Stop #1 : Geneva

We departed for our brief little August getaway early morning with the idea of spending most of the day in Geneva, Switzerland. It is just under a three hour drive away but this was our first visit to the city. Jonathan has long wanted to do a little Reformation tour so that is where we focused our attention in touring the city.

Seeing how Geneva ranks in the top 5 most expensive cities in the world, we definitely tried to tour on the cheap. In fact, Zurich and Bern also make the top 10 list, which provides the rationale for finding more economical lodging in France or Germany. Seriously, we have never seen so many Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati and other high end vehicles as we did in Geneva. They are like the Fiat of Italy there. A tall (small) cup of plain Starbucks coffee cost 4.50 Fr (about $5)! Dare I mention how much a speciality drink costs?!  I digress.

For our three day adventure Jonathan made up a trivia sheet for the three cities we would visit. The kids were so cute as they took the task very seriously using their sheets like clues on a treasure map filling out the answers they found along the way. I think they might have learned a thing or two so that is always a plus, right? It definitely kept them excited about getting to the next thing to see. 

We made our way to the Reformation Wall first where four influential men are honored for their role in the Genevan Protestant Reformation. The wall is located in the beautiful Parc des Bastions that made us wish we had more time to sit and enjoy the surroundings and play a game or two of chess.

The Reformation Wall is 100 meters long and the central statues are 5 meters tall. 

The four central figures on the wall are: Theodore Beza, John Calvin, William Farel and John Knox. 

Standing with his heroes of the faith

From there we headed to Collège Calvin after passing the house of Turretini, an Italian reformer that lived in Geneva. 

Turretini's house is on the left where the big brown door is.

John Calvin founded the Collège Genève in 1559 and it is used as a secondary school to this day and has changed its name to Collège Calvin.

We walked back through Old Town Geneva taking in its quaint European atmosphere.

We arrived at St. Pierre Cathedral and spent some time taking in its simplistic beauty (compared to Roman Catholic cathedrals). This is where John Calvin preached.

Bell tower (L), Front facade (UR), Calvin Auditorium (LR) was closed

Post Tenebras Lux (Light after Darkness) is written below where the Bible is placed. The motto represents Calvinism and Protestant Reformation. The latin phrase is also used on the seal of Geneva.

Standing next to John Calvin's chair

Standing under the pulpit where Calvin preached

We took a little pit stop to eat lunch and refuel outside the Cathedral. The kids were lucky not to twist an ankle while goofing off...

We toured the Reformation Museum as our final stop for the afternoon. The museum was well done and if it wasn't for everyone being able to have their own handheld audioguide it could have been pretty miserable for the kids. We all learned a lot and had fun along the way thanks to our amazing tour guide and historian, Jonathan!

Who could resist?

As you drive into Geneva you can see this huge water fountain out on the lake. The tourists were in abundance along the boardwalk.  We ventured over to the lake just for a couple of pictures before pilling back in the car for the 2.5 hour drive to Colmar. And that was our day in Geneva...