Bonjour de la Suisse: Grams comes to visit

When my mom left Geneva I was so sad and was feeling more than a little overwhelmed. G was back at work and I was all on my own with Madeleine. But now that my mom had flown back to the US it was G's mom's turn to visit. Really we were only on our own for a day (a long day) and we did pretty well; going out to lunch with my friend, Cycle Guy, and doing a little shopping. But needless to say I was really looking forward to having G's mom out!

We went out to pick her up at the airport and it turned out to be quite a welcoming committee. Three of G's coworkers (including Mrs. Kofi) came down from the office to meet up with us at arrivals. Like my mom, G's mom has also been out to visit us in Geneva before so she was familiar with the city and I didn't feel the need to entertain her while she was here. But also like my mom, I wanted her to have a good time while she was here visiting.

The first few days we were busy running errands and meeting up with some of my friends for lunch. On Thursday we had lunch with “The Non-Desperate Housewives of Geneva” group who I hadn't seen since going into the hospital, so I was eager for them to meet little Madeleine. They were all thrilled to meet her! The next day we went out to Mrs. Kofi's house in Mies for lunch and took a walk to the local lakeside park.

That week was also our three year wedding anniversary, which we quietly celebrated at home. This was very different than the last two anniversaries that we celebrated in Venice, Italy and Hallstatt, Austria. True this year we aren't jet setting to some fabulous location, but for me it was my favorite anniversary yet; all because of our little girl.

That weekend was the Caves Ouvertes in the Geneva countryside. It is a yearly event where hundreds of wineries throughout the Geneva region welcome visitors for wine tasting. Last year we went and had a great time and we knew this was an event not to be missed. So the four of us took the train out to the neighboring town of Satigny and did a little wine tasting. The weather cooperated and it turned out to be a gorgeous day! On Sunday we took a nice long walk along the lake and indulged in some gelato at the best gelato place in Geneva, Gelato-mania in the Paquis.

We had Madeleine's photo for her passport but we were still waiting for her birth certificate before we could apply for her passport. It finally arrived but because of the Memorial Day holiday the US Embassy was closed and we had to wait until Tuesday to turn in all her paperwork. We had heard a lot about the guy that works at the Embassy, J. It turns out he has quite the reputation and is known throughout the expat community in Geneva as not being very nice and actually quite difficult to deal with. Well, everything I had heard was true... he really put us through the ringer and after almost an hour in a very hot room, we had completed the process. Now we just have to wait three weeks (hopefully) for her passport to arrive.

The last two days of G's mom's visit was full of appointments and errands. I wanted to get some things done that I really couldn’t do on my own like take Scout to the vet (for her rabies shot so she can return to the US) and get my haircut. We also went by the Clinique Generale-Beaulieu (so Grams could see where Maddie was born) and we stopped in G's office to show off Madeleine. It was a busy couple of days, but we had a great time!

G's mom was a huge help and I was really sad to see her go, especially since there were no other moms in the queue to come to visit. We were really going to be on our own... at least for another month before we head back to California. The day G's mom left Madeleine turned one month old. Where had the last four weeks gone?!? I feel like she is growing up so fast! I'm sure I will feel like this for the next... ummm... 18 years? ;)