A Day in Geneve

It was a bumpy night with a slow start this morning. It must have been the ribs. I had more than Dave so I felt worse than he did. I woke up at 3 am feeling pretty bad. My imagination started running away from me - as it will do at 3 am. What if I'm sick tomorrow and have to spend our last day in this sardine tin of a room? What if I'm still sick on the plane and have to be near a bathroom at all times? What if there are bed bugs in this bed? Apparently Dave was thinking much more creatively than I was. What if I had to go to the hospital? What if there was something really wrong with me and I had to stay there?

While I didn't feel 100% in the morning, I was determined to enjoy our last day. I got the repacking for the trip home completed. That can't wait until tomorrow. With that, sleeping until 8, and moving pretty slowly (well, at least I was), we didn't leave the room until about 11. 

The old part of Geneve, centrum, was about a 20 minute drive. After parking the car, we ventured out for a day of Reformation fun. Interesting facts about parking garages: they're super clean, well lit, and user friendly. There's either a red or green light by each parking spot to let you know if it's open or not. In today's parking garage, there were spots that were reserved for women after 6 pm - to keep them safe. Love it!

Geneve is on Lake Geneve and apparently, it's always windy in town. Well today didn't disappoint. There were white caps on the lake. It was one of those days when you should just crawl of out bed, get dressed, and go out. You're going to look like you just got out of bed due to the wind whipping around so no need to put any effort into trying to look put together. It'll only last a minute or two. 

We started our day in a super ritzy shopping area - by "started" I mean we walked past the stores. Versace, Prada, Cartier, Gucci, Dior..... First stop was the information centre and then off to Saint Peter's Cathedral where John Calvin was the pastor for awhile. The church was massive. There were choir stalls from the 1400's, five different bells dating from 1,000, Calvin's chair, and so much more. We went up the 173 spiral stairs to the top of the tower. It was hard with my dizzy mode kicking in. However, once at the top, the view was amazing. We were able to see very old parts of the tower/bell area. There were 173 steps coming down as well. 😀 

The first church was built on the site in the 300's. We were able to see the original "entrance step" of that church on the archeological tour. More on that below. The Romans were actually there before that. So much history!

The Reformation museum was included in our ticket so we did a quick walk through of that. There were some interesting items but almost everything was in French which makes it rather frustrating. 

Hunger was getting our attention. We had a snack at about 12. Breakfast was bread and jam in our room. We found a lovely restaurant and decided to sit inside. It was just too cold to be outside - 57 degrees but the wind! Lots of people were braving the cold and sitting outside. Dave had a "John Calvin" beer which he really liked. I really liked the bottle so that's going home. Meal #3 with really good food. (Pretty sad in the eating out department this trip.)

After supper we walked a short way to the "Reformation Wall." It's a must see for visitors and of special interest to people who've studied the Reformation - like Dave. It was getting colder so we started back to the car. Dessert and coffee/tea was calling us. We shared a raspberry crepe. This last delightful experience officially ended our vacation. After that, it's just getting ready to go home.

Things are pretty much set for the morning - bags packed, car gassed up, alarm set. I tried to check-in for our flights but the system isn't cooperating so we'll just have to do it at the airport tomorrow. Up at 6. Return the car by 7ish. Fly out at 10:30. Get to Paris in just over an hour and then the 8 hour flight home. What's really important is a good night's sleep. Let's hope that happens!

One thing I learned today: Geneve is the birthplace of fine watch making. There are a lot of watch shops around - ones where you can spend a fortune for a watch. We briefly looked through a window at them but couldn't see any prices. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford them.

One new thing I experienced today: Laying down in a church. The Maccabee Chapel - part of Saint Peter's Cathedral - was amazing. The painting/decorations were spectacular. I laid down on a pew to get a picture of the ceiling. I've never done that before.

Most powerful moment of the day: Being under Saint Peter's Cathedral and seeing archeological excavations from 100 BC. It was amazing to see parts of many different religious buildings from 100 BC to the 1,000's. One area showed the tiled floor - still with a lot of color - of a bishop's "parlor" from almost 1,000 years ago. And, we saw coins from 75- 50 BC!

One pleasurable experience: Eating a lovely meal and talking about the things we're going to do in our future.