Switzerland

We travelled to Basel from Karlsruhe for the day, but I did not include it with my other blogs about days in and around Karlsruhe, because it is in a different country.

This was our second trip to Basel. We came here originally more than twenty years ago and on that occasion I was not all that impressed with the place. I think the reason for that had more to do with the nature of our trip rather than the city itself. In those days we had very little money and often travelled very cheaply, by over-nighting on trains rather than in hotels. I believe we came here after two nights spent trying to sleep on trains and, as a result, arrived here exhausted. Thus, I was unable on that occasion to appreciate this city properly. All I remember from our first trip is crossing the River Rhine on one of those little boats that are moved by the current of the river, the huge cathedral and the Tinguely Fountain.

When my husband suggested visiting Basel from Karlsruhe, I was not very keen, but I am glad I gave in and agreed to the trip as the city turned out to be very beautiful and we spent a very enjoyable day here. What a difference being awake makes!!!

We arrived in Basel by train. Basel is located in the north-western corner of Switzerland and shares borders with Germany and France. This visit we came here from Karlsruhe, Germany; last visit it was from Strasbourg, France. There is a very convenient Co-op opposite Basel's main station from which we purchased supplies for our homeward journey.

Basel Station.

We began our day by seeking out the Hammering Man Sculpture. We have seen one of these in Seoul, Korea, but thought we might as well go and view another. Hammering Man is a series of monumental moving sculptures which were designed by Jonathan Borofsky. They have been installed in various cities around the world. The one in Basel dates from 1989. Hammering Man is symbolic of workers everywhere. We have also seen Molecule Man, another of Borofsky's sculptures, in the River Spree, Berlin.

Peter with Hammering Man.

From there we followed the tram line on foot towards the Saint Alban's district of Basel. We first visited its picturesque Saint Alban's Gate which dates from around 1400. We passed through this into the lovely old area of St. Alban's with its long stretch of city walls, canals, paper mill and church. Due to the canals St Alban's is sometimes called the Little Venice of Basel. St Alban's also boasts the oldest guesthouse in Basel, Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen, guest house of the golden stars. The historic paper mill here is now a museum of paper making and has a working water wheel. I was delighted we had visited St Alban's as I found it one of the loveliest parts of Basel.

St. Alban's is located right on the banks of the River Rhine and has great views towards Basel's old town and cathedral and towards Roche Tower, a skyscraper, which at 178 metres is the tallest building in Switzerland.

St Alban's Gate.

Church in St. Alban's.

Canal in St Alban's.

Paper Mill St Alban's.

Picturesque St. Alban's street.

View towards Basel Cathedral.

View towards the Roche Tower.

Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen.

peter outside the paper mill.

Fountain Square, St Alban's.

Old City Walls.

Old City Walls.

Looking towards the paper mill.

We left St Alban's and wandered along the banks of the Rhine to the centre of Basel. On the way we passed one of those little ferries that cross the Rhine using only the river's current to move. Basel has four such ferries, “Wilde Maa”, “Leu”, “Vogel Gryff” and “Ueli”. The one near St Alban's is Wilde Maa. The ferries names are interesting as they are associated with Basel folklore: the wilde maa is the savage man, leu- the lion, vogel gryff - the griffin and Ueli a short form of Saint Ulrich. The wild man, the lion and the griffin are all symbols of Basel. I kept encountering griffins everywhere during our visit and was wondering why they were so prevalent.

Ferry, Basel.

Griffin, Basel.

I will continue our day trip to Basel on a separate page as the entry is starting to look very long!!!

We walked to the centre of Basel from the Saint Alban's area along the banks of the River Rhine. We then had to climb up some steep steps to get back into the old town proper. At the top of the steps was a bridge - the Wettstein Bridge - with several griffins statues - one of the symbols of Basel - at its ends. The Vogel Gryff, or griffin, is a symbol of a Kleinbasel society. Together with a savage man and a lion - also symbols of Kleinbasel societies, the griffin takes part in various traditional Basel festivals.

Peter and the griffin.

We wandered through some very picturesque old streets towards Basel's huge cathedral - Basler Münster. Basel's cathedral is located on a hill high above the River Rhine. The earliest cathedral located here was built by Bishop Haito between 805 and 823. Then in 1019 a grander building, named Heinrichsmünster after Germany's king Henry II, was consecrated here. Basel's Cathedral was almost totally destroyed during the great Basel earthquake of 1356. It was restored with some new Gothic features and consecrated in 1363. During our visit, we explored inside the cathedral, its cloisters and the terrace behind it with spectacular views of the Rhine. The square in front of the cathedral was sadly all dug up and a lot of renovation was taking place so it was difficult to photograph the front of the cathedral.

Street in the old town.

The cathedral from its cloister.

The cathedral from its cloister.

View from the cathedral terrace.

Sculpture at front of cathedral.

Cathedral Square.

Cathedral Square.

Basel Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

From the cathedral we walked down past Basel's famous blue and white houses to the Middle Bridge - Mittlere Brücke. The Middle Bridge crosses from Basel's old town to the district of Klein Basel. It is the oldest existing bridge across the Rhine. The first bridge built here was part stone/part wood and dated from 1225. The current bridge was rebuilt in 1905 and is now made entirely of granite. In the centre of the middle bridge is a replica of the old bridge chapel, the Käppelijoch. In medieval times convicted criminals were executed here by having weights attached to them and being thrown into the River Rhine to drown. The ceremony with the savage man, lion and griffin takes place on this bridge. There are lovely views from the bridge back towards the old town.

While we were standing on this bridge we watched a procession of Rhine swimmers sweep by. To swim the Rhine first purchase a waterproof bag, put all your stuff in it and take it with you while you swim. You will be swept along the river by the current of the water, you cannot swim against it back to the point where you entered the water, so you must know in advance where you can manage to get out. Your waterproof bag will double as a flotation device. It looked fun but can be dangerous due to boats and strong currents.

Middle Bridge.

Peter with the blue and white houses.

View from the Middle Bridge.

View from the Middle Bridge.

Looking towards the cathedral.

Rhine swimmers.

Kleinbasel.

We doubled back from the bridge into the old town again looking at the blue and white houses, the state archives and St Martin's Church. The blue and white houses were built between 1763 and 1775 by architect Samuel Werenfels as residential and business houses for silk ribbon manufacturers Lukas and Jakob Sarasin. They are considered to be some of the loveliest houses in Basel. St Martin's Church is the oldest parish church in Basel. It may date as far back as the sixth or seventh century. It was first documented in 1101. Opposite the church stand the state archives which are a very attractive building.

St Martin's Church.

State Archives.

Blue and White House.

Lions in the old town.

From the old town we walked down the hill to Basel's spectacular town hall. The Town Hall is a five hundred year old building dominating the Marktplatz. It is bright red and covered with frescoes.

Peter outside the town hall.

From here we wandered to St Peter's Church, stopped for refreshments at St Peter's Platz and had a quick look at Basel's botanic gardens which are close to Basel University. On our way back we noticed a rather odd tight rope walker sculpture.

St Peter's Church.

The Botanic Gardens.

Tight rope walker sculpture.

After this we started to walk back towards the station, but detoured to look at the Elisabethenkirche. This is a nineteenth century church with a 72 metre bell tower. Construction of the church started in 1857 and finished in 1864. The work was financed by wealthy Basel businessman, Christoph Merian and his wife Margarethe Burckhardt-Merian. They are both buried inside.

St Elizabeth's Church.

Near this church we visited our final sight of the day - the Tinguely Fountain. This fountain was created by Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely in 1997. The fountain consists of nine iron figures in constant motion.

Tinguely Fountain.

We have been to Geneva for the final days of our last two summer holidays. Our first visit there was fairly hectic, because it was a new destination for us; our second visit was more relaxed. We were tired we had been travelling for a full seven weeks and we just wanted to swim and relax.

On both visits we stayed in the Ibis Airport Hotel in Cointrin. It is easy to get to from the airport as it has a free shuttle bus and once you have checked in you get a free transport pass for your whole stay. This is not something unique to this hotel. It seems to be all over Geneva and possibly all over Switzerland. From the Ibis Airport Hotel bus number ten will take us into the centre of the city where we can then use our pass on four boats that cross Lake Geneva, trams, buses and trains. Pretty good, I think.

Our hotel had been refurbished this year, but I did not take any new photos of it, as I say I had more or less switched off from tourism. I have a photo from last year, though.

Our room.

On our first visit we began by heading straight towards Lake Geneva. On the way we encountered the Basilica of Notre Dame of Geneva, the main Roman Catholic church in Geneva. It is quite close to the main railway station. It was built using a design by Alexandre Grigny between 1852 and 1857. it is attractive from the outside. We did not actually go in.

The Basilica of Notre Dame of Geneva.

Geneva is a city on the water. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Geneva and is also on the confluence of the Rivers Rhone and Avre. As soon as we reached the lake we could see the famous Jet d'Eau shooting up into the air on the other side. The Jet d'Eau is a huge Fountain on Lake Geneva. It is one of the tallest fountains in the world. It was built in 1886 to control and release the excess pressure of a hydraulic plant at La Coulouvrenière. Later it became a tourist attraction and the city's symbol. The fountain can pump 500 litres of water per second to a height of 140 meters. There is a bridge leading out to it which we visited later on.

Jet d'Eau.

We walked along the banks of the lake then crossed the road when we saw a fairly ornate monument. This was the Brunswick Monument, a mausoleum built in 1879 to commemorate the life of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick who lived from 1804 to 1873. He left his fortune to the city of Geneva on condition that a monument be built in his name. The monument is based on the Scaliger Tombs in Verona, Italy.

The Brunswick Monument.

The Brunswick Monument.

After looking at this monument, we crossed back to the lake which was a wonderful shade of blue. In the distance we could see tall mountains, some with snow and Geneva's old town with the Cathedral of Saint Peter perched on top of its hill.

Across the lake towards the old town.

Across the lake towards the old town.

Looking towards the mountains and Jet d'Eau.

Next we encountered some lovely statues next to the lake. The last of these statues is in memory of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, commonly known as Princess Sissi. She was stabbed to death here on September the 10th 1898 by 25-year old Italian anarchist Luigi Luccheni.

Statue by the lake.

Statue by the lake.

Statue by the lake.

Statue in memory of Sisi.

Then we took a little boat across the lake towards the Jet d'Eau. It was one of the four routes we could use free with our pass. In the end we used them all - several times. The boat is the yellow wooden one in the next picture.

Boat across the lake.

Jet d'Eau from the other side.

Jet d'Eau acting as a prism.

A bit later in the English Gardens we found a statue of two women. It is called La Combourgeoisie and commemorates the joining of Geneva to the rest of Switzerland in 1814. The two women symbolize the Republic of Geneva and Helvetias.

La Combourgeoisie.

We walked through the English Gardens then headed back home. We were both tired from our flight there and the intense heat. Actually we both felt like we had had way too much sun. If there is something Geneva lacks it is shade.

On our second day of our first stay we took a bus into the centre of Geneva and got off at a small bus station.

We noticed there was a clock tower here and a statue. I have since discovered the statue was of Philibert Berthelier who was born around 1465 and died on August 23rd, 1519. Berthelier was strongly opposed to the Duke of Savoy meddling in Geneva's affairs and called for a rebellion against him. He was later forced to flee the city. In February 1518 he returned to Geneva from exile and began a series of secret meetings with members of the Huguenots for the purpose of overthrowing Savoy rule. He was arrested on August 23rd, 1519, and tried for treason against the Duke of Savoy. He was found guilty and beheaded the same day. Berthelier is considered a hero in Switzerland.

clock tower and statue.

Statue of Philibert Berthelier.

Statue near the bus station.

While some explore history, others laze around!

Geneva's old town is located on a hill so we began to climb up to have a look at it. We passed a fountain, a lovely old antique book shop, cafes, restaurants and shops. At the top of the hill we reached the Old Arsenal. This has a collection of mosaics on its walls depicting Caesar’s arrival in Geneva in 58 B.C. and a number of old cannons. Across the road from the Old Arsenal stands Geneva's Hotel d' Ville or Town Hall. This building is home to the Alabama Room in which the first Geneva Convention was adopted on August 22nd 1864. There is a plaque about this on one of the inner courtyard walls. The League of Nations held its first assembly here on November 15th, 1920. The origins of the International Red Cross Organization can also be traced back to events that took place here.

Detail of a fountain.

Antique book shop.

Peter in the Old Arsenal.

Mosaic of Caesar in the Old Arsenal.

Geneva's Town Hall.

Geneva's Town Hall.

Street at the top of the old town.

Also on top of this hill stands the Cathedral of St. Peter. This was the church where John Calvin gave his sermons during the middle of the sixteenth century. The origins of this church date back to around 1160. It has been extended or rebuilt at various times and is in a mixture of different styles. roman remains have been unearthed beneath it.

St Peter's Cathedral.

Behind the church we found a little park built out on a terrace. We sat down here to have some lunch which we had purchased earlier from the
Co-op at the bottom of the hill. There were lovely views over the rooftops of Geneva from here.

View from the terrace.

View from the terrace.

View from the terrace.

We then began to descend out of the old town via the Place du Bourg-de-Four. This area once lay outside the city walls. It was home to Geneva's market. Now it is home to many restaurants. It was not looking its best when we visited due to renovation of several buildings. We left the old town on a detour to find the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2016 this was totally covered over for renovation so was a great disappointment. We did not check it out in 2017.

Place du Bourg-de-Four.

Next we walked to Bastion Park to see the Reformation Wall. The one hundred metre long Reformation Wall commemorates the major figures of the Protestant Reformation, such as Guillaume Farel, Jean Calvin, Théodore de Bèze and John Knox. Their statues dominate the centre of the wall. Bastions Park itself is a lovely place for a stroll or a rest from sightseeing. It borders parts of the University of Geneva. We noticed a statue here dedicated to Henri Dunant. Henri Dunant was born in 1828 and died in 1910. He was the founder of the Red Cross, and the first ever person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. There are several statues in Geneva in honour of Dunant. There was also a fountain celebrating David's victory over Goliath.

The Reformation Wall -Central Figures.

Detail of the wall.

Peter in front of the wall.

Statue honouring Henri Dunant.

David and Goliath.

We exited Bastions Park into the Place de Neuve. Here you can find the Conservatory of Music, the Grand Opera Theatre, the Rath Museum, which hosts temporary art exhibitions, and the Victory Concert Hall. An equestrian statue of General Henri Dufour can be found in the centre of the square. Henri Dufour together with Henri Dunant, lawyer Gustave Moynier, and Doctors Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir founded the Red Cross Organization.

General Henri Dufour.

Heri Dunant again.

After looking around the Place de Neuve, we climbed back up into the old town via the Treille Promenade. This was once an artillery post, but nowadays it is a popular and beautiful viewpoint over Geneva. It has what many consider to be the longest wooden bench in the world. This bench dates from 1767. It is 413 feet long, and made of 180 wooden boards. Here we also found a statue of Charles Pictet de Rochemont, born 21st September 1755, died 28th December 1824. He was a statesman and diplomat who prepared the declaration of Switzerland's permanent neutrality which was ratified in 1815.

View from the Treille Promenade.

Peter and the world's longest park bench.

Charles Pictet de Rochemont.

Back in the old town, we popped into the Museum Tavel. This is the oldest private dwelling in Geneva. It was destroyed by fire in 1334 and was subsequently rebuilt by the wealthy Tavel family. Centuries later in 1963 it was acquired by the City of Geneva and converted into a six story museum. The museum is free to enter. I must confess I am not much of a museum fan and I went in purely to look at the inside of the building rather than the exhibits.

Maison Tavel.

Garden of Maison Tavel.

Maison Tavel.

We then came back down the hill from the old town and headed to the English Gardens. We had a look at the famous floral clock and the central fountain. In 1955 Geneva created the biggest floral clock in the world to honour its clock and watch making tradition. The floral clock looks different at different times of the year depending on what flowers are in bloom at that time. The bronze Four Seasons Fountain in the centre of the park was sculpted by Alexis Andre. There is a boat named le Bateau Genève moored next to these gardens. This boat was made famous on September 10th 1898, when the Austrian Empress Sissi, whose statue we encountered earlier, managed to drag herself here after being stabbed in the heart by an Italian anarchist. She died on this boat. In honour of this tragedy the boat is now a welfare association, offering counselling and free meals for the people in need.

We had bought some drinks to cool down as it was a very hot day. Every shady seat in the park was occupied so we ended up just sitting on the grass.

Floral clock.

The four seasons fountain.

Le Bateau Geneve.

We then boarded three of the little yellow shuttle boats, known locally as Mouettes, we could use for free with our travel pass. We used route two, three and four, which enabled us to crisscross the lake enjoying beautiful views and ending up at Perle du Lac from where we walked to the headquarters of the United Nations. There are many international organizations in this area. We passed the World Trade Organization and Unicef among others before reaching the U.N.

The United Nations Office in Geneva is the second-largest of the four main office sites of the United Nations. It is second in size only to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The other two UN offices are located in Vienna and Nairobi.

The UN Geneva occupies the Palais des Nations building which was originally constructed for the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938. This building was subsequently expanded in the early 1950s and late 1960s. There are lovely frescoes on the outside walls of the UN building. Across from the building in the Place des Nations stands a huge sculpture of a chair with a broken leg. This sculpture was commissioned by the non-governmental organisation Handicap International to draw attention to victims of landmines and gain support for the Ottawa Treaty which tried to ban landmines. It was created by Swiss sculptor Daniel Berset. The sculpture is 12 metres high and weighs 5.5 tonnes. It was supposed to be placed in front of the UN temporarily, but became so popular it has never been removed. The Place des Nations also has many dancing fountains.

Unicef.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

UN Headquarters.

The broken Chair.

The Broken Chair and the UN Headquarters.

Wandering around this area we came to a statue of Muhatma Ghandi. It is located in Ariana Park and was sculpted by Gautam Pal‘s in 2007 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Indian-Swiss friendship. We continued past this statue to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Muhatma Ghandi.

ICRC Headquarters.

Deciding this was enough sightseeing for one day we then headed for a bus to food and home.

Our second visit to Geneva was a lazy one as we had been travelling pretty much non-stop for seven weeks by the time we got there, so most of our time was actually spent swimming. In terms of sightseeing we did do a couple of things. On our second day, which turned out to be a rainy one, we went in search of the confluence of the Rhone and Avre Rivers. I wanted to see this because I had seen a lovely photo of it in which the two rivers have distinctly different colours and it looks spectacular when they merge. The Rhone is slower moving and dark blue; the Avre is fast and carries a lot of sand and looks milky white.

I had read information about where to view this from and it involved taking a tram to La Jonction, then finding a forest path which led towards the Cimetiére de Saint-Georges. On the way we were supposed to pass a restaurant called Cafe de la Tour and from there go onto a bridge. We did all of this and reached Cafe de la Tour which looked nice to eat in but has no view of the confluence as it is shrouded in trees. We then tried to go to the bridge but it is closed for construction work and we could not get near it. We were really disappointed but decided to proceed further to see if there were any other view points. We walked through the forest, past the cemetery and eventually came to another bridge - Pont Butin. This had lovely views over the Rhone but not of the confluence. I was still determined not to give up, so on the way back I took myself to a lower path to see the confluence. I did not go a sensible way and ended up in an area cordoned off as dangerous from which I had to climb a fence marked no entry to get out. From the lower path I ended up on a building site. Undeterred I tried to view the confluence from here, only to be thrown off by irate workmen. Eventually I just got on the Jonction Island and walked to the end of it. This was quite interesting. Lots of people were swimming in the Rhone here and there was a sort of view of the confluence from the end of the island but not a spectacular one like the one from the closed down bridge. Oh well, such is life! The Jonction Island had quite a lot of interesting artistic graffiti. We did not swim here, but would consider coming back here to swim on a future visit.

View from Pont Butin.

Looking back at the bridge that caused all the trouble.

View from Pont Butin.

Graffiti La Jonction.

The River Rhone.

La Jonction and the bridge we should have been looking back from.

The River Rhone.

Graffiti, La Jonction.

A bit of water mixing in this shot.

Graffiti.

Graffiti.

Graffiti.

Our favourite place to swim in Geneva is the beautiful Bains des Pâquis. This is a public baths on Lake Geneva. It costs 2 Euros to get in and for this you can swim from a long jetty that cuts right out onto the lake. You can dive in the water, climb in via steps or wade in from the beach area. There are toilets, showers, changing rooms and a restaurant. We love it here. At the end of the jetty there is a little light house and several Koinobori, which are huge carp-shaped Japanese windsocks. We have never been to Geneva in winter, but apparently there are saunas and Turkish baths here for that time of year.

Bains des Pâquis.

Bains des Pâquis.

Bains des Pâquis.

Peter enjoying the water.

Me enjoying the water.

Bains des Pâquis.

Bains des Pâquis.

We also spent a lot of our time using the little yellow shuttle boats, Mouettes, which cross Lake Geneva on four different routes. We used these to go to Geneva Plage. On this occasion we did not swim here, but we will on future visits. It costs 7 Euros to go in. You can swim in the lake or an Olympic sized swimming pool.

We also used these to get to Perle du Lac. Near here there is an interesting statue of a boy and a horse. This was created by Swiss sculptor Heinz Schwarz (1920 -1994). It is based on an old story in which a boy swims in the lake with his horse. They both get into trouble in the water. The horse manages to scramble out, but the boy drowns. Apparently when viewed from a certain angle, the boy's hand can just be seen above the horse's back before he gasps his last breath. There are also several lovely parks to explore near here, such as La Perle-du-Lac and Parc Moynier. These parks have lots of nice old buildings, statues, fountains and flowers. The History of Science Museum is in the centre of Park Moynier. We wandered around these parks then swam in the lake here.

yellow shuttle boat.

The old town across the lake.

Near Geneva Plage.

Geneva Plage.

Near Geneva Plage.

Crossing beautiful Lake Geneva.

Looking towards Mont Blanc.

Parks on the lake.

Swimming from the shores of the park.

The boy and the horse statue.