Happy hungry day!

The school calendar owes me one big time... they had Geneva's fasting day down as September 11th. So today I went on a nice, cheerful walk down to the grocery store. There weren't any buses on the road, and unusually few cars, so I wondered what was up. But it wasn't until I got to the dark, closed grocery store that I figured it out.

The jeûne genevois started in the 16th century. Many people believe that it is linked to the massacre at St. Barthélemy, but the tradition actually started 5 years earlier in 1567. It is most likely linked to the repression of Protestants in Lyon. It became a symbol of patriotism and Protestant identity during the French occupation (1798-1813).

Most people just go to France to do their grocery shopping today, but there are so few buses that it would take me forever to get there and back. So it's a very noodleful day for me, because that's all I have to eat!