Salon du Livre 2014, Geneva

I love books but I haven't really given it much attention through the years. Perhaps it's because I often live in different places and I do not want to carry hard copies together with all my other stuff. I am also a bit of a cheapskate because I do not even buy e-books and there's plenty of reading material online. But most of the time, there is nothing better than leafing through the pages of a book. Even better if it's one of those hardbound versions.

So it was with so much delight  in my transient life that a couple of weeks ago, Geneva had its Book and Press Fair at Palexpo. Thankfully, I got in for free when I presented my student card. Gotta love Europe for student perks! (I'm done with school but had an ISIC issued. It's very useful!)

It was held at a massive hall with plenty exhibitors including a special exhibition to honor the 160th anniversary of Japanese and Swiss diplomatic relations. The highlight for me was Matsumoto Leiji, the artist behind the Daft Punk album and videos which I liked when I was much younger. There was also an entire wall detailing the diplomatic and commercial relations of both countries. I didn't know that Japanese watchmaking owes itself to Swiss watchmaking through trade missions during the Meiji Transformation. But then more interesting was all the origami books and paper on display, which was my favorite past time as a kid aside from play cooking. Of course, for the adult epicurean, there was also a degustation bar where one could sample Japanese food and drink. I didn't know there was Japanese wine but immediately missed my boyfriend when I saw these bottles of whisky.

And since we're on to food, I managed to catch the end of a cooking demonstration using organic and high-fiber ingredients for sushi. Afterwards, young girls went around the audience with trays of sushi rolls for everyone to try. There was even a tea degustation bar, which will make you buy the whole tea gear and find the time to relax and sip.

Of course, it has always been primacy of my stomach so when I saw the Swiss food booth, it was definitely where I will have my snack. (There were plenty of other food booths of different cuisines though.) And you can trust the Swiss to make something so simple aesthetically cool and actually hearty and delicious. Raclette, potatoes and wine from Geneva for under 11 CHF!

There were plenty of exhibition themes from culinary, to children's books, philosophy, cartoons and even crime! There were universities and photography and travel exhibits too. Unfortunately, they were all in French except for one booth from an English publisher that had books I can actually read. After perusing the shelves for awhile, I ended up having 3 books for just 19CHF! Unbelievable steal! All about my interests: history, food, and travel! These should keep me indoors.