Geneva impressions

Hello again

It has been a while since I looked after this blog (I do have a few others, with different foci, and in either Spanish or German -- see the list at right).

I want to share some memories of a lovely weekend. It was precisely what the doctor ordered:
• Friday a fun day in Geneva with two women friends -- beautiful sunshine, not too cold, excellent! Full of surprises. Here are a few visual impressions to celebrate a day of sun, fun and friendship.
The occasion was the sixtieth birthday of one of my friends. She has been celebrating not by throwing a big bash but by taking friends out one by one, or two by two. An excellent idea. Thank you, Susanne!!!

Surprise number one:
A short walk from the train station to the lake shore we discovered that an excellent lunch can be enjoyed on one of the tour boats, even in almost mid-winter!That was the boat that later took us up the right-hand-side shore, across to the other side and around the water fountain. At about 11AM it rose straight into the blue sky as there was virtually no wind.

Before we boarded at noon we walked to the old part of the city on the other side of the Rhone.
We did so by way of a pedestrian walkway/cycleway across the wide Rhone basin, past the Rousseau peninsula, a tiny park. The sun caught the golden leaves on a willow tree:
On the day of our visit Geneva city council put on a "nights and lights" display. This is one of the many installations, in broad daylight: colourful cubes on the Ile Rousseau in the middle of the Rhone river flowing out of Geneva. Poor Rousseau had his statue eclipsed by the structures.
At least the view up and across the lake is spectacular from around there. Here's the view from the noisy road traffic bridge towards the Savoyard foothills of the French Alps...... and the "jet d'eau", the world-famous water fountain that rises in the lake basin.
Downriver...
... and across, the foot and cycle bridge beyond the swirling waters. We were impressed with how clean the water is. What a difference from when I visited Geneva for the first time some thirty-odd years ago (maybe longer).

On the other side of the river, an ice rink -- surprise number two:
Kids unsure on their skates can hold on to double-handled wooden penguins on skis. Excellent idea! All of this courtesy of Geneva City Council, the Tourist Board and Congress Office. The elderly gentleman in the long camelhair coat was skating in the most relaxed fashion while having an intense phone conversation in German... (am I being indiscreet?) -- an astonishing sight, to say the least. But I must say, I was impressed. What a great way to spend the lunch break!

In the oldest part of the city we experienced ...
... surprise number three, which was being invited to look at a furnished one-bedroom flat in the oldest part of Geneva. A real bachelor pad, sadly on the ground floor, or one might have felt tempted... (sorry, no pix).
Nearby, a beautiful old church:
And a lovely fountain, also nearby, decked in purplish-pink and white asters, the autumn flower in these parts:After lunch on the lake (again, no pix) we walked along the esplanade, admiring the cast-iron beauties of streetlights. Here's a detail:
We wanted to see the public baths of Geneva. Here's the toddlers' pool, deserted that day, which is not surprising: the wind had picked up and blew in from the west, a pleasant breeze. It dramatically changed the water fountain's aspect.Still, we were so lucky to escape Geneva's "bise noire", the "black northerly" that cuts and bites into every square inch of bare skin and manages to put off even the hardiest of tourists.
But while the wind may have been ok if you were wearing a coat, even this here water-buff didn't feel like taking a dip. Mind you, from the lunch boat I did see someone going in for a swim! On that peninsula, we also wanted to inspect what must be the cutest lighthouse:
The water plays beautifully in the protective little channel at the foot of the lighthouse.
Beyond the lighthouse, out in the lake, lies the Geneva version of the Corry Wreckan (the real one is a huge upswelling of water out in the sea about one hour south of Oban, Scotland). Even further beyond lies one of the toniest marinas in the world.

Afterwards, we walked back to the oldest part of the city to visit the Cathedral. That's where...

... surprise number four awaited us: organ practice at the Cathedral for what must have been a fabulous recital that night. Some of the most exquisite organ music I've ever heard. I'm sure there was a piece by Messiaen in there -- haunting, evocative, sublime. I sat mesmerized. And then the sun began to play on the stained-glass windows, throwing all the colours in the rainbow onto the walls opposite. Not sure these photos really give the right impression -- for one thing, they're much too yellow.

The Cathedral is a right mix of styles. It goes back to at least the 12th century, probably before that. There's quite an archeological dig still going on outside. But we didn't have time to inspect everything.
This should do to give an impression of the Norman, Gothic and modern combining. The whole is pleasing enough, if one discounts the neo-Classical portico structure on the northern façade.

The setting sun played on the outside as well, lighting up the "flèche", the copper-cladded spire of the cathedral, and the towers and rooftops as well as the trees:
The last flash of sun on a cornerstone of the Cathedral's choir. While the sun went down, the light lingered, allowing me to take this picture that shows details of the ca. 12th century part of the Cathedral:

A couple of beautiful Gothic windows almost flush with the paving. The decoration between them shows grapes and wine leaves -- this may well have been a wine cellar.
A few more surprises:The plaque reads: "George Eliot (Miss Evans) célèbre auteur anglais a demeuré dans cette maison octobre 1849 – mars 1850." The small window above the plaque is a beautiful example of what I like to think of flamboyant Gothic architecture. Correct me if I'm wrong, please!
And a plaque commemorating the fact that a few steps uphill from George Eliot's house and about a century later, Jorge Luis Borges, another of my favourite writers, also lived in Geneva, opposite this house on Grand' Rue:
The daylight faded and "l'heure bleue" was upon us:
A glass lift to take pedestrians up from a busy, noisy thoroughfare to what must have been ramparts. There's an ancient school nearby, a little park and the High Court of Geneva.
I took these photos from a bridge leading from that lift etc. across the street below to the Geneva Museum of Arts -- that had to wait for another visit, on a rainy day, as will the golden onion domes of what might be a Russian Orthodox church opposite.

So much for my trip to Geneva.

Saturday and Sunday were very busy, too; I'm still in recovery mode. Luckily, the weather is great again after a very stormy Sunday/Monday, and my workload is a little lighter just now.
I have generally begun to take things down a notch or two, phasing out of some NGO activities to be a little freer next year.