Comments on: The Bubble Bursts

By: Nadia

Nadia — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:08:30 +0000

The only thing the French respect on the roads is the right-of-way… I know this from having applied my Swiss attitude to roads coming in from the right (which is that they usually have stop signs) resulting in honking, loud squealing brake noises, and sundry shouted insults (including “Sale suisse, rentre chez toi!!” trans. “Dirty Swiss go home!!!” Which is truly a silly insult, as most Swiss are usually squeaky clean.).

But the Genevese, like the rest of the Swiss, don’t really think they’re Swiss either. Or French. Or European. We’re just… Genevese. A breed apart: eclectic, international, independent, cultivated, loud-mouthed, opinionated… Genève Libre! Vive la République! Oh, and it’s OUR lake! And OUR Salève…

(P.S. For non-Swiss readers, it should be mentioned that the tip of Lake Geneva, with the fountain, has Geneva on both sides, giving us a Rive Droite and a Rive Gauche just like Paris, but most of the lake is either in France or Vaud… and the Salève is in France. At least the French seem to think so.)

By: jules

jules — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:07:25 +0000

Martin, It’s not Inger (phew!) but definitely up in the posh part of the village. I’ll keep my eyes pealed for the offender.
BB- Moron’s guide to indicating! Love it. The Swiss rarely indicate when leaving roundabouts and this really annoys me, so discourteous. The Genevois are not Swiss you know, at least no-one outside of Geneva thinks they are.
3rd timers make the best drivers.

By: Bolton bap

Bolton bap — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:38:36 +0000

Isn’t it funny how you can get up peacefully in the morning and have your ‘zen-ness’ instantly obliterated by another driver. I swear (literally) that all my pent-up frustrations are let loose on the Grenoblois driving public particularly at roundabouts where most people seem to be applying the moron’s guide to indicating.
That said, I love the way you can park more or less anywhere and drivers here are really easy to annoy,just slow right down or change lanes cheekily. A few months ago I was driving in Geneva and must’ve been concentrating on reading the map when I arrived at some traffic lights. A young guy screeched up in front of me and got out of his car. He came up to my window and went on about how I had cut him up at the last junction. Not really aware of what I had/hadn’t done I felt a smile coming on when he told me I was a ‘typical French driver’ and that it wasn’t done like that in Switzerland. It bemused me all day, maybe I’m becoming more French that I think.
PS I passed my test 3rd time, you are in good company!

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:11:07 +0000

I hope it’s not Inger – grin grin.

By: jules

jules — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:50:12 +0000

I had no idea that was one! Another! They trick you at every turn in this village. I know the one on the other side from Chemin des Marettes is because we used to live in that road but I still used to slow down exactly for the reasons you have given Martin, most people don’t realise it is not classed as a main road coming out of the village. The locals, however, well versed in the road system seem to take great enjoyment in our confusion and would, I swear, even force an accident just to prove a point. I shall keep my eyes peeled for the Honda, Inger no doubt knows who it is.