9/16 – Departed Chamonix for Geneva. Our group from the Tour du Mont-Blanc were dropped off at the Geneva Intl Airport. After bidding our final adieu, I headed to the Central Station which is adjacent to the airport (very convenient) to buy a 15-day Eurail Pass. I found a post office nearby and mailed some of my stuff back home to lighten my backpack. At that time, I was having a terrible headache/hangover and wanted to just hit the sack. Originally I intended to go straight to Zurich but since I was curious what was there in Geneva, I decided to spend the night. After finding a hotel near the Central Station and quick hamburger for lunch, I began my tour along the quays.

Geneva is well known as a stronghold of private banks, the home of the European headquarters of the United Nations, the International Red Cross and the birthplace of Calvinism. One sight you can’t miss is the Jet d’Eau, the famous fountain which has virtually become the city’s trademark. Visible for miles, it throws water 460 ft into the air above Lake Geneva. This is there number one attraction (so sad!).

Then through the Old Town, set on the cultural Left Bank and to the Monument de la Reformation, built in 1917 along a 16th-century rampart, beneath the walls of the Old Town on Promenade des Bastions. It honours events, individuals such as John Knox, Calvin, Théodore de Bèze, and Guillaume Farel -- the four Genevese reformers, and documents of the Protestant Reformation by depicting them in statues and bas-reliefs.

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