Sabbatical - 8/10: Walking in Geneva
Why exactly was I in Geneva in the first place? It's not exactly the first place in Europe someone thinks of visiting. The answer is that on August 12 I was slated to meet my REI group in the Geneva airport so we could go hiking in the Alps together. I'd allowed plenty of extra time to get to Switzerland and recover from jetlag, and somewhat surprisingly absolutely everything had gone exactly according to plan. This meant that I had two days to spend in Geneva, with no real ideas.
I'd looked into visiting CERN, but it turns out you have to reserve a tour spot many, many months in advance, so that was out. Beyond that, neither I nor anyone had any particular suggestions for me, so I started pounding the pavement to see what was out there.
Geneva is at the southern end of Lake Geneva, where the Rhône leaves the lake and flows south toward the Mediterranean. My hotel was near the bridge that marks the transition from lake to river, right across from the gigantic Jet d'Eau fountain. I spent most of Monday, August 10, walking the shoreline of the lake and the surrounding environs.
The bridge ends up on the eastern bank at the location of the Jardin Anglais, which contains a very famous flower clock and assorted statuary. The garden had hosted a carnival the previous Saturday and was still filled with half disassembled rides. I walked north past the Jet d'Eau to the Prac de la Grange, passing a rather nice beach. Since it was early August and very hot, there were many people swimming and boating.
I then returned to the bridge and headed north along the western bank. This took my past some modern art into another park area which eventually culminated in the Jardin Botanique. This was lovely and well worth the hours I spent wandering around it. After a nap at the hotel I then headed into the old part of Geneva, which is just south of the bridge. I got dinner at an Italian place I picked via the highly scientific method of "I'm tired and this looks good". It turned out to be a local chain.
Most of the places I wandered in Geneva were very nice, which is not surprising given that it was a gorgeous August day and I was walking through parks alongside a beautiful lake. Aside from huge Chinese tour groups near the flower clock, it was practically empty since most of Europe goes on vacation in August and Geneva isn't a destination. On the downside, the prices are unreal, the city more or less shuts down around 9pm (at least on a weeknight in August), the city seemed generally subdued, and the chocolate was not as good as reputed. I decided that the next day I'd get out of the city on a boat tour.
The first 16 photos in this set are from August 10.
I'd looked into visiting CERN, but it turns out you have to reserve a tour spot many, many months in advance, so that was out. Beyond that, neither I nor anyone had any particular suggestions for me, so I started pounding the pavement to see what was out there.
Geneva is at the southern end of Lake Geneva, where the Rhône leaves the lake and flows south toward the Mediterranean. My hotel was near the bridge that marks the transition from lake to river, right across from the gigantic Jet d'Eau fountain. I spent most of Monday, August 10, walking the shoreline of the lake and the surrounding environs.
The bridge ends up on the eastern bank at the location of the Jardin Anglais, which contains a very famous flower clock and assorted statuary. The garden had hosted a carnival the previous Saturday and was still filled with half disassembled rides. I walked north past the Jet d'Eau to the Prac de la Grange, passing a rather nice beach. Since it was early August and very hot, there were many people swimming and boating.
I then returned to the bridge and headed north along the western bank. This took my past some modern art into another park area which eventually culminated in the Jardin Botanique. This was lovely and well worth the hours I spent wandering around it. After a nap at the hotel I then headed into the old part of Geneva, which is just south of the bridge. I got dinner at an Italian place I picked via the highly scientific method of "I'm tired and this looks good". It turned out to be a local chain.
Most of the places I wandered in Geneva were very nice, which is not surprising given that it was a gorgeous August day and I was walking through parks alongside a beautiful lake. Aside from huge Chinese tour groups near the flower clock, it was practically empty since most of Europe goes on vacation in August and Geneva isn't a destination. On the downside, the prices are unreal, the city more or less shuts down around 9pm (at least on a weeknight in August), the city seemed generally subdued, and the chocolate was not as good as reputed. I decided that the next day I'd get out of the city on a boat tour.
The first 16 photos in this set are from August 10.