Geneva

Last Saturday, Lorraine and I took a day trip to Switzerland, (Geneva).  That statement is pretty amazing to me!  I have done a similar thing, visiting Mexico - as far down as Ensenada - for a day from San Diego, but it still sort of blows my mind.  Our day was wonderful, but the transportation to and from Geneva was pretty much of a disaster.  Visit Lorraine's blog:  Lorraineinlyon.blogspot.com for more detail on that aspect of the trip.  We actually arrived in Geneva approximately an hour later than planned, and the trip home was about two hours longer than expected.

Geneva is a beautiful city, located on the lake by the same name and the Rhone river, which comes from the lake.  Given how many mountains and tunnels we went through to get there, it is not easy to visualize that the Rhone is the same river that flows through our new home city of Lyon.

Our first stop was La Durree - the same one that is on the Champs-Elysee in Paris - for coffee and croissants.  Delicious!

That gold stuff on the second row of Macarons is actually gold leaf.  I didn't ask how much they cost.

Just in front of La Durree was the beginning of the Rhone river to the right and Lake Geneva to the left.  It is a really beautiful spot.

One of Geneva's famous attractions is the Jet d'Eau, This is a man-made geyser - actually just a very strong pump that pushes water to 459 feet high.  (For referance, Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park rises to a maximum of 180 feet.)

This fountain was originally built to help equalize pressure for a local water company.  It has become a signature of the city.  I can tell you that when you approach the fountain in a boat, it is very impressive.

Geneva is a city that caters to the rich.  The signs on the tops of the buildings give you the idea.

We took a very nice boat tour into Lake Geneva, which showed us why this city/area has become a favorite for those who can afford the lifestyle.

We had a good lunch in an open Place then walked uphill (as usual) to the old city.  We soon arrived at the Cathedral St. Pierre, which is different from the cathedrals in France, in that it is the reformed church, not Catholic.

We walked around the nave of the church and found a smaller chapel where there were obvious preparations for a wedding.  As Lorraine says, it is always great to find a wedding in a foreign country, so we sat on a wall with a bunch of others waiting for the ceremony to happen.

The bride finally arrived - in a Mercedes Benz Maybach - the first I have ever seen.  We decided to have a refreshing drink in the adjacent cafe.  About the time we finished our drink, the wedding was over, and the bride and groom exited.

We left the wedding and went back down to the main shopping area and stopped in a bustling Chocolate store.

In addition to a chocolate bar, we picked up some small sandwiches to eat on the bus trip home.

On the way to the bus station (across the Rhone River again) we went by Geneva's famous flower clock.

After a really good day in Geneva, we got on the bus for our trip home.  Almost an hour after we boarded the bus, we had made it out of the parking lot, around the corner - blocking the street on multiple occasions - and stopped on the street adjacent to the bus station.  The bus wouldn't "marche".  See Lorraine's blog for the gory details:  Lorraineinlyon.blogspot.com.  We arrived home about two hours late, very happy with our international trip in spite of our transportation problems.