Tuesday, 16 February 2016

Geneva 17 June 2013/ Family Travelogue

continued from Trip to Zermatt, Switzerland

Geneva is french-speaking and the second populous city of Switzerland.  The city is housed by numerous International Organizations and Worldwide Financial Centre.

Before we left the Zermatt, Switzerland, we had our luggage shipped to Geneva Airport, Switzerland. We were to go around the city of Geneva, it could had been troublesome carrying our big stuff.  Our flight was in the evening.

32 Swiss Railway Stations have the Luggage Express Service within Switzerland.  CHF12 per item not more than 25 kilos each.  Drop before 9am and collect at the next destination from 6pm.  For Airport destination, it could be pick up as early as 3pm.


Zermatt train station

Zermatt train station

Below were the details of our travel from Zermatt to Geneva.  Transfer train at Brig,  We departed at 8:39am and an estimate to arrive Geneva at 12:18pm. The next schedule with the same route was after an hour

We had 8 day Swiss Travel Pass, we did not pay a single cent in any of our train travels.

Check this SBB site for the route information and fares or
you can download the apps to your phone





We visited the first cathedral we saw when we arrived in Geneva.  Basilique Notre Dame.  Latter is the main Roman Catholic Church in Geneva.  It is five minutes walk from Gare Cornavin.

Gare Cornavin is the main railway station in Geneva.


Interior of Basilique Notre Dame in Genva


Basilique Notre-Dame in Geneva

Basilique Notre-Dame in Geneva

Rue de Cornavin, Geneva, Switzerland

Rue de Chantepoulet, Geneva, Switzerland

Rue de Chantepoulet, Geneva, Switzerland



La Bagatelle Restaurant, Geneva, Switzerland
The first restaurant we saw from the Notre-Dame, La Bagatelle.  we stopped by for lunch.  We just had burgers and steaks.

Rue du Mont Blanc, Geneva, Switzerland

After lunch, we walked around, we followed the path to the lake.  Above photo Rue du Mont Blanc continued to the Mont Blanc bridge

Crossing the Pont du mont blanc (Mont Blanc bridge), Geneva Swithzerland
We crossed the Mont Blanc bridge and turned left and walked around the Lake Promenade and Parks along the shore.

Pont Du Mont Blanc
Pont du Mont Blanc (Mont Blanc bridge) is located further upstream on the Rhone , directly at the end of the Lake Geneva.  The bridge connects the Quai Mont Blanc on the right bank to the Quai Gustave-Ador  on the left bank.

The National Monument, Geneva Switzerland
Robert Dorer's sculpture, two women in bronze attire each carrying a sword and shield,  symbolises the unification of Geneva with  Switzerland in 1814.  The one wearing hat represents the Republic of Geneva and the one with bay leaf crown represents the Helvetia.  Latter is the female national personification of Switzerland.  The women in the sculpture both look North in the direction of the rest of Switzerland.  The sculpture is located in the Jardin Anglas, facing the lake, inaugurated in 1869.

Jet D'eau, Geneva Lake, Switzerland
We walked around  the Geneva Lake enjoying the parks and promenade on the left bank and take photo of Geneva's symbol, the Jet D'eau.

Geneva's prominent iconic image is the Jet D'eau.  It is a fountain with a 140-metre high water jet at the surface of Lake Geneva.  You could see it from many places all over the city.  The fountain was just a safety valve at a hydraulic factory.  When it was transferred in 1891 to its current location now, it became a tourist attraction.

Many were in this park having  picnic and chilling out on the grass.  There were also some teens asking for survey which we had ignored.

Most of the establishments in Geneva such as large hotels, bars and restaurants are situated on the right-hand shore of Lake Geneva.

view of the Jet D'eau from Promenade Du Lac  (Geneva Lake Promanade on the left bank) 

Establishment on the right-hand shore of Lake Geneva

Establishment on the right-hand shore of Lake Geneva

view of the Jet D'eau from Promenade Du Lac  (Geneva Lake Promenade on the left bank) 


Lake Geneva and the establishments on the right-hand shore

Ferryboats and Pleasure Cruises from Lausanne on Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva ferries connect Lausanne with Evian and Thonon while  Pleasure cruise boats go to Montreux, Nyon, Yvoire, and Geneve.



We did not have time to cruise, we just posed for photo taking.  We were to fly to Paris in the evening.

Humongous Nutella

Geneva was our last stop in Switzerland.  At the airport, we collected our luggage at the service center and proceeded to check in.  Before we went inside the boarding area, we dropped the rented pocket wifi at the mail box inside the airport.

Our flight was delayed for two hours.  We flew with the domestic plane of Air France.  Nevertheless, the crew gave each of us 15euros worth of voucher that we could consume within the lounge of Air France at the Geneva Airport.

We arrived Paris at 11;30pm.  The transfer we hired had been waiting for us and took us to our hotel in Paris.

To continue Europe Trip June 2013, please click the link, first day in France at Versailles Palace, France.

See also:

Family World Travel



Sunday, 14 February 2016

Trip to Zermatt, Switzerland 15~17 June 2013/ Family Travelogue

continued from Train travel from Lucerne to Zermatt

From Lucerne City, we traveled by train to Zermatt.  We booked two nights stay at Chalet Medi.  The moment we arrived in Zermatt, we felt two nights stay would not be enough.  The town was so lovely, we could just stroll around breathing  fresh air.  The village is surrounded by mountains.  Chalet Medi has a magnificent view of the Alps as well.  Summer has just started, we were spared of the snow caps.

Initially, we intended to go up to Gornergrat and Matterhorn.   We were able to climb Gornergrat (by cogway train), the kids begged off Matterhorn.  We had enough mountains for this trip and they prefer to cycle around the village.

Chalet Medi is a 7 mins walk from the train station.  We just walked with our luggage up to the chalet.





A bit pricy though, the chalet was big with three bed rooms, separate toilet and bath, living room. and kitchen equipped with the basic utensils  There were some ingredients in the cupboards left by the previous occupants.  Our two daughters chose the bigger rooms and we ended up the smallest bedroom.  Anyway, let the kids enjoy. More so, free wifi and the connection was really excellent.  






Electric car in Zermatt, Switzerland

Electric car in Zermatt, Switzerland

Horse-drawn carriages in Zermatt
Zermatt is a car-free zone.  Passenger cars vehicles allowed in the village are the horse-drawn carriage and the small electric/battery driven taxis. To prevent air pollution that could ruin the view of the Matterhorn from the village, cars that run by fuel are not allowed in Zermatt.  If you go to Zermatt by car, you could leave your car in Tasch and take the train shuttle from there.  The five kilometer route takes about 12 minutes to get to the auto-free village.  The shuttle trains depart every 20 minutes.


Horse-drawn carriages in Zermatt

 The youngest was worried the horse might kick her.


As soon we were settled at Chalet Medi, we went to COOP for grocery supplies for two days.  COOP was just opposite the train station.

After lunch, we started our journey to Gornergrat.  Ooops... we did not hike, we took the cogway train.

Please click the link for our trip to Gornergrat.






German sausage for breakfast.  If we could only stay in Zermatt for more days.  So great to live in a quiet and peaceful place with a very nice weather.






Our second day in Zermatt, we cancelled our trip to Matterhorn.  We rented four bicycles and we cycled around the marvelous city of Zermatt.






Pfarrkirche St. Mauritius (Parish Church of St Mauritius),  Zermatt






Switzerland is the best among the countries we had visited during our trip to Europe in June 2013.  Special mentioned Zermatt among the cities we had been to Switzerland.

We left Zermatt on 17 June 2013 and continued our Europe trip to Geneva.



To continue Europe Trip June 2013, please click the link, Trip to Geneva, Switzerland

See also:

Family World Travel