BY THE SHORES OF LAKE LEMAN

GENEVA - OCTOBER 2006

Geneva is the seat of the European headquarters of the United Nations and of many other inter-governmental organizations. So, it used to be our destination for many years. In the intervals of the meetings, some time was dedicated to sightseeing...


"LAKE LEMAN - The crescent-shaped Lacus Lemannus of the Romans (Lake Geneva), on the course of the Rhône River, is the second largest freshwater lake in Europe, after the Balaton"


"LAKE LEMAN - Going up the hill?"


"HOTEL LES BERGUES, on the Rhône River and by the Lake, was Geneva’s first hotel when it opened in 1834. It was already a great hotel when I had the chance to stay there sometimes in the nineties; after 2005, as a Four Seasons Hotel, it's surely unbeatable as the place to stay in Geneva!"


"WATER JET - The most famous landmark in Geneva is the jet d'eau at the centre of the marina. This photo was taken from the island that in 1832 was given the name of the great Geneva-born philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Having served as a bastion for the city in the seventeenth century, the Island is now a (small) public garden, just close to the Mont Blanc Bridge"


"RAINBOW COLOURS seen from the English Garden. Originally a security valve for a hydro power generator, the jet d'eau became the symbol of Geneva"


"BEACH - «Bains des Paquis» is the popular downtown beach. The current jet d'eau replaced the former jet created in 1891. The exhaust pipe has been carefully designed so that the water jet is hollow and filled with microscopic drops of water, which ensures it remains opaque and white"


"JET D'EAU - The water fountain reaches a maximum height of 140 meters at a speed of 200 km/h and has been copied by many cities around the world"


"EVENING LIGHT - In 1951 the water fountain was provided with an autonomous pumping station, propelling 500 litres of water per second. At night, strong projectors light the fountain’s jet as it soars up in the sky"


"FLOWER CLOCK - Created in 1955 for the first time, redesigned in 2002 and located between the Mont Blanc Bridge and the Jardin Anglais (English Garden), it's composed of over 6,500 flowers and is one of 50 public clocks across Geneva. A symbol of the Geneva watch industry, the famous flower clock has the largest seconds' hand in the world (more than 2.5 meters long)"


"THE BRONZE FOUNTAIN at the Jardin Anglais was created in 1862 by Alexis André, a Parisian sculptor"



"SCULPTURES - Wooden at the Jardin Anglais, bronze at the Quai Wilson"


"SISSI - Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie (not Rosemarie Magdalena Albach-Retty a.k.a. Romy Schneider), Princess of Bavaria, married Franz Joseph and became Empress of Austria. On September 10, 1898, while walking along the Quai du Mont Blanc before boarding a steamship for Montreux, Sissi, who was then 60 years old, was stabbed in the heart with a needle by an anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. It seems that Lucheni wanted to kill an Orleans prince but could not find him and turned to Elisabeth instead. He reportedly said afterwards: "I wanted to kill a royal; it didn't matter which one!"


"THE BRUNSWICK MONUMENT - Charles II d'Este-Guelph, Duke of Brunswick, lived part of his agitated life in Geneva. When he died there in 1873, he left all his wealth to the city of Geneva in exchange for the construction of a replica of the Scaligeri mausoleum in Verona. The city used the money to create the golden gates of Parc des Bastions and the city's opera, the Grand Theatre, and built the mausoleum in 1877 in the gardens in front of the Richemond and Beau Rivage luxury hotels. It seems that Brunswick once said that, «were not for his enormous wealth, he would already be in an insane asylum». No wonder the mausoleum is so awful!"



"MONT BLANC - At 4,810 m, it's the highest mountain in the Alps and in Western Europe. It's not an easy task to catch it from Geneva, as one needs a very clear day, without any mist on the top. This was the best I could get..."


"OLD TOWN - Mont Blanc Bridge, Cathedral and the hills around town"


"SUNSET towards the Alps"

BACK TO LAKE LEMAN

EVIAN, YVERDON - MAY 2005

Those who have good memory will remember that the posts of the May 2005 trip started in Sugnens, Switzerland, near Lake Leman. After a long journey, we came back to Lake Leman, but on the French side!

EVIAN-LES-BAINS


"EVIAN-LES-BAINS is located on the south bank of Lake Geneva, opposite Switzerland, has 7,500 inhabitants and is built in tiers at the edge of the lake. Evian is an international tourist resort, profiting from spectacular surroundings between lake and mountains"


"CITY HALL - The Villa Lumière dates from the end of the 19th century. Works began in 1885 and the villa was to become the residence of a rich owner, who however died in 1887 while the building was still unfinished. In 1890, it was bought by Antoine Lumière, a portraitist installed in Besancon and father of the inventors of the cinematograph (Louis and Auguste Lumière), to become its summer residence. Since 1927, the Villa Lumière hosts the city hall of Evian-les-Bains"


"EVIAN is also the birthplace of Natural Mineral Water known throughout the world. Bottled at the source, Evian comes from the Cachat Spring located on the Southern shore of Lake Leman. On the right hand side, the building of the Old Spa is now a Congress Centre"

***

YVOIRE


"HOTEL RESTAURANT DU PORT - For half a century Yvoire played an important military role due to its strategic situation, on a point between the «small lake» and the «large», during the war between the Dauphiné and Savoy in the 14th century. Its role earned certain freedoms for its inhabitants in 1324. A later decline made it a village of farmers and fishermen, and now a tourist destination..."


"PORT DE PLAISANCE"


"TOO LATE - The last cruise ship to Geneva is already gone..."

LUSO-SWISS MARRIAGE

LAC LEMAN - AUGUST 2004



"FÊTES DE GENÈVE (Geneva Summer Festival) - We arrived to Geneva on the closing day of the Fêtes de Genève, «when the earth, air, water and fire create a festival…». The temperature at night was 35 degrees Celsius, but the filets de perche were superb!"




"HOTEL ANGLETERRE AND RESIDENCE - Next morning we moved to Ouchy-Lausanne, where we were going to stay for the next days. The views of the Lake and mountains were fantastic"


"OUI!"


"JUST MARRIED"


"RESTAURANT - View to the Leman Lake and the Alps"



"FAMILY PHOTOS"



"FRIENDS"


"FAMILY AND FRIENDS"




"SHOW"


"CAKE"


"GIFTS"


"DANCES"



"NEXT DAY - Late lunch, Sugnens, Switzerland..."

SWISS BALLOON!

VAUD - JANUARY 2004

In January 2004, I used the accompanying person statute and flew once again to Geneva, Switzerland. Short, but interesting and highly instructive trip...


"HENRI DUNANT - There are lots of references to Henri Dunant in Geneva. No wonder, he created the International Committee of the Red Cross, and got the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901!"


"LAKE LEMAN - Birds enjoy life around the lake, as do the owners of the palaces on the shores. However, most of the villas we see on photo are public buildings..."


"NOGA HILTON - Not only birds and villa owners love Leman. It seems that some sheiks also enjoy coming to Geneva and stay at the Noga, occupying a full floor during at least a month. It's an economic disaster, when they decide to stay at home, and not only to the hotels..."


"JET D'EAU - In 1886, a company located at the end of the lake used to pump and distribute water under pressure to provide the craftsmen’s machines. In 1891, the City of Geneva decided to install the Water Fountain where it is today"


"PARK - There are several parks near the lake, which allow nice hikes with fabulous views"


"RED CROSS - The headquarters of Henri Dunant's organisation!"


"CHAIR - Urban sculpture in front of one of the doors of the United Nations European Headquarters"

"
"UNITED NATIONS - End of the meeting!"


"AUBERGE DE SUGNENS - A very nice restaurant in a village some kilometres from Lausanne. A fantastic dinner before the balloons..."



"CHATEAU D'OEX is the capital of the district of Pays-d'En-Haut, in the canton of Vaud. In January, it is also the capital of hot-air balloons..."



"TAKE-OFF - The Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to fly around the world non-stop, piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, took off from Château-d'Œx at 8:05, GMT, March 1, 1999. They landed in the Egyptian desert 19 days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes later on March 21, 1999, having traveled a distance of 40,814 km"



"BALLOONS - During the world famous «Balloon week» more than one hundred ballons go up in the sky of Château d'Oex"


"UP IN THE AIR - The flight in a hot air balloon is a fantastic experiment. It offers an exceptional sight on the majestic landscape of the mountains"


"MOUNTAIN VIEWS were superb!"


"LANDING - The only problem with balloon trips is that you know where you depart from, but you never know where you're going to land..."



"SUGNENS-ON-SNOW"


"SALT - Preparing for the road..."