Geneva

Train to Geneva.

Geneva.

We visited Geneva (a city in Switzerland almost entirely surrounded by France) as a day trip from Lyon and, unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. This was primarily because this Sunday was the one day of inclement weather we had on our trip: cold, cloudy, and heavy rains all day. The main reason we wanted to go to Geneva was to see the mountains and the lake and with the clouds and fog, it was hard to see much of either (although we did get some nice mountain views on the train between Lyon and Geneva as it wound through little river valleys and, for the last part of the way, followed the course of the Rhone). Also, because it was a Sunday, most stores and restaurants were closed, meaning there was less to do than we thought.

Fountain in Place des Terreaux, Lyon.

Before we left Lyon, though, we stopped on our way to the train station in the "new" part of town (mostly 18th and 19th centuries) to see a huge fountain in front of the city hall. It was designed by the same man who did the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Bartholdi. It's a pretty impressive piece of work, as you can see from the picture.

John Calvin's chair. Sadly, one of the
more interesting pictures from Geneva.

Once in Geneva, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant since most non-ethnic restaurants were closed for the day. It was very good food, but when the bill came, we learned that what people had told us is true: Switzerland is very expensive! The meal cost probably twice what we would have paid for a decent, sit-down lunch in France.

Chapel of the Maccabees.

Detail of the Chapel of the Maccabees.

We crossed the Rhone (which leaves Lake Geneva here) into the old city to visit the cathedral. After all, there wasn't much else to do and we wanted to get inside! It's a pretty standard 13th century Gothic cathedral but it has the distinction of being Protestant since 1535. Geneva was a major center of the Reformation in the 16th century, led by John Calvin who had fled to Geneva to escape Catholic persecution in France. He wasn't always popular in Geneva, either, but he promoted the Reformation all he could and even convinced the city council of Geneva to back him in the face of opposition from the city's aristocratic families. At any rate, the cathedral was Calvin's church and his chair is still preserved there for all to see. The other distinctive feature of the church is the Chapel of the Maccabees, built in the early 15th century in flamboyant late Gothic style but then turned into classrooms once the church became Protestant. It was restored in the 19th century and it now looks like an over-the-top neo-Gothic space with lots of bright colors on the walls and fancy stained glass windows.

Stained glass from the
cathedral, now in the art
museum.

We also checked out the art museum, which is always free. They admitted in their brochure, though, that they don't have anything particularly famous and we were pretty museumed-out after the last two days in Lyon and Arles so we didn't spend a whole lot of time there.

Instead, we walked back down to the lake and saw the giant fountain they've installed at the point where the lake narrows and the Rhone exits. We also saw a flower clock, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It's a bunch of flowers planted to look like the face of a clock and there are working hands that tell you what time it is. While at the lake shore, we looked into the schedule of boat rides around part of it, but none of them fit well with the train schedule. Besides, it was just such a miserable day weather-wise that we wouldn't have been able to see much anyway. So we decided to call it a day and head back to the train station.

Flower clock.

On the way, we stopped in a touristy gift shop and bought a small Swiss Army knife (without which no trip to Switzerland is complete!). Once we got back to Lyon, the rain had cleared up a bit and we got ice cream from the same fantastic ice cream shop as the night before. So between that and the good Indian food, the day wasn't a total loss!

Lake Geneva with the fountain.

Despite (or perhaps because of) the crappy day we had, we want to go back to Switzerland but in nicer weather and probably not in Geneva. After all, the reason to visit the country is to see the mountain scenery so we think we'd rather go to a small town in the mountains and hike around for a few days rather than stay in a city. Here's hoping we get a chance to do that!

Bonus picture: Almost all political decision in Switzerland are done
by popular referendum and these are ads for those.
(We don't know what the one on the right is all about, though!)