Saturday in Plainpalais

Today we are spending the day in the neighborhood of Plainpalais (the area where we might move in February). There is an amazing flea market here on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which is great for flea market junkies like us. It is full of things like old furniture, housewares, bicycles, and lots of old watches. This area is one of the most bustling in the city, and is currently home to the Cirque de Noel, an annual Christmas-time circus that runs until just after the New Year. 

This is also the weekend of Escalade, a festival that celebrates the city's victory over the Duke of Savoy's invading troops in 1602. Legend has it that a Genevoise house wife drove the troops away by throwing a cauldron of hot vegetable soup out of her window on the soldiers on the street below. Today people celebrate the event by sipping cups of soup while watching a torchlight parade of costumed actors (See above for a photo of Escalade that I found on the internet.  We'll post our own photos after we see the real thing tonight.)