Scottsdale to Geneva

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 24 and 25, 2018(
(This entry is being posted late due to a glitch last night which we discovered this morning.)

Our dear friend, Vicki Rousey, once again got us to the airport in good time for our morning, flight and we were on our way to Geneva, with stops in Dallas and London en route.

Though the Swiss segment of this trip is at the end, we flew to Geneva so that we could take advantage of a car lease program available in France, and the Geneva airport sits on the French border.  Since we’re not picking up the car until tomorrow, we checked into our airport hotel and headed into town to spend the afternoon – or as much of it as we could stay awake for – in the city.

Hotels in Geneva provide free transit passes for their guests, which may be our only deal in this notoriously expensive country. We took the bus into the center of the city, situated on the Rhone River and Lake Geneva, and bordered in the distance by the snow-capped peaks of the Alps and Jura Mountains.

We walked along the waterside promenade, stopping to enjoy two famous sights along the way.  The Jet d’Eau, Europe’s highest fountain, just off the lake’s south shore, shoots water straight into the air all day long and sends its spray far and wide.  On the street-side edge of a waterfront park is the Horloge Fleurie, flower clock.  This landmark is a symbol of a city whose watchmaking heritage is evident from the moment a visitor steps off the plane.  The Patek Phillipe clock functions, its second hand sweeps smoothly, and it sits within sight of tens of buildings trumpeting the names of high-end watch makers and jewelers.  Our Timex models are definite anomalies here!

Leaving the waterfront, we walked uphill along the narrow cobblestone lanes of the Old Town.  We stopped in the Cathedral of St. Pierre, a stark Gothic pile known as John Calvin’s church.

Our lack of sleep was starting to catch up with us, so we found our way back down to the lake and took in the scene at water level.  Part of Geneva’s transport system is a small fleet of low, flat-topped boats; they crisscross the lake, passing under a low bridge.  It was a beautiful, warm afternoon on the water, and we were able to see Mt. Blanc, Europe’s highest peak,  in the distance.

Back on land, we rode the bus back to the airport, where we picked up something to eat in a grocery store, took it back to our room, and fought off sleep long enough to put this blog post together.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll pick up our car and point it toward Budapest, with an overnight stop in Padova, Italy.