Jim Walberg – East Bay Realtor In Europe – 5th & Final Installment!

February 3, 2009 by Jim Walberg · Leave a Comment

Geneva = International. Of the ten families that make up our “Geneva Family”, twelve of them were born in some other country besides Switzerland.

Some of you know that my wife and business partner, Ann Marie Nugent, lived in Geneva, Switzerland for 12 years. All three of our kids were born there. After the Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate Paris Conference we took the TGV – the bullet train, to Geneva in order to spend time with our “Geneva Family”. The reason why Geneva = International to us is because of the ten families waiting for us at the train station most of them are naturalized Swiss who were born in various parts of the world. Out of 20 people waiting at the train station, here are their countries of origin… Canada, USA, Scotland, England, Sweden, South Africa, Holland, France, Chile, Spain, Russia, and Denmark. In addition, they all have second, third, and/or fourth homes outside of Geneva. Here are some of the locations of their homes outside of Geneva: Spain, France, England, Thailand, Singapore, the Alps, USA, Chile, and more. So, even though we think of the San Francisco Bay Area as a melting pot of the world, this special group of friends is the definition of international in living/breathing form.

From the Geneva train station we car pooled to Champery, Switzerland to our friends’ Swiss Alps chalet. This was our headquarters for a three day ski trip. This is one of our favorite European destinations for skiing. The Champery ski resort allows you to ski from Switzerland to France any time you want – which we did. Our lunch destination on one of the days was a goat village at the base of the French side of the slopes. What adventure of skiing on fresh powder all the way down the mountain to this quaint village for food and wine.

The men took a side trip one day to the Chevalier de Bayard Winery in Varen, Switzerland. My past views of Swiss wines are typically sweet white wines such as the Alsace region of France. Boy, was I wrong. What I didn’t know is that the Swiss do not export their wines so the world generally does not have the chance to enjoy the many varietals that they produce. The other surprise for me was visiting a wine region that was covered in snow! I have never seen snow covered vineyards. We shared a wonderful day with one of the owners, René Bayard. (The Knights Of Bayard have been in existence since the 15^th century! Even the knight’s armor is at the winery.) After wine tasting, we shared a typical Swiss meal of Raclette cheese, potatoes and pickles – plus, more great Swiss wine. What a day of exploring new regions of the world and lots of new experiences – and some great wines!

My last few days in Europe were spent exploring Geneva – the Old Town, the yacht clubs along Lake Geneva, and the many Swiss watch shops. I even visited the yacht club that holds the Americas Cup – Societe Nautique Geneva. Another cold moment was showing off my Obama t-shirt in Old Geneva. A man from England asked where I purchased it. I told him San Francisco. He wanted a copy of it, so I gave him the shirt off my back. Another magical moment.

We are blessed beyond measure to have such dear friends as part of our world’s extended family. And, I am sick of being so cold! The San Francisco Bay Area is 73F degrees today. Varen, Switzerland is 28F degrees. We are back in the East Bay serving the real estate needs of our wonderful clients. Contact me today for any of your real estate needs.