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Published: February 17th 2013
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From Chamonix, at 7 o’clock in the morning I went by bus to Genève. I was so happy to be finally away from the 17-person room and constantly talking guys (I don’t mind people talking at all, if I hear them not; my headphones failed, so I couldn’t silence the talking plugging music in my ears), and I was supposed to be in the Swiss city in two hours, but thanks to traffic congestion the bus arrived an hour late. Everybody descended at the airport, me being the only person going to the terminus. There was a great lot of snow everywhere and the bus driver even announced that the airport was closed. I was almost sure, remembering Lyon’s mild weather, that there would be no snow, and indeed there was not.
Genève bus station is very small. I needed the railway station to deposit luggage and get the booked train ticket. I at once saw the tourist info centre, went in, located myself on the map and in half a minute found the Gare Cornavin. Firstly, I entered the ticket office and asked a cashier woman to exchange my printout for a ticket, she telling me to go and
get a queue slip from the man who stood near the entrance, listened to your request, and gave you a slip with queue number. It was rather simple and convenient, I didn’t even wait.
However, finding the luggage storage was not so quick because I missed the signs and went back and forth two times, and when finally found the lockers, sure, it’s the coins they were fed by. I returned back to where I saw Western Union office and asked whether I could withdraw Swiss francs from my card, but they serviced only certain cards, not my Visa. There were two cash machines at the other side of the building, and I got money all right – the 20-franc note was simply beautiful, the most beautiful currency I saw so far. Nevertheless, I ruthlessly changed the beautiful note into coins by buying a map; when the cashier made a reach for banknotes, I asked her to give me coins instead. Happy, I returned to the locker only to find that I needed to exchange the 5 franc coin again because only up to 2 francs were accepted. This time I simply asked for change at the nearest shop.
It was definitely not the best weather for sightseeing, because everywhere was much snow and the skies were gloomy and the snow on roads turned into slush. After Eglise Notre Dame near the Gare, I crossed the bridge across Rhone, admiring the Jet d’eau (a very large fountain), Monument National and Jardin Anglais (I must note the city felt gorgeous and luxurious at once, there were occasional tourists, and, what’s a little strange, given its liveliness and active road traffic, I felt it was not noisy). I approached Cathedral St. Pierre and saw Palais de Justice, then came out to a quiet architecturally attractive street after the imposing museum building, where I guess accommodation prices are skyrocketing, and met a fellow-countryman – the Russian Church (Eglise Russe).
In the park in front of the museum, parents and child were making a snowman, abundantly supplied with the material from the deep snow banks. I say a well-known truth that Genève is expensive. In a narrow street I saw a board quoting Jorge Luis Borges: "Of all the cities in the world, of all the homelands that a man seeks to earn, Geneva seems to me to be one of
the most likely to bring happiness" (the original was in French, of course). There’s something in that, certainly.
I descended to Place de Neuve with its worthwhile buildings of Grand Theatre, Conservatoire de Musique, and then entered the heavenly black-and-white Parc des Bastions (Monument de la Reformation).
I returned by Boulevard James Fazy to the railway station, found a McDonalds to eat and rest before the final promenade on the embankment of Lac de Genève. Perhaps, that was the best part of the day, because I love water and could walk on Jetee des Paquis quite far into the lake. The sky was overcast and the lake was populated by aquatic birds of several species. I’m certain Genève is yet more excellent in summer.
My injured finger heals little by little with the kind help of bactericidal plaster.
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