Geneva Airport Eats

By the time we got back to Geneva airport, we were exhausted. After a long flight and a day of sightseeing, we were looking forward to resting on the plane. Before an easy trip through security, we grabbed a snack at Le Pret-a-Manger (which did not seem to be related to the Pret we have back home):


We opted for some healthy pineapples and coconut water. After all, it hadn't been too long since we went for our rotisserie chicken lunch.

After the snack, I promptly passed out in the dining area and A got a Swiss beer which a lot of people near us seemed to be buying:


Since I was passed out, I don't really know much about the beer, but maybe I'll add some of A's insights later.

After security, there was a really expensive food court. If we think our $10 airport entrees are expensive, how about fried rice that cost 25 francs (~USD34) or spring rolls that cost 13 francs (~USD18)? Forget about the prices at the caviar house.


We opted for the "picnic bag" at the Swiss Sandwich Bar for a pre-flight meal. (We were at the airport for awhile to make sure we didn't miss our flight.)


It consisted of a bottle of water, a bag of chips (we got paprika - a flavor we can't get at home) and a ham and cheese triangle sandwich.

If you're used to deli sandwiches in the US, you're probably used to meat and cheese being piled on to sandwiches (unless it's a thin Subway sandwich) and also some toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc. Many triangle sandwiches in Europe are on the thinner side like the one we got from the Swiss Sandwich Bar and don't have vegetables:


Ham, cheese and butter. Lots of butter. A very rich sandwich. Personally, I prefer my sandwiches not lined with butter... but for 10 francs (~USD14), the meal combo was the best deal in the departure area of the airport, so we went for it. Our last meal in Switzerland!

Chez Ma Cousine

Some things we learned about Geneva during our layover:

1. Restaurants can be expensive. When we researched places in Geneva, a lot of them were pricey and several seemed more formal than we could handle on a layover. I also read somewhere that Geneva is one of the most expensive cities. Is that true?

2. A lot of places in Geneva are closed on Sundays. Walking around some streets near the lake, they were incredibly quiet because everything was closed. Although we had one or two places on our list that appeared to be open on Sunday from their websites, we started to think nothing might be open.

3. Geneva has some steep hills. We were following the GPS on my blackberry to try to locate the chicken place on our list, and had no idea that the slightly curvy road went straight uphill.


Luckily, it was the correct road, it led to the restaurant we were looking for and the restaurant was open on a Sunday!

4. Order the special at Chez Ma Cousine. Everyone else does.


It seemed like everyone there was eating this same special (or some other form of chicken). It's clearly what they're known for but we got two different dishes so we could try more during our one "real" meal in Geneva. (We did get the special - more on that later.)

5. In many places in Europe, alcohol costs the same as a glass of water.


A got a beer (we think the Kronenbourg 1664) and I got a glass of white wine. Didn't cost much more than water!

6. Goat cheese salads are good. (To be fair, we already knew this.)


We got the salade de chevre chaud (warm goat cheese salad). It consisted of lettuce, tomato, egg, pan fried goat cheese and chives. There were also croutons, which were not listed, and a delicious mustard-type dressing. This was a good dish for a travel day - it wasn't too heavy, but still had plenty of flavor, and the ingredients all seemed very fresh.

7. The rotisserie chicken special at Chez Ma Cousine is a good everyday meal. It was basic but well-done, healthy and satisfying. It's the type of meal we could see ourselves going for on a regular basis if we lived near one of the branches of the restaurant.

The special came with a salad:


While mostly greens, the salad had the same dressing as the goat cheese salad, which we thought was very tasty.

It also came with potatoes:


And the rotisserie chicken:


Yum.

After lunch, we strolled around Geneva some more, and then went back to the airport where we... ate more food. Someday, we'll actually get up to the "Aegean" part of this Aegean Honeymoon series...

Free Gruyère

One of the things we really loved about our long layover in Geneva was relaxing by the lake and taking in the city. We watched the marathon and the marathon "cheering" groups, looked at the boats on the lake and enjoyed using the free city wifi. (Why can't we have that?) At one point, we noticed a large crowd of people and went to investigate.

Lots of people were grabbing small samples of cheese that this man was chopping:


So we got some too.


We later realized he was also cutting up blocks of cheese that people were buying. I guess these were samples to try to entice you to buy Gruyère.

It seemed like there was a big Gruyère festival as there was also a band there...


... playing the theme song from "The Rock." (Love that movie, but no idea what it has to do with Gruyère.)

Around the back of the exhibition, more promotions for Gruyère:


And in the cooler, more free samples that they gave away to passersby:


We were super excited to get free Gruyère! If you're not familiar, Gruyère is a Swiss hard yellow cheese, and because of controlled origin, it can only be made in Switzerland. The samples were as good as any Gruyère we've had, or even better, since it didn't have to travel far. Authentic Swiss cheese for our day trip to Switzerland!

Aux Bonnes Choses

We arrived in Geneva and one of the first things we did was grab a snack. We checked out a few places and decided on Aux Bonnes Choses (which I think means "good things" in French). It was located in the railway station that was connected to the airport and had various snacks and pastries (croissants, quiches, sandwiches) that all looked good.

We picked up a peach iced tea, which in Europe, tastes sweet just like gummy peach candy:


For snack, we split a tomato mozzarella focaccia sandwich. I thought they were going to give it to us cold, but they put it on a panini grill before serving it, so we got a warm and toasty grilled sandwich:


It wasn't a very thick sandwich, as you can see from this side view, but it was tasty:


The sandwich tasted rich and buttery (probably from the bread). It tasted like it was lined with a pesto before the tomato and mozzarella were added. Once melted together, it all tasted really good. With a snack in our bellies, we investigated more of the airport before heading out to explore the city!