved the hot, melted cheese with the bread, but it was also heavy! But good. So good.
While we ate, we observed the poor waiter doing all the work by himself! There were no other waiters or waitresses! Poor man.
After the wonderful fondue we ordered dessert (it’s a miracle we had room for that). We both ordered a ‘Petit Bonheur au Chocolat’ and received a hot chocolate cake with melted chocolate in it and double cream from Gruyeres! It was sooo good…
A little blurry picture, sorry!

We left the restaurant and went back to the apartment, where I packed my suitcase for the next day. Then we went to sleep. It had been a wonderful day!

Pictures are either taken by Emilie or by me.


Friday, March 15, 2013

Geneva, Day 2 – Lolitas in Gruyères


On Wednesday morning we woke up on time, for we were going to Gruyères! At the time I had no idea what it was exactly, except for the fact it was a nice town, great for pictures. We had breakfast and got dressed in basic outfits to get our hair and make-up done. The night before we had coordinated our Lolita outfits for this day. We had decided to wear our Powder Rose jumperskirts, which Emilie has in yellow and I have in black! We coordinated our dresses with pink, flowers and items we had in common, like our wristcuffs. I had also bought Emilie a pink macaron necklace as a gift and because I had bought myself one too to match, we put the necklaces in the outfit too.
Our coords for the day! Mine on the left, Emilie’s on the right.

Emilie had created a beautiful crown braid hairdo and we decided to do (almost) the same for me, but it turned out to be not so easy. ^^’ Apparently my hair is quite difiicult to put into a crown braid. At a certain point both Emilie and her mom were trying to get the braids in place on my head! In the end I managed to do it myself. XD
Emilie and I finally got dressed and we left the apartment (later than planned, ahem). We went downstairs to the parking garage, we sat down in the car and Emilie’s mom drove away.
As the ride would take about one hour and thirty minutes, I just sat down and enjoyed the view. We drove all the way through Geneva, along the lake. Of course now the Jet d’Eau was on! XD
We left Geneva and the longer we drove, the better the weather got. The sun started to shine, but it was quite misty. My ears were popping a lot, indicating we were going higher up into the mountains. After a while we drove on a road and Emilie told me she was really disappointed, because from this place you usually had a beautiful view over the lake and the mountains, but because of the mist there was nothing to see. We were hoping the view would get better later.
The further we drove, the better the view got. The sky had a beautiful shade of blue and the houses we passed were covered in snow. After a long time, Emilie pointed at a snow covered hill. She told me it was Gruyères, a Medieval town! I got even more curious now!
We went right, stopped and got out of the car around 1 pm. We were standing on an empty parking lot, surrounded by snow and beautiful mountains! Before we went to Gruyères, we quickly ate a sandwich first. While I was enjoying the quietness of the snow and mountains, a big Bernese Mountain dog walked up to us and sat down, staring longingly at our sandwiches. He probably lived in one of the houses beyond, but he didn’t want to leave. When Emilie’s mom held out her hand, he patted it with his paw! So cute!
Emilie’s mom with the dog. He was just so sweet!

We finished our sandwiches and crossed the road. I was glad Emilie had told me we had to climb a little so I had put on my boots, because I saw a very steep pathway coming up! While we walked up the hill, the dog followed us for a while. Suddenly he left the path and ran away through the snow, leaving our sight after a while. Such a cute dog. ^^
We started walking up the steep hill, which was quite exhausting, but also really wonderful! Next to the path everything was covered in snow and right in front of us was a castle wall!
The pathway up to Gruyères. Doesn’t it feel.. magical?

We managed to walk up the steep path and I couldn’t believe my eyes. At the end of the path was a big, castle-like gate and castle walls! We walked through the gate and I swear, it was like we went back in time! Wooden houses came out of the wall, giving the vibe of a true Medieval town!
The big gate. Isn’t this picture just wonderful?

We went right, walking between old walls and entering a big, pebbled square surrounded by beautiful, old houses and decorated with garlands of little red flags. I just couldn’t believe my eyes, it was like we had walked right into a fairytale! As if Red Riding Hood could come skipping around the corner any minute! I was so happy we had gone to Gruyères! ♥
The beautiful square, surrounded by cute houses. And full with tourists!

The beautiful town is probably quite a quiet place, but today it was swarming with tourists! A huge group of Asian people, almost all dressed in black with a red scarf, were walking around, taking pictures and also smoking. When they saw Emilie and me, with our pink coats and flowery hairdos, we were almost immediately asked for pictures! We didn’t mind of course, which resulted in us posing with almost every tourist at least twice. XD
We met Psy! No sorry, just joking. XD

While we were posing, Emilie’s mom talked a little with some of the people. They told her they were from Indonesia and on a business trip. They all worked for a cigarette company, which explains all the smoking.
After a while, we were able to walk around again. We took some pictures of the beautiful buildings (there was another big dog, a Newfoundlander, lying in front of the door of one of the houses) and walked uphill. We passed a cute little café with a sign saying ‘Ici, c’est du chocolat’ (which means ‘Here, it’s chocolate’). It made us laugh a bit: it sounded so funny. We took some pictures in front of the café.
In front of the cute café!

We walked uphill some more, went through a gate and walked into a shadowy part (which was not any less beautiful). Suddenly, Emilie pointed to the right. ‘Look, there’s the Alien museum,’ she said. I looked to my right and wondered how I could have overlooked the strange, futuristic-looking entrance to a museum dedicated to the Alien films! I really could not understand why they would make a museum about the Alien movies in a place like Gruyères. Of all places! I was really shocked. XD
We arrived at a square with a beautiful view on the valley. It was a great time to change into my Lolita Tea Party shoes now. I hadn’t brought them for nothing of course! I sat down on a bench, changed footwear and then joined Emilie and her mom. Emilie asked her mother to take some pictures of us walking down the path across from where we were standing. She explained the buttons briefly and then we walked down the path as naturally as possible (haha). After that, we did it again, so Emilie’s mom could film a little too.
Lolitas in the wild. ^^

Then Emilie’s mom joined us and we followed the path, which went all around the castle (!) of Gruyères. We took some pictures with the beautiful view on the valley as background and then walked into the shadow, all around the castle. On the other side, when we got back into the sunlight, we could see beautiful mountains again. I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking in Middle Earth…
I really wish we had mountains in my country.

We walked a bit further and I took some pictures of a little church bathing in the sunlight. I was really happy it was such wonderful weather! Sunlight makes things even more beautiful.
Can you imagine waking up to a view like this every day? *_*

Emilie’s mom took some more pictures of us and then we walked to more flat ground, where we decided to finally take outfit pictures without our coats on! I was afraid it would be really cold, but it turned out to be quite nice after all! First I took pictures of Emilie, then she took pictures of me.
Our outfits! I think we managed to match really well, don’t you think? ^^

We also took some jumping pictures. Sometimes jumping pictures just don’t work out, but Emilie managed to take a wonderful one of me!
Flying Rose~!

After our solo pictures, Emilie’s mom took pictures of us together. When two of the Indonesian tourists walked by, they said we looked very pretty, like princesses! *^^* They asked for a picture too.
I really loved wearing matching outfits with my friend! ♥

We put our coats on again and followed Emilie’s mom, who walked into a dark, crowded café. Emilie told me we were going to eat meringues, a famous Gruyères delicacy. The café was full unfortunately, so we walked back to the with flags decorated square and entered another café, which wasn’t full. We were seated in a back room with beautiful view on the mountains (can you tell I love mountains? I think I’ve said the word a hundred times by now. XD). We ordered meringues with double cream and waited for our order to arrive. I was very curious to what it would be like! I’ve seen and tasted meringues before, but never the original ones!
The waiter arrived with our order and put the plates in front of us. On the plates, there were two meringues in a pretty, wavy pattern and a little wooden cup with something that looked a lot like white paint to me, but was double cream. Of course we immediately pulled out our cameras to take pictures!
Don’t you love the wavy shape of the meringues?

Emilie taught me the proper way of how to eat a meringue (because I had no idea how to eat those things): you put the cream on the meringue and then break off a piece with your spoon. After that you scoop up the piece and eat it. I am glad she told me. I thought the meringues had to be eaten with your hands or something. I put the paint-like cream on my meringue and tried my first bite. I can tell you: it was delicious! The meringues were a bit crunchy and the sweet thick cream created the perfect balance! I loved it so much! ♥ Even though it was quite heavy I was sad when I had finished!
We left the café and browsed some of the cute tourist shops in the old buildings (one shop had an electric sliding door. I thought that was a bit funny). One of the shopkeepers told us she thought we were very beautiful. ^^ I ended up buying a postcard and a cute dog keychain.
We had gotten quite tired and decided to go back to the car. We took some more pictures while we managed to climb down the steep pathway again. I was a bit sad to leave beautiful Gruyères…
Walking down this path felt like closing a book and turning back to reality.

We arrived back at the car and got in. Initially Emilie had planned to go somewhere else after Gruyères, but we were all so tired we decided not to go after all. Maybe next time..?
We drove for less than a minute and arrived at another parking lot, belonging to a super market. Emilie’s mom wanted to buy some meringues, double cream and other things for Emilie’s dad and brother. I bought another post card there, of Gruyères covered in snow. It’s funny: even though Switzerland is not a Euro country, I could pay with Euros anyway, but I often got Swiss Francs in return. ^^
We took a funny picture in front of the super market and then went back to the car. We got in and started on our way back. After driving for a while, Emilie’s mom pulled over and Emilie went to see if the Geneva Lake and the mountains were visible now, but unfortunately the mist hadn’t disappeared yet. Oh well, maybe for next time too. Emilie’s mom turned the car around and we drove back. I looked out of the window and noticed a big, steep rock wall where some construction was going on. It reminded me so much of Helm’s Deep! I swear, Switzerland is Middle Earth!
We drove for a very long time and since I was quite tired, I closed my eyes. To avoid heavy traffic, Emilie’s mom took a different route through a nice town, but other than that I don’t remember much more. I must have slept for quite a while, because when I woke up we just entered Geneva. I felt a bit guilty for sleeping while Emilie’s mom had to drive all the way. ^^’
The sun was setting and Geneva was busy! I thought the city where I live is architecturally challenging, but Geneva wins! Traffic lights that remained green for five seconds, roads that flowed into each other… It was quite chaotic! Emilie and her mom were shouting abuse in French at annoying drivers, it was quite funny. XD
We finally arrived back at the apartment, where Emilie and I took some more coatless outfit pictures before we turned back into our ‘normal’ selves. We had dinner (the same noodle-like pasta as the night before but with egg, so nice), took a shower and got dressed in our pajamas. I skyped with my parents at home and we took a look at our pictures. Then we went to sleep, we were so tired! We fell asleep quickly.

Pictures are either taken by Emilie or by me.


Saturday, March 09, 2013

Geneva, Day 1 – Flight, Arrival and the Geneva Lake


In my previous post I mentioned I had started packing for something, but I didn’t tell you for what. Well, I can tell you now! I am back from Geneva, Switzerland, where I visited my dear friend Emilie for four days! ♥ I’ve had an absolutely wonderful time and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! I hope you will like my posts (especially since I have just finished my Tokyo posts). ^^

For my birthday, back in December 2012, my parents gave me a plane ticket to Geneva as a gift, to visit Emilie there! After we had met in Paris for the Lolita Tea Parties we hadn’t seen each other ‘in real life’ anymore and we really missed each other. Talking on Facebook chat isn’t everything of course. ^^ Together we counted down the days until I would depart and finally Tuesday February 26th came!
I woke up at 5:45 am (so early!), to have some breakfast and get dressed. I dragged my suitcase downstairs, said bye to my dogs and put on my pink Angelic Pretty coat. My dad drove my mom and me to the train station, from where we took the train to the airport at 7 am. The train was quite full, but luckily we managed to find two seats next to each other. Despite the fact I had pressed my suitcase almost against my legs, people still managed to bump into it. Apparently they needed glasses or something. Or they got distracted by my pinkness in a sea of black coats (I swear, no one wears pastel during the winter days here).
I had a lot of trouble waking up. It was so early! >_< I was also pretty nervous: this was the first time I would fly all by myself! Luckily my mom and I could talk and have fun together. ^^
We arrived at the airport, where I looked up my flight details on one of the signs. I had already printed my boarding pass, but I needed to see where to check in my suitcase.
Ah, the quietness of the airport in the morning! I was still waking up here.

We took the escalators up to the luggage hall where it took me some time to find the right place. It was a bit confusing as to where I had to check in. Luckily a staff member could show me.
My mom waited while I went to get rid of my suitcase. I showed my passport and then walked up to the weird check in machines, where I put my suitcase in a niche, confirmed my personal- and flight details and printed my label. After that, I walked back to my mom. We talked for a little while (‘Be careful’ and ‘I’ll miss you’, etc. ♥) and then it was time to go through customs. We walked around a wall and then it was really time to say goodbye. My bag, laptop and coat got scanned, I walked through the scanner myself too, I put on my coat, waved a final goodbye at my mom and then I was completely alone at the airport. God, I was so nervous! I knew there was no reason to be nervous at all: it’s not like I could board the wrong plane or something, but the fact I was alone and completely responsible for everything was quite nerve racking!
I walked around for a while, just looking at the different shops. I saw the bar my mom had taken a picture of the last time she was at the airport, I passed a chocolate café where a girl was literally hammering on a massive block of chocolate and I browsed a toy store. I also walked into some cool devices where you could do little experiments, like big mirrors and a glass ball with ‘lightning’ in it.
I noticed a lot of people looking at me. I swear: pink must be such a sight these days!
I turned around and followed the crowd of people, discovering another part of the airport. I passed an impressive bar (it looked like a palace hall, very pretty) and when I went up the escalators I ended up in ‘the green part’, where a forest was painted on the windows and trees reached through the ceiling. It was very cool!
Finally it was time to go to my gate. I walked for a while and ended up at gate C14, direction Geneva. Boarding had already started, so I could immediately show my boarding pass. For a moment it seemed something was wrong, as the woman who took my boarding pass walked away with it to ask something to her colleague. When she returned, everything seemed fine, so I didn’t think too much about it. I waited in line in the tunnel and then was able to board the plane.
Ok, I’ll be honest. This wasn’t the plane I boarded, it was the one next to it.
But they were almost the same!

The plane was quite small (in my opinion) with only two rows of three seats each. My seat was a window seat in the 19th row, so I had to wait for a while until I could reach it. The poor people next to my seat had to stand up for me. ^^’
I put my coat in the luggage rack above my seat, but I preferred to keep my bag with me. There was candy in it after all, very important. I got seated and put on my seat belt. As the flight would only take about 1 hour and 30 minutes, I didn’t expect to have to leave my seat.
I had quite a nice view: I had reserved a seat behind the wing, so I could look down well. When everyone got seated, the plane started moving and the instruction video began. Not long after we were already on the takeoff strip! Everything went so fast! I grabbed my camera to start filming when the plane started to make speed. We quickly left the ground and we were flying! I was flying! Alone!
I ate some (really nice) candy to prevent my ears from hurting and I looked out the window. The grey, sad-looking ground quickly turned into white clouds, which quickly turned into a bright blue sky. I still think it’s so magical the sun is always shining behind the clouds!
Can you believe I took these picture one minute after each other!?

About twenty minutes into the flight, the stewardesses offered something to drink and eat. The choice between sweet and salty was easy: sweet please! I received a nice sugared waffle and I asked for a can of diet coke. They were both very nice. ^^
I looked out of the window as often as I could. When there was nothing to see (aka miles of white clouds only) I read the special magazine the KLM offers during the flight, called the Holland Herald. It’s a really nice magazine, full of interesting articles about all kinds of things and places in the world.
After a while, I could see snowy meadows and rivers and after some more time: mountains! Oh my God, beautiful mountains! They reached through the clouds, topped with snow and striking against the blue sky. They immediately made me think of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit! ♥
Far over the Misty Mountains cold…

The plane made a big turn and started its descend. We broke through the clouds, where I could see the sky was grey that day. Being above the clouds almost makes you forget it doesn’t necessarily have to be nice weather down there too. ^^’
We quickly taxied to our gate and within a couple of minutes people were already leaving the plane. The man who sat in my row at the aisle was kind enough to give me my coat already, so it didn’t take long for me to leave. I left the airplane and checked my bag. A couple of maintenance men were talking to each other, in French! I love French so much…
I walked into the airport and followed the ‘baggage pick up’ signs. I quickly walked up to the luggage belt and since it would take a couple of minutes for the suitcases to arrive, I looked around for a bit. There was a big poster saying ‘Welcome to Geneva’ and I also noticed signs saying every passenger could get a free public transport ticket to the city itself. I thought that was so nice!
The luggage belt started rolling and the first suitcases appeared. Almost every suitcase was black, as was mine, but I had put a white ribbon on the handle so I could recognize it. I am always afraid my luggage won’t show up or gets stolen somehow, so I looked at every single suitcase. More and more suitcases rolled out and got dragged off the belt, but mine wasn’t! I started panicking a little, until I realized one of the black suitcases that had passed me already was in fact mine after all. I hadn’t seen the ribbon. Oops! ^^’
I grabbed my suitcase and walked up to the exit. I was a little nervous: what if I somehow couldn’t find Emilie and her mom? Well, my fears were for nothing: as soon as I walked through the doors I could see a bright pink coat from the corner of my eye. I could finally hug my friend after such a long time! ♥ I also introduced myself properly to Emilie’s mom of course.
The three of us walked through the airport, to the parking garage where Emilie’s mom had parked her car. We put my suitcase in the trunk and I got seated in the back. We drove for a while and through a lot of tunnels. I was a bit shy, so I didn’t talk much (yet, huhu).
After some time we arrived at the apartment complex where Emilie and her family live. Her mom parked the car and we took the elevator up to the right floor. When I walked through the door, I was amazed by the space and the view on the mountain (although it was a bit blocked by clouds) of the wonderful apartment. I would love to live in a place like that!
I installed my things in Emilie’s room and of course I just had to browse her a-ma-zing Lolita closet! I swear, everything she owns is wonderful! Every dress, every pair of shoes, even every pair of socks! She has such great taste! ♥
Browsing through Emilie’s wonderful dresses was so fun!

We had gotten hungry, so we had lunch. Emilie’s mom made us sandwiches, they were really nice. After that we took some outfit shots. We both wore quite a cute outfit, both pink-themed. Emilie’s was pastel and candy-ish, mine was candy cane-themed.
Our outfits of the day! Unfortunately you won’t see them after this picture,
since we wore coats all day long. X)

Then we got dressed in our matching coats (which was a coincidence) and went to explore Geneva! We took the tram (there is a stop in front of the building where Emilie lives, such luxury!) and got out in the middle of the city. Geneva reminded me of Paris a bit, but it’s also entirely different! I followed Emilie and after passing some nice buildings and shops, we arrived at the waterside of the Geneva Lake (or in French: Lac Léman). Unfortunately, the famous Jet d’Eau, the big water fountain in the lake, wasn’t on! We were a bit disappointed, but we hoped it would be turned on later that day.
We crossed a bridge and I couldn’t stop looking around: there were so many beautiful buildings like hotels and apartments at the waterside everywhere! It must be so expensive to stay or even live there!
We passed a shop filled with beautiful watches. Real Swiss watches, haha!
I just walked along with Emilie while looking at some of the wonderful buildings. After walking for a while, I saw a beautiful brown building on my right, with pillars and flags. It looked so fancy, it just had to be an opera or something! ‘That’s our post office,’ Emilie then told me. I was shocked! O_O
Of course I wanted to be in a picture with the post office! Don’t you think it looks fancy?

We kept walking for a while, until we arrived at another tram station. We took the tram and got out a couple of stations further. We passed a modern building, shaped like a globe. It turned out to be a church! Geneva is an interesting place.
We arrived at a little Japanese supermarket called Uchitomi, where they sold all kinds of Japanese food and drinks. After looking around for a bit, Emilie bought some strawberry mochi, some candy and a peach-flavoured drink. I bought the same drink and dorayaki, some kind of Japanese pancake filled with red beans and paste.
So many choices~!

We left the shop again and tried some of Emilie’s candy (which tasted like peach too, very nice). After some walking we went right and followed a long path up to an old-fashioned house at the waterside of the Geneva Lake. We went right and walked along the lake. It was really cold, but the view was gorgeous. The only downside was that the clouds blocked the mountains, but oh well. ^^
After some walking, I wanted to take pictures of us with the lake, so we climbed up the little wall next to the pavement, which was a bit scary, because there were a lot of rocks next to it.
Emilie in her sweet pastel outfit next to the Geneva Lake. ^^

After some normal pictures first, we did some jumping pictures too! Poor Emilie almost broke her knee when she landed!
Walking along the lake was so wonderful. The sound of the water hitting the rocks was very calming and the view was breathtaking. But it was so cooold! Some of the rocks were covered in ice (which looked really pretty by the way).
Such an artsy picture! ♥

When we passed a little harbor, we saw some gulls standing on the ice, but it really seemed like they were just standing on water! We called them ‘Jesus-gulls’. XD
We walked for a very long time. A nice woman walking her dog asked us if we were going to a wedding (because of our pink coats again, haha). She was very nice. ^^ And I felt quite proud, because I could actually understand her entire conversation in French with Emilie. My French knowledge hasn’t disappeared yet, yay!
We took a picture of us taking a picture of the other. ^^ I love the effect.

We arrived at a square with pruned trees. They had really weird shapes: they looked like cones, but it was as if a giant had cut off all their tops! I needed a picture with them, of course.
From the square, you usually have a really nice view on the Jet d’Eau, but it still wasn’t on unfortunately. Later we heard it was turned off because it was freezing.
Looking out over the lake.

We decided to take some jumping pictures together, which turned out to be quite an adventure! We used Emilie’s camera and set the timer, but we weren’t very good at timing ourselves! We have a lot of failed pictures: either we’re both not jumping or one of us is jumping. Sometimes we also had people walking behind us. One of our pictures is actually perfect, except for the man who was just walking behind Emilie, ruining the image after all. XD After about 30 minutes, we finally managed to get the perfect picture!
We’re flying~!

We crossed the road and walked up to the beautiful Brunswick monument . We took some pictures around it and I also tried my dorayaki. It was sooo good! ♥
The beautifully detailed Brunswick monument.

We walked on for some time, passing a long row of gulls sitting on a fence, and then arrived back at the place where we had started our ‘tour’. We went inside a shopping center to have some hot chocolate and we also both ate a ‘boule de Berlin’.
The hot chocolate was really nice. Switzerland is a chocolate country of course. ;)

We were really tired from our endless walking, so we strolled to the nearest tram station, where we took the tram back to the apartment.
Back there, we talked for a while and uploaded pictures, I skyped with my parents at home and we had dinner (delicious noodles with chicken and a lemony sauce, it was so nice).
After dinner we took a shower and changed into our pajamas. We also coordinated our Lolita outfits for the next day. Emilie and I have three Angelic Pretty dresses from the same line, but in different colours, so I took two of them with me so we could wear matching outfits! ^^
Then we finally went to bed. It had been a wonderful first day!

Pictures are either taken by Emilie or by me.