Garde de Vénus

What a cutie!

For four days this past week, I was entrusted by one of my coworkers to dogsit her 9 year old Cane Corso (a type of Italian mastiff) named Venus.  She had to go on a detail assignment and needed someone to watch the dog.  Unfortunately, the breed is on a list of banned breeds in Geneva.  If the police see a person with this kind of dog, they will take the dog on site and have it killed.  Which is terrible.  And, the list of banned breeds vary across cantons and cities.  So, my coworker needed someone willing to come to France for a few days (where the breed is allowed) to care for the dog.  Since I miss my own Great Dane, I happily volunteered for the job.

Of course I converted her to a Spartan.

The dog was the sweetest thing ever.  When I first showed up and entered the door, she looked at me and then started wagging her stub tail.  But of course, because she has a stub tail, her whole body was moving back and forth.  Then, she brought me her toys.

"Please play with me!"

She has this little Pumba squeeky toy that she will carry around in her mouth, toss into the air, snatch it up off the ground, and shake it.  She then brings you the Pumba to show you her accomplishment and get you to join in the fun.  I did not know how a large breed, 9 year old dog would handle long walks, so I took it slow, but she surprised me by keeping up most of the way.  It was a lot of fun to be around a big, lovable dog again, and only in Geneva do you get the chance to say that you moved to France for four days.

She's gonna eat me!  Nope, just a kiss.

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Posted in: 3L,Cane Corso,Dogs,English,Ferney-Voltaire,France,Geneva,J-Mad,Switzerland

That time I accidentally went to France...

Accidentally in France at the bus stop

On Friday, I took the city bus and ended up staying on longer than my stop, thinking that by the time I wait at the stop for the bus to turn around, the bus that would come would be the same one that I am on, so best to just stay on riding the bus around.  Turns out, if you stay on the F Bus, you'll end up going through a French-Swiss border crossing and wind up in Ferney-Voltaire, France.  Technically, you have to buy an additional pass if you are moving outside the regular Geneva metro area, so I stayed on the bus to avoid paying the additional fee for an accidental trip.

Ferney-Voltaire is named in part after Voltaire who lived there for the last 20 years of his life, constructing his home between 1758 and 1766.  The house is now a museum, which would be worth an intentional visit sometime.  Apparently Voltaire did a lot for the town, including building a school, houses, and providing the town interest-free loans in times of need.  The town was originally called Ferney, but was renamed in Voltaire's honor after the French Revolution.  If I go intentionally on a Saturday, apparently there is a pretty decent market in the town.  

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Posted in: 3L,English,Ferney-Voltaire,France,Geneva,J-Mad,Switzerland,Voltaire