Yvoire to Geneva

September 28, 2023

The Jet City

We walked around Yvoire briefly last night after dinner, and then this morning again. A cute walled village, and the only reason we stopped here is because our friends Lyle and Kirsten biked through here a couple of years ago and said it looked like it would be worth a stop. So we did. And it was! And it made for a nice short bike ride today as well.

Then after breakfast, we took a walk through the town. Very pretty, but small, and when the tourists arrive (there was a bus of them entering when we left), I am sure it gets very, very crowded.

The restaurants last night captured our attention with their candlelights and wine glasses shining, but today it is more about the residences and entryways.

The marina is full of small sailboats, and sparkling today.

The castle on the point is framed by the masts.

Okay, enough of this cuteness. The bus of tourists has arrived, so we are off! The D road we road along at first had only occasional traffic, the temps were cool, sunny, and perfect.

Then getting out of town, little traffic.

Although short of actual bike trails, the roads had light traffic for the most part which made for great riding.

Starting to see grapes now, and probably all the way to the Med.

As we got closer to Geneva though, bike trails started to arise and these were fabulous.

We kept searching for Le Jet, in the Geneva waterfront and I thought I had it captured in this pic but just missed it. Still, Lac Leman to our right and Geneva straight ahead - we'll see it soon enough.

In the suburbs of Geneva, the bike lanes were great as we got closer and closer. You can see our favourite lunch spot (the Migro supermarket) on the right.

No complaints about the bicycle lanes in the suburbs of Geneva.

And there it is. Downtown Geneva, its been a few years since we last visited (with Dave and Susan - note: we walked by our apartment today!). We headed down this street to the waterfront you can see below across that busy road (at a stoplight).

Very wide quayside here, with multiple lanes to accommodate everyone. This much real estate used up for transport is impressive when you consider how expensive Geneva is per sq meter.

Now along the quay, lanes for cars, for bikes, for pedestrians.

After stashing our bikes (behind the receptionist) and stowing our panniers in our room (early checkin, yay!) we strolled along the water. The jet is kind of an unusual icon for a city. It started out just as a pressure relieving device for the city pump station, but became so popular they moved it to its current central location, and devote an entire pump station to it. It is supposed to symbolize returning the environment back to itself, which might be a touch ironic when you consider the amount of energy expended. But nonetheless, it has become the symbol of Geneva, one of the most important cities in the diplomatic world.

The jet, 140m high, and just above Marjory's head you can see Mont Blanc (about 45 km away).

Tomorrow we take a day off the bikes and head to CERN, the particle accelerator. There was a time in my life when I might have worked there, and I am excited to visit.

Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 328 km (204 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesNeither of us are physicists but when we visited CERN years ago we were fascinated by the information presented. Enjoy your visit, it is well worth it.
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7 months ago

Patrick ParnoReally good to visit for sure. Nonetheless, I feel sure I made the right choice in a career outside of research. These large experiments are years in development, involving huge teams of people. Amazing commitment to a long term goal.
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7 months ago