Ride: 20km; total: 1,147km
Walk: 12km; total: 429km
After breakfast, we hopped on the bikes and rode out to CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. It is the world’s largest particle physics lab and one of the most respected centres for scientific research. We had followed its progress for years and looked forward to the chance of having a look at the facility. Of course being Switzerland there was a great bike path all the way. It was only 8km away, but took us a bit longer than expected due to the roller coaster ride up and down hills. When we arrived, Wendy went to the information counter to ask about tours. We had done research online but the website wasn’t very clear. Due to the summer holidays being in full swing the reception was packed with large groups of children and more were turning up in buses as we waited. We opted for the self-guided tour within the Globe building. It was a very techno style display with a number of stations telling you about what CERN is and what they want to achieve. The main focus is the particle accelerator (LHC - Large Hadron Collider) being 27km in circumference which they use to send particles to 99.99% of the speed of light, make them collide, then record the findings. Essentially, what they are trying to do is figure out what sub-atomic particles looked like before the Big Bang that created the universe. Why didn’t they just ask us, could have saved themselves a few billion Euros. In fact all this particle physics is just beyond us?? For more info visit: https://home.cern/.
We rode home via the Geneva Botanical Garden, on the way stopping off at the HQ of ICRC - International Committee of Red Cross. The garden was nothing to write home about, but was a nice wander.
A quick change at the hotel and we were out sourcing lunch from Lidl this time. Back to the hotel to consume said lunch, then a rest.
The afternoon was spent chasing sights we had not yet seen but thought that we should. The one we thought we should definitely see was the the confluence of the Arve and Rhône Rivers. We should have known that tourist maps are not typically to scale and after longer than anticipated walk, the actual confluence was a bit of an anticlimax. A muddy river joining with a crystal clear river. Anyway, we have now seen two confluences in the region.
We stopped off at Migros for dinner after all that excitement. After dinner, Greg went for a post-dinner wander.
CERN
The Globe
Pay attention to these equations as we’ll be asking questions later.
Part of CERN, still under construction.
ICRC HQ
An hourglass celebrating the millennium of something in 2015
Geneva school of Diplomacy and International Relationships
Geneva Botanical Garden
Temperate Greenhouse
This bloke is only half an angel
Some kind of insect at the Botanical Garden
Basilique Notre Dame
“Smurfs” Buildings - we discovered some interesting architecture this afternoon
Inspired by Gaudi
Hotel de Postes, aka Post Office Building
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The gold building.
Seujet Dam
Confluence of the Arve (muddy river on the left) and Rhône (crystal clear river on the right)
Frankenstein statue
A face only a mother could love?!
Park Art
Late afternoon on the lake
