Walk: 16km; total: 417km
After a less salubrious breakfast than we thought we’d get (it still fed the worms though), we set off to explore the sights of Geneva. We had a great time just wandering and ticking the sights off as we found them. We saw a few ABCs, but only went into one, the St Pierre Cathedral. We purchased a combined ticket to visit the archaeological dig beneath the cathedral, and to climb the towers. We climbed the 157 spirals steps to get up both towers and then back down. The spiral stair cases were so narrow, there was a traffic light system, in the South Tower, letting you know when it was safe to either ascend or descend. The North Tower was just as tight with no traffic lights and we got caught twice where we had to flatten ourselves against the wall to let others pass. The view from the top was quite good, so it was well worth the effort. The other standout for the day was the Water Tower. We were able to get very close to it and were even given a quick shower when the wind changed direction for a few seconds. The rainbow created by the fine spray was awesome.
We had a short stroll through the very fancy shopping streets, but didn’t find anything we liked, well, that we could afford! Think Cartier, Omega, Mount Blanc, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc. Wendy did see some nice sparkly things that had no price on them so decided it best she kept walking!
We had lunch on the posh side of town, with two semi-ordinary sandwiches and drinks costing CHF32 ($55). However, even if we’d had Maccas for lunch, it probably would not have been much less. We knew Switzerland was going to be more pricey than France from our last visit here in 2014 so it wasn’t a surprise.
Back home for a rest while watching the individual time trial stage of the TDF. Dinner was roast chicken and baked potatoes for Greg and a chicken Caesar salad for Wendy. Both were great. Greg went out again and happened to come across a centenary commemoration ceremony for worldwide Indigenous Land Rights Restoration. Due to language differences he didn’t get the full gist of what was happening.
Temple des Pâquis aka a Protestant Church
A very reflective building
National Monument
Holy Trinity Church, and is a Swiss monument of regional significance, undergoing a refurb
A fountain in Jardin anglais (English Garden)
The kids are having a ball in fountains this weather.
A jolly big tree in Jardin anglais
Before it became a famous fountain, the Jet d’Eau was a safety valve used by the hydraulic plant distributing the driving force of the Rhône to Geneva’s watchmakers. It was later made bigger and moved to its current location to become the Jet d’Eau. With a 140m high peak, the water’s exit speed is 200km/h, and the flow rate is 500 liters/sec, creating a jet above the lake that weighs 7 tonnes.
Views of northern Geneva from the Water Jet
The water is so clear and clean, not a bit of litter to be seen anywhere in it.
A building that reminded us of the Swiss countryside where they yodel
The front part of that building, that may be a restaurant, amongst another things
A grand apartment block
Russian Orthodox Church
Museum of Art and History
A veggie garden in the street across from the front of the Art and History Museum
The countdown until the sun explodes, currently a little under 5 billion years (phew, we are safe, just). The timer is powered by solar. We reckon that man will destroy the planet by then; or maybe we’ll leave for another planet.
A nice shady Park
Henri Dunant monument
Reformation Wall, where the great actors of the 16th century Geneva Protestant Reformation are depicted. The main four are Jean Calvin, Guillaume Farel, Théodore de Bèze, and John Knox
Grand Theatre of Geneva
General Dufour
Street views.
The Old Arsenal and Cannons
16th Century mosaic mural
Middle Ages mosaic mural
Mosaic mural depicting scenes in 58BC
The cannons
Town Hall, was really hard to get a good picture
St Pierre Cathedral, again really difficult to photograph from the outside due to very narrow streets
Front entrance to St Pierre
15th century choir stalls
Chapelle des Macchabées in St Pierre Cathedral
Archeological dig site under the Cathedral evidence suggests that
the first church was built in the 1st century
Inside the towers and upper structure of the cathedral
Lovely old wooden staircase.
A loo with a view; the door was locked, probably hasn’t been used in a while
One of the staircases
Old wooden roof trusses
Check out the size of these wooden beams.
The views
Two of the bells
Street art
Australian wagyu beef on LHS = CHF250/kg = AUD428/kg
Japanese wagyu on RHS, no price. Whilst Wendy loves her steak, both of these, especially the Japanese stuff, is a big turn-off. Imagine what the roof of your mouth would feel like after eating one of these?!
Another church
Louis Vuitton building
The Malbuisson Clock, we think
Matching outfit, not sure which label though
The Flower Clock. In the 16th century, Geneva became the birthplace of fine watchmaking. Designed in 1955, this clock is one of the great symbols of the Geneva watchmaking tradition. Decorated with thousands of flowers, it tells the time with Swiss precision, and its 2.5m-long seconds hand is the longest in the world.
With the the blurb above, we just had to get a selfie with the clock
The most expensive sandwich lunch we’ve had this trip, AUD55.
