After learning that we could take the 3 hour lake cruise for free we made sure we put that on our list for today. We did not even have to rush since the cruise was to leave at 10:15 so we could have a leisurely morning. With very little wind and bright blue skies this was a great day to be on the lake.
As we waited for the cruise to begin we noted that the Jet d'Eau fountain was in action and the lake had several white swans floating around. The cruise boat filled up and we were able to get seats on the open deck with a Brazilian couple from San Paulo sitting across from us. At first I was concerned that since they spoke Portuguese we would not be able to communicate much, but they did have a little English so we had a great time on the cruise chatting and learning about each other’s country. I learned a lot about Brazil which interests me since I will be going there this fall.
As we left the wharf and headed out into the lake we passed The Jet d'Eau fountain. The Jet d'Eau is a large fountain and is one of the city's most famous landmarks. It is also one of the largest fountains in the world. It is situated at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone River. Five hundred litres (132 gallons) of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 metres (459 feet). The water leaves the nozzle at a speed of 200 km/h (124 mph). When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 7,000 litres (1849 gallons) of water in the air.
As we motored along the lake we are very aware of the huge size. Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland (cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and Valais), and 40.47 % under France. The average level of water of 372 m is controlled by the Seujet Dam near Geneva. This is referred to as Europes largest alpine lake. And our cruise today would take us no further than 1/3 of the distance of the length but we would visit both sides and actually stop on the French side town.
Our cruise would take us from Geneva (or Geneve) to short stop at Versoix to pick up some more passengers. Then we would stop at Coppet, Nyon and finally Yvoire (French side of the lake) before returning to Geneva. The views were very interesting as we saw modern homes, agriculture lands (especially grape vineyards) and historical buildings, all clustered in groups along the shoreline. As we turned back towards Geneva we noted that the blue sky was disappearing as clouds floated. We had hoped to see some of the mountains in the distance but there was too much haze around all day.
Once we returned to Geneva we decided to head back to the hotel for a bit of a break and plan some activities for the afternoon. As it turns out, after a cup of tea and a snack we decided that a bit of a nap was called for, so we rested. Wes has continued to be plagued by a bit of a cold.
After a bit of a rest we took our itinerary for trains over to the Rail Europe office and booked our train reservations that we need to see us through to Madrid. This took a bit of time and we had a couple of changes to make because of our inability to get the trains we asked for. Bascially we are glad we booked today since one of the trains was really difficult and we only got a seat by dropping to 2nd class seats. It seems that if we had waited for another week or so we would have a very difficult time. Now there are seats available but to get those seats we would have had to pay full fare because there were no ‘eurail pass seats left’. Now I will have to sit down and sort out our places to stay but that can wait for a couple of days. We are set of Paris for this next week.
We picked two things we wanted to do in Geneva before we left and they were to go to the Swatch Museum and have a look at the United Nations building. Because of the late afternoon start we decided to walk to La Cite du temps – Swatch Museum first.
The La Cite du temps – Swatch Museum is the largest collection of Swatch watches in the world. It’s the only place in the world where you can find a permanent exhibition of Swatch watches. A whole host of creations are on show, the result of the work of artists and designers from 1982 to the current day. We were absolutely amazed at the creative type of watches on exhibition and wondered who would even wear some of them – or how you could wear them. Some were creative with bold colors and very unusual designs, while others were cute and sentimental and some were just weird.
When we had entered the museum we were told about an exhibition of photos by Yoshi Shimizu. After we toured the watches we decide to take in this photo exhibit as well. It was photos taken in Bolivia and centered on old medicines and modern. The subject did not attract us as much as the scenery and quality of expressions by the photographed. We were very impressed.
Our next goal was to walk over to see the flags in front of the United Nations building. To get there Wes plotted a course so that we walked along the boardwalk by the lake going through the La Perle du Lac and surrounding park. At the end of this stretch we entered the gate to the Jardin botanique. It is early for the flowers to be really showy (other than some spring flowers) but we did see an interesting carrousel with seats shaped like all types of interesting animals, fish and birds. Look closely at the pictures and see if you can figure out which you would like to sit on and ride.
After leaving the Jardin Botanique and walking through a couple of underpasses (one highway and one railway) we finally started to look for the Palais des Nations. We walked up a lane to the top of a hill and each time we thought we should turn inward there was a gate or wall. We eventually realized that we were walking all around the complex and that it might be that we would not be able to see anything because it was now after 6 pm. However, as we walked around the outside we did finally find the front entrance and were able to get a picture of the driveway lined with the flags.
What was equally interesting was monument of a HUGE chair with one broken leg out front of the main entrance. Broken Chair is a monumental sculpture in wood by the Swiss artist Daniel Berset, constructed by the carpenter Louis Genève. It is constructed of 5.5 tons of wood and is 12 metres (39 feet) high. It depicts a giant chair with a broken leg and stands across the street from the Palace of Nations. It symbolises opposition to land mines and cluster bombs, and acts as a reminder to politicians and others visiting Geneva.
We decided to grab a tram back to the railway station and organize ourselves for dinner. Tomorrow our train does not leave until later in the morning so we will have lots of time to plan our first evening in Paris.
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