Chocolate Stores in Genève

Chocolate Stores in Genève

William Fischer, Giulio Giannicchi, Mina Ilic and Ryan Mitchell

Guillaume Bichet Choclaterie et pâtisserie Genève

Rating; ★★★

The first place that we went to as part of our project was called Guillaume Bichet Chocolaterie et pâtisserie Genève; which is located at Rue du Rhone 17. In order to get to Gulliaume Bichet, we took the train by Webster University from Genthod~Bellevue to Geneva. It took us 10 minutes to arrive in Geneva from Genthod-Bellevue by train. After arriving in Geneva by train, you have to walk about 14 minutes from the train station in order to get to this chocolaterie; though we would recommend using google maps in order to see what direction you need to head in to get there. When we first entered Guillaume Bichet Chocolaterie, we were greeted by a warm and welcoming lady who worked at the chocolatiere. She made us feel welcomed and comfortable coming in as she asked how we were, and if we had any questions about the chocolates there. We saw a large display of a variety of chocolates that were mostly presented behind glass display cases. Every chocolate that was displayed had its corresponding flavor, price, and short description about the chocolate as well. In other sections of the Chocolaterie, you could find bars of chocolate wrapped in white boxes in neat displays as well. The
chocolates all had varying prices, ranging from 11 dollars to 55, depending on the amount of chocolate you wanted to buy and the flavors. Before we decided to buy a chocolate bar, we wanted to test out the quality of their chocolate first to ensure that it was worth the cost. We tried their speciality recommended by the lady, which was almonds caramelized in dark chocolate. After trying the almonds, we decided that we wanted to buy a dark chocolate bar, as shown in our photo. The cost for it was 11 dollars, which was a bit expensive for only one bar of chocolate. Overall, this place was a little expensive when it comes to affordable chocolates for a university student to buy, as one bar and one box of chocolate ranged from 11-29 dollars; so we would recommend a cheaper chocolate place for university students, especially since a lot of food in Geneva is generally expensive to buy, let alone chocolate. We would recommend this place for people in their 30’s or older, as they have stable jobs and would be able to afford buying more expensive chocolate than a young university student would. We think people would love this place because of its accessibility as it isn’t too far to walk too, fairly visible to see on the outside, and has a variety of chocolates to try; along with a warm and friendly atmosphere to it.

Review on Switzerland Chocolatier

Rating; ★★★★

The second place that we went to as part of our secret geneva project was a chocolate shop called Switzerland Chocolatier, which is located at 5 Rue du Mont-Blanc in Geneva. In order to get to Switzerland Chocolatier, you can take the train by Webster University, from Genthod-Bellevue to Geneva. After the train arrives in Geneva, it is about a 7 minute walking distance from the train station to Switzerland Chocolatier. When we entered Switzerland Chocolatier, we were greeted by the sweet smell of chocolates and the workers there. It was a bit crowded, with people at every aisle looking at chocolates, so it was a bit hard to pass by to look at different chocolates at times. The workers weren’t the friendliest as they were busy managing the chocolatier and making sure everything was running smoothly, but the chocolatier was very clean and well organized. There were large cases of chocolates behind displays, arranged by the different flavors with the corresponding prices below them. CHF 10 to CHF 50, depending on the amount of chocolate you wanted to buy, and also on the flavor. We decided to buy the Riders fantasy chocolate, which came in a green packaging and had a honey flavor. The chocolate was organic and had about 38% coca made from Ecuador, and was CHF 10. There was less chocolate in this packaging than there was with the previous chocolate bar from Guillaume chocolatier, and although the chocolate ended up tasting good, we thought it wasn’t worth CHF 10; as it ended up being about half a chocolate bar compared to the previous chocolate, which was a whole bar of chocolate at least. We ended up taste testing the honey chocolate when we got back to the university, and it was pretty good quality, but the price could’ve been lower as there was less chocolate to it. Overall, this place was a actually a bit more expensive compared to the last place, mainly because their chocolate bars were smaller than the previous chocolate places, and weren’t as affordable for the quantity. We would recommend a cheaper chocolate place for university students, as this place had higher prices for smaller amounts of chocolate. We would recommend this place for middle class people, as they would be able to afford buying more expensive chocolate than a young university student would. We think people would love this place because of its accessibility as it isn’t too far to walk too, has a different range of chocolate flavors, and is a clean and well organized chocolate shop.

Review on Martel Chocolatier 

Rating; ★★★★★ 

The third place that we went to as part of our secret geneva project was a chocolate shop called Martel Chocolatier, which is at Rue du Rhône 48, in Geneva.. In order to get to Martel Chocolatier, you can take the train by Webster University, from Genthod-Bellevue to Geneva. After the train arrives in Geneva, it is about a 15 minute walking distance from the train station to Martel Chocolatier; but we would recommend taking trains 6 and 10 to get there instead, as it’s faster and only takes about 10 minutes to get there. When we entered Martel Chocolatier, we were greeted by friendly workers and a smaller space than the previous two chocolate places. The workers were easy to talk to and were better at explaining details for the chocolate making process than the previous two places as well. There were large cases of chocolates behind displays, arranged by the different flavors with the corresponding prices below them. CHF 7 to CHF 45, depending on the amount of chocolate you wanted to buy, and also on the flavor. We decided to buy the dark chocolate that was made in Brazil, with 40 % cocoa in it; with its price being CHF 7. There was actually more chocolate in this packaging than there was with the previous two chocolate bars we had, with a rich flavor to it as we tried it back on campus. It was definitely worth the price because of its quality, and because there was more chocolate included in the packaging than the previous two chocolates. The price, CHF 7, was also reasonable for the quantity of chocolate. Overall, this place was actually a little more affordable in comparison to the previous two places, but we would still recommend this place mainly for tourists wanting to try Swiss chocolate for the first time, or some university students who want to spend some money on chocolate on a rare occasion. We think people would love this place for its more affordable prices for more chocolate.

Review on Manor Chocolatier Geneve 

Rating; ★★★ 

The fourth place that we went to as part of our secret geneva project was a chocolate shop called Manor Chocolatier, which is at Rue de Cornavin 6, Geneva. In order to get to Manor Chocolatier, you can take the train by Webster University, from Genthod-Bellevue to Geneva. After the train arrives in Geneva, it is about a 7 minute walking distance from the train station to Manor Chocolatier, as it’s near the train station. When we entered Manor Chocolatier, we were greeted by a more crowded environment. Manor Chocolatier was bigger than the previous 3 places, and is located on a busier street with lots of crowds. Inside, the workers were mainly at the cash registers or organizing the shelves, as there was more than just chocolate being sold, as there were all kinds of foods being displayed. Chocolates were by far the cheapest at Manor, with prices ranging from CHF 3 to CHF 25 at the most. We decided to buy the lait suisse milk chocolate that had the most amount of chocolate in it compared to the previous three chocolates we bought. It had a sweet yet bitter taste to it, and we didn’t like how sweet it ended up being. The price was by far the most affordable and reasonable, as it only cost CHF 3.50 for it. Overall, this place was actually the most affordable place to buy chocolate, and we would definitely recommend this place to university students, as you can get a good price for bigger quantities of chocolates compared to the more expensive chocolatier places. more affordable in comparison to the previous two places. We think people would love this place for its sweet chocolates, affordable and reasonable prices, and the fact that they sell other food so you can shop for chocolate and other groceries all in one. 

Review on K Kiosk Geneve 

Rating; ★ 

The fifth and final place that we went to as part of our secret geneva project was a kiosk shop called K Kiosk, which is at Pl. de Cornavin 3, Genève. In order to get to K Kiosk , you can take the train by Webster University, from Genthod-Bellevue to Geneva. After the train arrives in Geneva, it is a 2 minute walking distance from the train station to K Kiosk, as it’s right by the train station. When we entered K Kiosk, we were greeted by a small and tighter space, filled with various snacks, magazines, and small chocolate bars. Chocolates at K Kiosk were smaller and a lot cheaper, but there wasn’t a large variety of flavors to them. Chocolates were the cheapest here, with prices ranging from CHF 2 to CHF 15 at the most. We decided to buy the crunchy nut chocolate that was CHF 2, and seemed to be the most reasonable price out of the 5 chocolate shops. We ended up taste testing the chocolate when we got back on campus, and we didn’t really like the crunchy taste of it, or the fact that it felt like artificial chocolate instead of real Swiss chocolate. Overall, this place was actually the most affordable place to buy chocolate out of the five places, and we would definitely recommend this place to university students. It has affordable and cheap chocolates, and is close to the train station in case students are in a rush to buy other things as well. We think people would love K kiosk for its close location by the train station, and cheap prices for chocolates and snacks.

How You Can Make the Most out of Your Paris Vacation

How You Can Make the Most out of Your Paris Vacation

How You Can Make the Most out of your Paris Vacation I feel as though every little American girl dreams of going to Paris. We marveled at the Eiffel Tower, recognized the romance of the city and imagined what the desserts tasted like. That dream came true for this American girl. I was lucky enough to celebrate my 22nd birthday in the iconic city of Paris. Everyone knows that Paris is a beautiful city, but there are ways to plan your trip to get the most out of your stay. With a little bit of planning, you can hit all the tourist destinations while navigating the city like a local.

Here are some of my favorite experiences—and how you can have similar ones, too.

FINDING A LOCAL BAKERY – BUILDING A CONNECTION

If you want to live like a local in a new place, it is imperative that you make connections with the people around you. A great way to do that is find a business to support and frequent that place as often as you can. Food is a great place to start, and in Paris, who wouldn’t want to routinely eat croissants and pastries? So, my travel companion and I found Maison Landemaine, a bakery that was one minute away from our hotel. We visited the bakery every morning Friday through Monday, and sometimes later in the day when we had a sweet tooth. We often saw the same employees, who were very kind and remembered us after a couple visits. Recognizing a friendly face in a new city instantly makes you more comfortable and feel less like a visitor.

TAKING THE METRO

In my opinion, routinely utilizing public transportation in a new city is one of the biggest steps you can take in order to feel like a local. Taking the Metro in Paris is not only extremely convenient, but you’re literally sitting side by side with locals. Instead of repeatedly paying for bus tickets or Ubers, buying a metro pass for as many days as you’ll be staying saves money when you’re hopping from place to place. For example, I purchased a three day metro pass for 30 euros, while a one time ticket is two euros. With going from museums to restaurants to tourist stops, this was definitely worth it.

 

*Tip = do not place your metro pass near your phone for long periods of time, this demagnetizes the pass. I learned my lesson with this at least four times and it was quite embarrassing to keep asking for a new pass.

PURCHASING A MUSEUM PASS

There is no doubt that Paris is an art lover’s dream. Because I love art myself and have been studying it for some time, I had to make sure to visit as many museums as possible. When researching tickets for various museums before my trip, I stumbled across the option of purchasing a museum pass. You have the option of purchasing a museum pass for two, four, or six days, and with this pass you are able to get into a vast array of museums and attractions throughout Paris. I decided to purchase a two day pass for 52 euros, and visited about eight spots throughout Paris where the museum tickets ranged in pricing from 10 to 15 euros. So, if you want to see a variety of museums, I urge you to take advantage of this. Plus, the pass allows you to skip lines, which in the tourist capital of the world is very nice.

FINDING A DINNER SPOT

When traveling, we all want to visit restaurants and eateries that not only have great food, but are Instagram worthy. I urge you to hop on to TikTok or Instagram and see what Paris has to offer, and make a reservation for the spots you find. I was in Paris for my birthday, so I wanted to have a nice dinner that night, and I found the restaurant, Bambini on TikTok. The restaurant was beautiful, the food was amazing, (the truffle pasta specifically was to die for) and our dessert came with a sparkler and four employees who sang happy birthday. It was a memorable experience that I will never forget that came about just from scrolling on TikTok.

SAFETY IN PARIS

Because Paris is a tourist destination, some people take advantage of tourists that are not familiar with the area, and pick-pocketing and theft is common. Stay off your phone, bring a bag that can be worn in front of you, and be mindful of your surroundings. Just by utilizing a few of these tips, a trip to Paris suddenly becomes a bit more seamless. Hopefully, my visit makes your future stay one to remember.

Five Diverse Resturants

Five Diverse Resturants

By: Fiona Maliqi Maliqi and Mimoza Zenullahi

For this project, me and Mimoza worked together and we decided to do different nationalities restaurants that were easy to access and within a budget of a student because we ourselves were having a hard time finding good restaurants to eat at. We did different nationalities because we wanted to try different kinds of foods, and we also got to try a couple of foods for the first time and we were very impressed. We wanted those restaurant suggestions to be available for everyone and not just the people that were going to see our project so instead of doing a PowerPoint presentation, we decided to create a website that everyone can access to see our reviews and suggestions and we also are planning to add other restaurants when we have the time to check them out. We did our restaurant research on Google, but we could not afford to try many restaurants and choose the best one so we checked reviews, we checked the location and we chose the most easily accessible restaurants and student budget-friendly.

We also interviewed the owner of the Albanian restaurant, he was very kind and was open to answering any questions we had. He told us when he opened the restaurant, who he opened it with and how’s the work going so far. It was a short interview but we got good answers.

Albanian restaurant -The Supreme Grill

We liked it, the food was pretty good, the service was excellent, and the workers there were nice. We didn’t like the interior but the outside had a great view. It was a little far so that’s the only downside to it. It was medium affordable. We paid around 20 CHF each. We can certainly say that this was not the best Albanian restaurant in Geneva and we look forward to trying all the other ones. We plan on adding them to the website too. We got qebapa (a type of meat that is greatly liked in Kosovo) and trileqe (a type of dessert made with three different kinds of milk, and caramel on top). We saw that the other Albanian restaurant had fli and other types of Albanian food too so we are looking forward to trying that one in the future.

 Japanese- Sushi Shop

We loved it, the food was excellent, the service was very good, and the workers had a little bit of a hard time explaining things in English but they were very nice. We liked the interior too, it was like a simple and modern environment. It was very near so we liked that. And we got to try a lot of new foods. It was very affordable considering sushi prices. We both paid 25CHF which we considered cheap for Geneva. As this was the first time for Fiona to eat sushi I can say that she actually likes it a lot and is down to try other dishes too. The cheese Californian roll was her favorite so far. What was the weirdest but a very delicious dish was the avocado and Nutella roll which we did not expect to taste good at all but it surprised us a lot.

Mexican– Tacos Tacos

It had good food, but it wasn’t really authentic Mexican so we plan on trying another restaurant we saw, the menu had a lot of choices though, the place was good-looking but basic. It was very near to Les Berges for the Webster students that live there and it’s like 10 minutes away from Cornavin. It was the most affordable one. We paid around 15 CHF each.

 Italian– Molino- it was our least favorite. The food was good but we’ve tried better Italian food. It was a little expensive for our budget so that’s our biggest critique. We both paid around 35 CHF. It was very near Cornavin so that could be a plus. The interior was nice and cozy but very formal at the same time.

Lebanese – Perfums of Beyrouth – GREAT food, we loved the shawarmas, the service was great, the workers explained everything to us, they were very welcoming, the place wasn’t very good looking but still comfortable. It was a walking distance from Cornavin so that was the biggest plus. It was pretty affordable. We paid 20 CHF here as well but that was because we tried more food, if you want just a type of food it is way cheaper. Same as for the Albanian restaurant, we plan on visiting other Lebanese restaurants too
since there are already 2 other restaurants on our list.

Does My Hijab Scare You?

Does My Hijab Scare You?

Hijab, my right, my choice, my life. In today’s society, The hijab is generally viewed as a form of oppression by the Western world. I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences because of my choice of wearing it. The first time a stranger commented on my scarf was definitely the hardest one. I was approached by a Christian lady in France who told me to liberate myself from this religion and remove my scarf which is keeping me from living freely. She expressed herself loudly to reinforce her opinion while pedestrians stopped and stared. I felt crushed, I was young and never had a problem with other people’s opinion on my hijab, but the people around me laughed. I was angry but still very hurt because what was once my proudest decision instantly became a regret.

I have discovered that the hijab is frequently misinterpreted by non-Muslims; it is more than just a headdress. It signifies women’s modesty, safety, and privacy. In Islam, men must also maintain modesty by wearing proper attire, lowering their gaze, and treating women with respect. I understand that many people have a misconception that women are forced to wear it, but it’s a personal choice where religion does not force it upon anyone. Islam provides you entire freedom and authority over your decisions; what is written in the Quran (the holy book) should be followed by Muslims, but it is still a choice. The hijab is worn in various nations to follow a culture rather than Islam. Women in Iran are required to wear scarves and are not permitted to leave the house without them. As previously noted, this is a rigid culture rather than a religious practice. And I believe that it is crucial to be able to distinguish and properly comprehend the difference between religion and culture.

 

Citation:

Hussein, Jennifer. “Four Women Who Are Reclaiming the Narrative ON Hijabis.” Allure, 2 Jan. 2020, www.allure.com/story/muslim-hijabi-women-talk-about-hijabs.

“Why Do Some Women Wear a Hijab?” Wonderopolis, wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-some-women-wear-a-hijab.

Today, the public is normalizing women’s choice to wear revealing clothes, but going against women who want to cover up. For example, in France women who wear the hijab struggle to do simple activities such as going to the beach or dropping their kids off at school. I believe that every woman should be able to dress the way they desire without fear of being judged or harassed, whether it’s online, on the streets, in a restaurant or anywhere else. For many people, how they choose to cover themselves is a kind of expression, a form of art. Women should be able to wear anything they want, whether it’s close to nothing or almost everything covered up. Society should respect a woman’s right to choose how she covers her body, and it should be no one’s business but her own. The hijab is an important part of my identity, and I will always be proud wearing it. It’s not only about covering up; it’s about what you say, what you do, and who you are, and it motivates me to improve as a person.

Food Vlog – Tuscany Trip

Food Vlog – Tuscany Trip

On the Spring 2022 Tuscany Trip, one of our students Greta Sigona, created a vlog on the different types of Italian food encountered in Florence and Siena, Italy.

Click on the video below and discover her experience!