Friday 19th September: Drizzly rain in morning, sunny afternoon: 15°C to 22°C
Chateau de Veigy to Geneva: 15.1k: 9.10am to 1.30pm: 4hrs 20mins easy peasy
Accommodation: Hotel des Tourelles Geneva
Mr de Tiliere, Chateau de Veigy
Poncho weather
Still poncho weather
Coffee under shelter In Cologny
Drizzly but pretty walk to Geneva
Geneva's Jet d'Eau - 140m water jet
After 659k, we're in Geneva
Yes, we're really in Geneva
Lunch at the bus stop out of rain
Washing at Hotel des Tournelles
Our room is 1st floor, bay window
View from St Peter's Cathedral
View from St Peter's Cathedral
View from St Peter's Cathedral
View from St Peter's Cathedral
Dinner time in Central Square
Rue du Rhone, watchmakers street
After 32 days and 659k of walking, we've finally arrived at the end of our hike in Geneva. A celebration day, but our walk into Geneva this morning was in the drizzling rain - only our second day of rain on this trip. An easy 15k walk in drizzling but not cold rain along tracks and old roads, then finally along the quai of Lake Geneva. It's been an unforgettable trip.
This morning, we can sleep in - only a short day along the flat. Breakfast is at 8am and Monsieur and Madame de Tiliere have a buffet breakfast ready for us - cold meats and cheeses, croissants and breads and jams, compote of stewed fruits. Really lovely breakfast and we're full. We can’t resist a few photos with Monsieur de Tiliere before we leave and he explains how long he spends maintaining the large garden. Surrounding his chateau.
It's after 9am when we leave in drizzling rain - not heavy and not cold - and follow a secondary road busy with farm traffic through the ridge top villages of Meinier and Vandouvres, all the way to Cologny, just outside Geneva. After 2hrs, there's time for a quick coffee under the shelter near a water trough. At Cologny, there's a designated footpath through minor roads with a few huge houses, almost as large as a Chateaux, set in magnificent gardens. Then the footpath leads to the quai path between the freeway into Geneva and the Lake. We pass by a boulangerie on the way and of course we have to stop to collect our daily ration of fresh bread.
The first thing we see on Lake Geneva is the Jet d'Eau, first created in 1886 by the hydraulic factory that distributed the Rhone’s energy to Geneva’s watchmakers. It was forced to create an open-air outlet for the over-pressurised water when the workshops closed in the evening. The spout generated so much enthusiasm and excitement that it became a real attraction for locals and tourists and was later rebuilt. It now is one hundred and forty metres high and spurts 500 litres of water per second at 200km/h. We saw it yesterday from Hermance, just the tip of it above the trees on the Pointe de Bellerive. There's lots of walkers along the quai willing to snapshot us under the Geneva sign near the Jet d'eau. It's still drizzling as we arrive in Geneva proper just after 1pm, and find the only dry spot at the bus stop just 100 metres from our Hotel des Tourelles, to have a cheese sandwich for lunch. It's directly opposite the Rue du Rhone, famous for the location of all the prestigious watch makers shops - Omega, Tissot, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Longines, Cartier and Omega, to name a few.
We soon find the Hotel de Tourelles and Room 11, First Floor with bay window is perfect for us. It overlooks the Rhone River running out of Lake Geneva. Room 11 has a little bay window with a fridge, table and chairs, and there's a jug. It's an old building but in a perfect location near the railway station and cheap for Geneva at 130 Swiss Francs -about $170AUD - the Hotel next door costs 600 Swiss Francs. Time to wash things we'll need for the trip home and hang it in the bay window in the sun.
Then we have a few hours to play tourist. First we go to the shops for our picnic dinner and beer and drop it off at the hotel and park in the fridge. Then we mosey through the Manor department store (like a Myers), before heading up to the old village of Geneva and visiting the Cathedral of St Peter. It's 6pm and the bell tower is due to close at 6.30pm. We still have time to climb to the top to the highest point in Geneva for a Panoramic view of the city in all directions - across the lake, out to the Jura mountains and the Dents - jagged mountains named because they look like teeth.
Dinner awaits us. We sit at the table in the bay window, watching the Rhone roll by, and celebrate our wonderful trek. Then it's time to plan for our next two days in Bern visiting Luca, Seraina and their new baby Sophie Malou.