Geneva - 24 April 2024

24.04 - Geneva 

Neither of us slept that well - maybe due to the new pink moon?!

A man came to the window this morning, asking where our parking disc was, we said we were leaving - so he seemed happy with that. 

My 50 minute drive today took about 75 minutes due to road works and volume of traffic. Fairly narrow in two lane traffic when we were alongside a truck or a bus around Geneva - definitely extra concentration required! We needed to drive right around the bottom end of Lake Geneva and up the other side to be in with a chance of parking. There are masses of parking spaces - if you’re a car!

So our hearts sunk when we arrived at the Park4night place, all cordoned off! A little further down the road is a pretty little parking space, about 100m from the lake. We drove around and around, trying to decide whether we could chance it! We did. We’re taking up lots of parking spaces, as we had to be horizontal instead of in the bays, or we’d poke out too much. There was only one other car, so decided if we didn’t try here - we probably wouldn’t get to see Geneva…

I did wonder if we were being a bit too ambitious - it was about a 6 mile ride in - but luckily most of it was on cycle paths rather than in heavy traffic. I only saw one person on a scooter knocked off by a car!

Geneva is the third largest wine producing canton in Switzerland after the Valais and Vaud. It has a population of approximately 506,000+. The largest of the Swiss lakes, the croissant shaped lake is 72km long, 13.5km at its widest point, and 310m at its deepest. 225 sq miles belongs to Switzerland and 134 sq miles to France. The river Rhône supplies the bulk of its water. 

Once again, I’d done some research! We started off by the Jet d’Eau. It has a maximum height of 140m, the velocity on exit is 200km/h, it pumps at 500 litres per second. In 1886 the first jet d’Eau was born as a way of controlling the excess pressure of a hydraulic plant - a separate outlet was created to release water into the air. 

We then cycled by the Jardin Anglais with the large flower clock face - very pretty and well maintained. I think it’s what we say on a regular basis - Switzerland feels a clean place - don’t see overflowing rubbish bins or rubbish in the streets. 

We struggled to find somewhere to park our bikes, so resorted to lifting them inside a concrete seating area and locking up to the signpost. Other people had done this too - so thought it should be ok!

Next was the Saint Pierre cathedral. Protestant since 1536, John Calvin (1509-64) preached here. It’s very dark inside, apart from a colourful side chamber where the organ is, and a lovely ceiling. 

On to the City Hall - the first Geneva Convention was signed here in 1864 - an international treaty to bring wartime relief to injured soldiers. By 1930 the Palais des Nations building was finished and moved home. 

Maison Tavel is the oldest house in the city. Originally built in the 13th century, but destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1334. It’s a little annoying - it’s says it’s free, and when you enter, there’s a man - saying pay what you feel you want to. Maybe that should be put at the end not the beginning?!

We sat on the really long bench before walking past the Rath Museum and the theatre to the Reformation Wall. This was erected in 1917 - showing images of the leading members of the Reformation - Farel, Calvin, de Bèze and Knox. It stretches for nearly 100m and commemorates the key historic events of the Reformation. 

By then we were hungry and found a really busy Italian restaurant. Yes - pizzas - again. We could see them being made - only cooked for 4 minutes in the huge oven. They were delicious. However, like the law of diminishing returns - first couple of slices the best, then a valiant struggle to finish! CHF 50. 

We walked to the Pont de I’Île, a bridge which spans the Rhône - should have found a plaque to commemorate the bridge’s destruction by Julius Caesar in 58BC - but failed to find it. 

However, did go into the Lindt chocolate shop. Their ordinary boxes are twice the price of at home - but for CHF 5.50 - you could choose 8 balls - they have different flavours - so we have raspberry and cream, strawberry and cream, cheesecake and stracciatella to try later. And we were both given a free milk chocolate each - result 😉

There are such elegant buildings everywhere you look, definitely a playground for the rich spending money in all the designer shops. 

Another police car - getting paranoid about seeing them everywhere!

We did go into the Victorinox shop again to smell perfume. A fierce looking lady assistant - who was very pleasant. Couldn’t decide which one we’d tried and liked at the Jungfraujoch - so she sprayed some on my wrist - and I said I’d walk around with it and might be back. We did go back - and I finally bought some!

Then it was time to find Viv’s Teuscher chocolates, I knew the address, but was expecting an actual shop - not being downstairs at the Globus department store. Viv - yes - we’ve bought them. A young lady, who couldn’t really speak English - but yet again we both managed to sample a champagne truffle each! A good day 😉

Time was marching on, and still wanted to see more - was over two miles away, so back on the bikes. 

We found (not hard to miss!) - the Broken Chair Sculpture. It’s 12m high. It was installed in 1997 by Handicap International in a call for all nations to sign the Ottawa treaty for the banning of land mines.

Opposite is the United Nations building with its rows of flags. 

Time to cycle home - nearly 16 miles today and over 13,000 steps. 

Such a relief - Dave still where we left him, no ticket on the windscreen. 

I wonder if it’s fly hatching day? Seen probably thousands, plus lots of birds circling to eat them. Certainly didn’t want to talk when riding!

We enjoyed our whistle stop tour of Geneva - generally we find big cities a pain due to the scale of everything. I was last here about 40 years ago, when I stayed with Viv. Viv, no doubt you’ll correct me on anything I’ve got wrong! 

I wore my rain coat today - so no rain! 

And happy 70th birthday to Julie 🎊🎈🎁🎂🎉