Travel Diary - Geneva 2003

A long weekend in Geneva with Paula in April 2003. The main things I remember are that Geneva sits on Lake Geneva. It's expensive and full of American financiers.

The Geneva Water Fountain (Jet d'Eau de Genève)

The lakeshore’s star attraction is the elegant water fountain, dazzling visitors as it shoots 140 metres into the sky. Originally a simple security valve at the Coulouvrenière hydraulic factory, the Jet d'Eau has become the landmark of Geneva. Its millions of air bubbles will immediately put you under its spell. The fountain came into being by chance. In 1886, a hydraulic power station was built to deliver water under pressure from the Rhône to the city’s fountains, households and factories. One evening, pressure build-ups forced the engineers to install a special pressure relief valve. This marked the birth of the Jet d’Eau. The ephemeral work of art soon became a tourist attraction and was moved closer to the lakeside. With time, water column grew taller. Since 1951, an autonomous pumping station has propelled 500 litres of water per second to a height of 140 metres at a speed of 200 km/h (124 mph). (From Geneva Tourism website.)

Lake Geneva's Little Mermaid

Lake Geneva has it's own Little Mermaid Statue, not quite sure why. But it's a nice statue that we saw on a boat trip around Lake Geneva. It's hidden away in the corner of the lake. This mermaid more of a siren, beckoning the boats closer, to capsize them upon her rock. She unabashedly looks over her shoulder, fascinated by humankind, and yet frozen in time, and unable to join them. Just don't fall for her song or you will join her forever on the bottom of Lake Geneva.

Paula on the boat trip.