Going to Geneva for the LIFT Conference?
January 29th, 2007. Published under General. 3 Comments.
Scoble has mentioned a couple of times that he is going to Geneva for the LIFT conference; if you are heading there as well then while you are in Geneva you should take some time to do a couple of things:
- Take the 40 minute drive to Chamonix and take the cable car to the top of the Aiguille du Midi, the view is absolutely incredible. If you’re a skier take some extra time and go skiing there
- Check out the many Swiss watch makers, most of them are based in Geneva and their watches truely are like works of art
- Patek Philippe (My favourite watch maker, they also invented the wrist watch): www.patek.com/
- Piaget (lots of flash and jewels): http://www.piaget.com/
- Bucherer (they are not a watchmaker really, they sell many different brands/models and if you would like to compare different companies side by side this is a great place to do it: www.bucherer.com/
- There are others (Audemars Piguet, Chopard, Girard-Perregaux, Breitling, Rolex), but Patek and Piaget are a good example of the pinnacle of watch making (although for very different reasons; Patek is the best in the business when it comes to the movement and it’s complexity while Piaget is all about the bling).
- If you are into watches, or you get into watches after looking at some of the crazily expensive ones available from the Swiss watchmakers then check out the Patek Philippe Museum: http://www.patekmuseum.com/
- The European headquarters of the UN
- The WTO is also in Geneva, not sure if you can get in to check it out or not
- If you like chocolate as much as I do (and that is a lot!) then definitely check out this chocolate shop: www.chocolat-auer.ch/en/chocolate_factory.html
- Geneva is the home of Davidoff Cigars, anyone who likes cigars even a little bit should drop by their Geneva store. It’s not a big store, but it’s where Zino’s first shop was (and his father before him, but Zino is the one who really got them into cigars): www.davidoff.com/davidoff/
While you are there take taxi’s to get around, don’t bother renting a car. Parking in Geneva is totally brutal, especially during the workday. If you do rent a car, don’t take the car out for lunch or you might find yourself sitting in a long line waiting to get a parking spot again after lunch.
The old part of Geneva is a beautiful thing to see and shouldnt be missed. There is a train-like tour through the city that starts downtown near the main shopping area and takes you through the old part of town and past an incredibly beautiful church. If you’re like me and you love to see the old architecture of European buildings then take the tour, it doesnt take too long and is well worth it just for some of the views. Don’t forget to check out the Jet D’Eau, although that only takes a minute and you can do it from anywhere in downtown Geneva. Not the most exciting thing, but it’s cool to see (giant jet of water shooting out of the lake). Also there is a great little coffee shop type thing in a park right in the middle of the river just a little west of downtown. I have no idea what it’s called and can’t give you any directions so if that makes any sense to you or someone you’re with can decipher that then go check it out, it is a very quiet and relaxing spot in Geneva, although it might be a little too cool there now to sit out and enjoy. I believe that it’s just west of the Place D I’Ile in this map.
That is what I can think of quickly off the top of my head (with some quick searches for the links), anyone else have things they love to see/do in Geneva?
3 Comments
LIFT || A conference about technology in our society. on January 29th, 2007
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Etienne on January 30th, 2007
I believe the great little coffee shop you talk of is on the Ile Rousseau. Accessible from the Pont de la Machine (pedestrian only, second one downstream)? Really nice place, but it might be closed in the winter, I’m not sure.
There is a restaurant called Aux Halles de l’Ile which is very close to the west to the Place de l’Ile, which is nothing special in my opinion (but the view can be nice in the winter. In the summer, any terrasse around that area would beat it). Or is there some other place around there I haven’t discoreved yet?
For restaurant ideas, http://www.resto-rang.ch is pretty good (if you speak some French).
And there is an amazing ressource for finding stuff in Switzerland: http://map.search.ch/ . They had the live scrolling maps thing before google maps and their data layers for shops, restaurants, banks, etc. are excellent.
I’d personaly advise against the taxis (expensive, can’t really just fllag one down one on the street, excellent public transit network).
One side trip that is usually appreciated is to go up the Salève. That small mountain with the steep cliff behind Geneva (get your passport, its actually in France).
You can get there by car or bus very easily (get in a bus #8 that says “Veyrier douane” and ride it until it stops, and then walk 3 minutes to the botton of the cable car…). Nice view on Geneva, the lake and the Jura. And a great view of the Mont Blanc from the other side if you walk a little bit to get a glipse from the other side.
If its a foggy week (shit happens…), that quick ride up may very well get you above the clouds. If you want to impress someone and waste money, you can change the color of the spot (the étoile du Salève) at the top of the cable car through a phone call.
Another nice view is from the top of the Cathedral in the old town (no cable car there, only stairs). I also recommend the archological site below the Cathedral which is extremely well presented.
The International Comitee of the Red Cross has a good museum also. Walking distance from the Lift venue.
One last word: if you have a guide book saying that the horloge fleurie (flowery clock?!) is worth seeing, just ignore it.
Going to Geneva for the LIFT Conference? - US Church List on January 29th, 2007
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