CH & IT Roadtrip

A lazy Sunday morning in our room … and then we were off on a slow meander around the city.

We walked down Rue des Alpes to the lakefront to begin today’s promenade. I should clarify that while the immediate lakefront we’ve been enjoying is where the Rhône River transitions to Lac Lèman (Lake Geneva), these waters are often referred to as La Rade (the harbor).

Anyway, first we stopped to check out the memorial statue honoring Sisi, the Empress of Hungary, who was assassinated in Geneva in 1898 … by happenstance, as it turns out … she became a handy target when the assassin’s actual target didn’t show up in Geneva as planned. Nearby, a woman in an all black period costume — not unlike the one Sisi was wearing when she was assassinated — stood like a statue … gazing out over the lake. Not sure if she was an actress or someone who was role-play-traveling, but I snapped a photo anyway.

Our stroll then took us under Pont du Mont-Blanc to a narrow bridge beyond that allows access to Rousseau Island and the garden in which stands the memorial statue to Jean-Jacques Rousseau … the Genevan philosopher/writer. Of course, this detour provided more opportunities to see geese, swans, and other waterfowl that were a-swimmin’ nearby.

Once we were on the other side of the city, we found ourselves strolling along quiet streets for a true meander that took us by Cimetière des Rois … Cemetery of the Kings … none that we found, but a pleasant park-like setting; the 19th century Victoria Hall … with its elaborately decorated façade … home of the Suisse Romande Orchestra; the 19th century Grand Théâtre … the largest artistic structure in French-speaking Switzerland.

Across the street from the theater hall, we entered Parc des Bastions … a tree-shaded green sanctuary that afforded us a respite from the hot sun and an opportunity to rest while sipping over-priced cold beverages. The park is also home to the Reformation Wall … an international monument that features statues and bas relief scenes of the key individuals and events of the Protestant Reformation. To show the importance of Geneva to the Reformation, the wall was built into the old city walls.

From the park, we took a ramp up to the top of the city walls and found ourselves on the terrace we stopped at yesterday. From here, we were in our ‘old stomping grounds’ … so to speak. As it was after the noon hour, we knew the Saint-Pierre Cathedral would be open, so we wandered in that direction. At the highest point of Old Town, the cathedral dates back to the 12th century … with major transformations in the 16th century. During the Reformation, it became a place of Protestant worship.

I was so taken by the beautiful stained glass windows, that it wasn’t until we returned to our room that I realized I had not photographed much else. We did, however, take advantage of the chance to climb up the south and north towers (CHF $5 senior rate) to check out the all-encompassing city views. The climb up to the north tower is billed as 157 steps, but we doubled that by doing the south tower as well … yes, gluttons for punishment … narrow, spiral steps. Interestingly, the south tower climb had red and green lights to control traffic going up and down, but not the north tower. Alas, we didn’t realize that we could visit the archaeological site below the cathedral as well … next time.

We wrapped up our outing with a late lunch at Restaurant Les Armures … adjacent to the old armory in Old Town. We opted for the café-like outdoor setting instead of the white-linen setting indoors … where, as it turns out, Bill Clinton was hosted in 1994! Although the service was a bit iffy — our server made a couple of mistakes with our order — the food was delicious … Mui ordered the perch (sourced from Lake Geneva); I ordered the spaghetti with pine nuts and burrata; and we shared an order of potatoes and raclette cheese. Skipping dessert for the moment, we later sated our sweet tooth with gelato from Manu, a gelateria next door to our hotel … yummy.

Today’s stroll wraps up our brief stay in Geneva. Tomorrow, we move on to Bern.Read more