Geneva – Day 16

There have been a few things I’ve missed since I have been travelling. The beauty is that where I am now in Geneva (Hotel Cornavin) it has them all. Firstly, there is actually water pressure! This means you can have a shower and have all the soap actually wasted off your body instead of just dribbling off. Next, it has coffee and tea making facilities in the room. I can’t understand hotel that don’t have this or something like a free coffee machine in the lobby for guests. Finally, it is a room with heaps of space, probably too much for one person but I ain’t complaining.

Another great thing Hotel Cornavin has is a fantastic breakfast room situated on the 8th floor with wall to ceiling glass walls allowing you to see the whole city while partaking of breakfast.

What I also discovered was that Switzerland doesn’t use Euro currency, it uses Swiss Francs. Damm, I’d have to go and change some money before I could go anywhere today. Changing money turned out to be pretty easy. I simply strolled to the nearby Western Union Office in the train station and made the exchange.

Now with a fist full of Swiss Francs I headed to the Geneva Tourism Office which is at 18 rue du Mont Blanc, again not far from my hotel. Here I picked up a map of the town as well as some other information. From here I headed towards Lake Geneva.

The sun was shining brightly but a rather brisk wind had come up which made it very cold walking along the exposed shoreline and across Pont du Mont Blanc.

As I walked through Jardin Anglais I snapped a few more pictures.

Strangely I could see the famous Jet d’Eau but I later figured out that it was probably because the wind was too strong.

I now headed into the old part of the city.

At the centre is Cathedral St Piere. Entry into the Cathedral is free but there is cost to go up the towers. In the end I decided to buy a combination pass that also gained me entry to Site archéologique sous la cathédrale and Musée international de la Réforme.

You can actually visit both towers and see the internals of the belfry as you make you way between them. The steps up to the towers is pretty steep and can only really accommodate one person at a time.

Inside Cathedral St Piere it is pretty basic except for the Chapel of the Maccabees built by a Cardinal to house his tomb.

Beneath the Cathedral the Site archéologique sous la cathédrale is pretty interesting. It gives you the history of all the structures that have soon at this location since before the Romans. You can get a recorded guided tour at the entrance.

Just around the side of the Cathedral is the Musée international de la Réforme which is especially focused on Calvin. I must admit I never knew that Geneva played such a central role in the protestant reformation.

I then wandered around the old part of the city which is actually on a hill. You get a real sense of history walking these streets and there are some fantastic shops here catering to every sort of interest. Have a look at Antiques Scientifiques as an example.

My next stop stop was Maison Traval which is the oldest house in Geneva.

You start the tour on the top floor which has a diorama of the city and its defences in 1850.

The next floor shows the typical furnishing of Geneva house of the age.

From here I headed over the hill and towards Place Neuve.

Here you’ll find the Grand Theatre de Geneve. I kept walking and decide to stop and have a coffee at a Cafe called Central Perk modelled on the cafe from the TV series Friends.

I then went to the Patek Philippe Museum which turned out to be far more interesting than I thought. In here you’ll find a huge range of time pieces fro history. You’ll also find some amazing pieces of craftsmanship. How they were able to make some of the smallest clock I’ll never know. The museum also has some excellent audio visual that explains how the more intricate mechanisms of the clocks and watches work. Truly amazing stuff.

I then headed back across the Lake and noticed that the Jet d’Eau was working.

Another thing that they have here in Geneva which they don’t have in Paris is Starbucks. Unfortunately I find that European coffees are too small for my liking and luckily Starbucks is here to save the day. They are not on every street corner as they are in London but at least they are here. So here’s the view from the closest Starbucks looking back towards my Hotel. You can see the top floors covered in glass which is where the breakfast room is.

The plan for tomorrow will be to head up and take a look at the UN buildings which are to the north of the city.