Renting an apartment

As part of settling in to Geneva, the next big task was finding a more permanent place to stay rather than Hotel Montbrillant (at CHF160+ per night).

Luckily, the timing was just right, as another ITC colleague had just vacated a rented apartment in Ferney-Voltaire (France) to move into her own apartment in the next block.

It is at the edge of the border between France and Switzerland. In fact the farm in front of the apartment was cut in half by the border. Here's the Google Earth view of my apartment, with the blue dot on the left, and the white border in front of it :

On Microsoft's Virtual Earth version, you can even have a "birds-eye view" of my apartment :

The apartment comes fully furnished with 2 bedrooms, a living room and a well equipped kitchen. Landlord, Patrick, taking me around :

The best part was the countryside/farm view from every room, with the Alps (and Mount Blanc) and the Jura Mountains.

Bright yellow canola flowers in bloom, in front of the apartment :

Farmer at work in the canola or rapeseed field :

Alps on the right :

Jura mountain range on the left :

Natural beauty everywhere :

The sun rises at 6.30am, better than an alarm clock!

And sets at 9.00pm, making for a very long spring day.

Geneva, first week

Geneva. Genève. Never mind in English or French, I'm here at last!

Like the rest of Europe, Geneva is a mix of the historical and modern world. Their old water fountains still provide clean drinking water.

The city is well organised. Buses and trains arrive and depart on-time like the precision world-famous Swiss watches.

I must have brought the Malaysian sun with me as the first few weeks were blue skies, bright sun (though a cold 15-18 C).

Off to work, I go. The International Trade Centre (ITC) building, among all the UN buildings sprinkled across a few kilometers.

I'm now an International Civil Servant, serving the world.

"My Life is My Message" Mahatma Gandhi. Geneva, the city of diplomacy and humanitarian action. This statue is along the UN grounds, reminding everyone who passes by, the sacrifices of one man who made a difference.

Lovely flowers blooming everywhere.

Like cherry blossoms, beckoning the arrival of spring.

Swans and ducks gliding on Lake Geneva.

Even a dog swimming, fetching a stick...(they love dogs here!)

People enjoying the sun and the lake.

And the Jet d'Eau is the centerpiece of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). 500 litres of water per second is jetted to a height of 140 meters.

Geneva!

(Pictures and video taken with my Sony Handycam HDR-CX12, which takes 10.2 megapixel pictures and Full HD video)

Starting my new chapter in Geneva...

Left Malaysia on 1st April (not a joke!) 2009 on a Eygpt Air flight to Geneva. ITC Travel Desk got me a business class seat all the way (not bad).

Transit in Cairo, Egypt. The dust storms still enveloping Cairo.

Then, I got my first view of Alexandria on the Mediterranean. Beautiful.

And the islands of Crete, Greece, as the plane headed towards Switzerland.

But what took my breath away were the towering Alps peeking through the clouds across Italy, France and Switzerland.

There were no imaginary boundaries to say which country they belonged to - all were equally breathtaking.

Like islands on a sea of clouds...

...calling out "Welcome to the Alps! Welcome to your new home!"

(Pictures and video taken with my trusted Nokia N95 (in offline mode))