Je ne parle pas encore français bien, so I am going to have to review this in English…read more
It suits this place because English is most of what you will hear in this bar. I have a string of great memories from this bar all starting from my first weekend night living in this French border town.
St.-Genis-Pouilly is a fairly common place for so-called CERN-ites to live. It has several apartment complexes that are available for month-to-month leases. It is less than a mile from the Swiss border and a bus stop that runs directly through CERN and downtown Geneva. And it has this bar, where construction workers, engineers, physicists and other expatriates sit down for a friendly pint and make new friends. I walked in here alone on my first Friday night and within a few hours, I had made great friends that would last my three month stint.
The selection of beer and food resemble that of a British pub. As with most pubs, however, the value of the business lies in the friendly service and clientele. This bar served as a meeting place for my Friday and Saturday night goings on. This eventually extended to Thursday and Wednesday and sometimes Tuesday and maybe even a few Mondays. I shared many a round with the bartender, her sister and friends, the CERN rugby team, nuclear physicists, Swedish au pairs (!), and even a few locals.
All in all, not the greatest food or selection but a five star pub in a perfect location for a young man learning the ways of the world, both big and infinitesimally small, one international city at a time.