[<<] [>>] by Faith Gaunt at Geneva
30th August 2000 (International)

Lots of Food (Oh, and Some Croquet Too)!

Tuesday 4th July

We were all packed and ready to leave by 0925 and reached Dover soon after 1330. After the ferry crossing we stayed in a hotel in Dunkerque. After a drink we went to look for food. However no luck - everything was shut. Eventually we found a small Creole restaurant 'La Martinique' which was open. Don had a chicken dish with rice and I had a steak with chips. The steak was quite tasty but tough and the chips were very hot - I burnt the underside of my tongue. We had a pichet of house red wine . We saw on a the television news that Le Havre was flooded today with the heavy rain, also saw that many of the crops are failing because of the continual bad weather.

Wednesday 5th July

We followed the motorway to Lille, then crossed into Belgium near Mons, down to Namur and into Luxembourg. We had long delays going into Luxembourg - a combination of motorways merging and road works near Arlon. Leaving Luxembourg we drove into Germany and headed towards Saarbrucken - here we commenced looking for a hotel. Places were either closed or had no rooms available. We made our way back into France to Sarreguemines. We saw a Comfort hotel advertised - direction Bitche so made our way there - we found the hotel but it too was full. Eventually we found a Logis de France. They had a room available but it was on the third floor and there was no lift! It was a long haul getting the cases up to our room. We eat in the hotel. We both had vegetable soup, I had veal Grille with chips und peas and some green beans, Don had Veal a la Creme, much the same as my dish but served with a cream sauce and some sliced mushrooms. We had two 50 cl pichet of house red wine. The meal was ok but the veal was a little on the tough side. For dessert don had raspberries - supposed to be flambe but wasn't and I had profiteroles.

Thursday 6th July

Neither of us slept terribly well - too much wine! We made for the motorway and followed this to Strasbourg. Soon after Strasbourg we took a side road which followed the Rhine, then we crossed into Germany and joined the motorway for Basle. We had filled up with petrol in Germany and also purchased a sticker to enable us to use the Swiss motorway system. We followed the motorway down through Berne to Lausanne, then towards Geneva. Really hot now - 32oC - thank goodness for air-conditioning in the car. Shortly before arriving in Geneva we turned off the motorway and Don was able to plot a route round on minor roads to St Genis where we were staying. We went out for a meal around 1930. Walked almost into the town centre - found a modern pedestrian precinct - there was a Brettonese Creperie. Owner quite friendly and we had quite a long talk with her. He came from Brittany and her grandparents lived in St Clement in Jersey. Don had a plain omelette and a crepe with apples, myrtle and Chantilly cream and I had a mushroom omelette, followed by a crepe with chocolate, Chantilly, mandarin sorbet flamed in Cointreau - it was delicious. Don had a Breton cider and I had a Kronenburg. At the end of our meal we were each given a glass of a Breton liquor made from honey.

Friday 7th July

We next made our way past CERN into Geneva. The road went past the hotel where we had stayed with Don's mother. As we were getting into central Geneva Peter Payne rang - there are 3 or 4 people for coaching. We are to be at the lawns at around 1730. We drove down to Lake Geneva (Lake Leman) and turned towards Evian . We saw the large fountain for which Geneva is famous. We followed the lake as far as the medieval village of Yvoire then back over the Col de Cou. From there we made our way back to the hotel. We left for the lawns at around 1715. On paper the route looked simple but we missed the turn and found ourselves totally lost. Don had a little 'paddy'. We then stopped and rang Peter - we were only yards away from the entrance. Don did a bit of coaching. Peter Darby and Nigel Gray arrived soon after 1830, shortly followed by Strat Liddiard and his wife. Peter Payne arrived shortly after 1900. We sat around chatting in the clubhouse until around 2000 then ten of us went back to our hotel where we had dinner. Quite a good meal - very late (for us) by the time we had finished. Don had smoked salmon, followed by grilled veal and a creme caramel, I had a meat terrine followed by a steak and then creme caramel. The vegetables with the meal were chips and green beans - all very nice. Lots of red wine.

Saturday 8th July

We made our way to the lawns and play commenced at around 0945. Weather cool and breezy. The event commenced with doubles - See below for scores. There was a break for lunch at around 1315 - a good meal. Two different quiches and couscous, then a sausage, a chicken wing and a chop (all cooked on the barbecue) for everyone - this served with hot vegetables, then melon and/or cheese. There was red and white wine to drink. We went back to the hotel as soon as Don had finished as he was feeling sick and had a headache. We both had a sleep and felt much better. Around 1930 we got washed and changed - Peter P. rang just before 2000 to see how Don was. We drove up to the town and parked near 'Le Coq Rouge'. We were not the first to arrive - when everyone had arrived there were twelve people present. We had an excellent meal. Don had smoked salmon starter, I had Tagliatelli and Broccoli (it should have been with asparagus but they had problems with their asparagus). Before we had our starters we were given eggcups containing a small amount of scrambled egg. For his main course Don had as chicken dish with a sauce, some potatoes and vegetables, I had prawns in saffron served on shredded cucumber, bean shoots etc. By the time we got our main courses it was around 2200. I ate all the prawns but didn't eat all of the beanshoots. The rest of the party ordered desserts when they had finished their main course. Don and I decided that we had had enough to eat. We left to go home to bed at 2310 leaving people still awaiting their desserts.

Sunday 9th July

The morning again commenced with doubles. Don did the four peels of a quad in his doubles but hit the peelee after rover. We then had another excellent lunch - kebabs (meat, green peppers, coated in a curry paste), steaks, salad, potatoes served in a creamy sauce, three different cheeses and a walnut tart. There was again both red and white wine, bread both brown and white, tea or coffee. The meats were again cooked on the barbecue. I was sitting near the barbecue and the aromas were wonderful as the meal was cooking. The wind continued to blow and it rained on and off throughout the day. All games had finished by 1630. Result - ten games all but England had scored more hoops overall than Switzerland - the tie all hinged on Strat's last game against Ian who had pegged out one of Strat's balls. Strat finished the game by winning 26/21. Team photographs were then taken. We said our goodbyes to everyone and were back at the hotel by 1650. After last night's gourmet meal we came to earth with a bang by having takeaway pizzas!

Monday 10th July

Started on our long journey across France to St Malo and then to Jersey for the Jersey opens, for which see Don's report. A great weekend, our thanks to CERN CC for their wonderful hospitality.

Results

Switzerland names first

Day 1

Payne/Etough 26 Gaunt/Gray 20
Sexton/Underhill 17 Liddiard/Darby 26
Sexton 26 Darby 9
Payne 16 Gray 26
Etough 11 Gaunt 26
Underhill 5 Liddiard 26
Sexton 26 Gray 19
Payne 26 Darby 10
Etough 26 Liddiard 9
Underhill 9 Gaunt 26

Day 2

Payne/Etough 26 Liddiard/Darby 7
Sexton/Underhill 1 Gaunt/Gray 26
Sexton 2 Gaunt 26TP
Underhill 26 Gray 12
Payne 26 Liddiard 14
Etough 26 Darby 2
Payne 2 Gaunt 26TP
Etough 26 Gray 10
Underhill 6 Darby 26
Sexton 21 Liddiard 26