Genève - la Vieille Ville

From Cornavin, we made our way over to Geneva's Rive Gauche (Left Bank) and la Vieille Ville (Old Town).  With a greater metropolitan area population of just under 1,300,000, Geneva is Switzerland's second largest city after Zurich.  The name "Geneva" refers both to the city and to the canton.  Geneva is also the global "mother lode" for work in diplomacy and international relations.

While today's Geneva is cosmopolitan, urbane and very important as a world financial center in addition to being an international diplomatic hub, its global role is a comparatively recent one for the city.  It first appeared in history as a small border town, taken by the Romans as a fortification against the Celto-Germanic Helvetii around 121 B.C.  The international abbreviation for Switzerland, "CH," (Confoederatio Helvetica or, in French, Confédération Helvétique) refers to the Helvetii. 

We began our introduction to the Old Town by passing by the Clock Tower and into the Place du Molard (aka "Place Molard").

People were generally eating there in a leisurely manner, as they will continue to do all summer, weather permitting.  It was a far cry from our interlude at McDo's.  They had silver table settings along with crystal and linen.  Of course, their "lunches" likely cost quite a bit more than ours had.

From there, while my visitors purchased stamps at the post, I took a few shots of the carousel

some clothing for sale in a stand nearby

and the road leading up into the Vieille Ville.

My soccer fan visitors noticed that this particular restaurant appeared to be supporting several World Cup teams, judging by the display of flags in its upstairs windows, so we decided to memorialize the moment.

Then we continued on to the Place du Bourg-de-Four, pausing for a moment by the fountain,

and noticing that people were also sitting outside in the many cafes dotting the square, such as here, in front of the Palais de Justice (courthouse).

From there, we made our way along the Grande Rue to les Armures (the Armory), across from the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) and my visitors posed for a photo in front of the mosaic depicting the arrival of the Romans.

It was a good time to take shelter as it began pouring, so we spent a few more moments taking photos.  We weren't alone.

As Prince C and Princess C discovered, the lunch hour is sacrosanct and will continue in spite of the pouring rain.

We thought briefly about continuing our visit on the tour train rather than on foot, but the downpour seemed to be diminishing.

Still, it seemed like a good moment to head inside.  So that's what we did for the next part of the afternoon.