Although none of our guidebooks has much to say about Geneva, Mom and I found it to be a charming city with a beautiful waterfront -- it reminds me of what I think Monte Carlo must look like -- and a lovely old city quarter. I think the reason why Geneva gets short shrift is that it is unusually unfriendly to tourists arriving by rail -- very uncharacteristic of what we've seen of Switzerland so far. Despite indifferent and confusing tourist services, we found a tour of the city in a cutesy toy train getup, walked around the city on our own, then took a waterfront tour by boat. Again, no photos from the toy train tour because it was just hard to get pictures.
This is the Hotel de Ville or City Hall, at the corner of Rue d'Hotel de Ville and Rue Henri Fazy in the old center of Geneva. As the plaque below describes, this was the site where the original Geneva Convention was signed, an act which also created the International Red Cross.
Nearby is St. Peter's Cathedral, one of the epicenters of the Protestant Reformation. These pictures are from the cathedral and the square in front of it.
This little chapel was open when we passed it, and it was too pretty not to take a picture of it. I guess this is where John Calvin studied -- or why give it the name?
Apparently a marathon is about to start soon.
After walking around the old quarter and enjoying a delicious snack at an outdoor cafe, we booked a one-hour boat tour of the waterfront, cruising across Lake Geneva and briefly entering French waters. The fountain in Geneva Bay is the largest in the world.
Mom sits in the shadows on the boat. I hadn't learned how to work the brightness controls on the camera yet.
Thursday, October 10, 2001
