Genevé, Switzerland

As a continuation of my reflections, our journey takes us from the bustling lights of Paris to the serene city surrounded by the majestic Swiss Alps. And my, what a journey. We left Paris at around 8 am and arrived in Geneva at around 4 pm--an eight hour journey by coach, about six hours without the breaks we took for lunch and for the EU mandated coach rests for the driver, Franz, who would be accompanying us until Amsterdam. So of course, most of the students got some well needed shut eye on the coach after a late (for some, very late) night in Paris. Our snoozing was interrupted by what became the infamous hushed "Hellooo everyboooody" that Mark, our group leader, woke us with for our breaks, and became a running theme for the rest of the trips that we took on the coach ride.

However, I was able to see some of the amazing sights that we passed in between naps. It was a beautiful day, and as the French villages gave way to the French Alps, the view changed from charming countryside to majestic cliffs and mountains. Due to the relatively warm winter weather, the Alps were not covered in snow like they usually were, but it was still gorgeous nevertheless.

The view from the coach

More views from the coach

Franz drove like a maniac (according to Mark) and got us into Geneva before the listed time on the itinerary so we could enjoy Geneva before it got too dark. On our way into Genevé (that's how it's supposed to be spelled/said), we actually got to see the Jet d'Eau, a dramatic water jet on Lake Geneva. It is normally shut off during the winter, but I suppose they decided to keep it going because of how warm this particular winter has been. Unfortunately, it was too far away to take a good photo of it, and it was shut off by the time we exited the bus. It is a water jet that launches almost 140 meters in the air, with the spray going wherever the wind pleases. It's a fantastic sight, especially against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps and of Lake Geneva.

Genevé

After we checked in to our hotel, Mark took us to the streets of Genevé and pointed out the major landmarks and sights before letting us go for the rest of the night. We trekked to the famous Saint Pierre Cathedral, which overlooks much of Geneva, stopping to see the swans and the geese that lived on the Lake. They are not afraid of humans, which was very cool as I got to get up close enough to a swan to pet it. Now the geese are very much not afraid of humans, and are in fact terrifying. As terrifying as the Canadian geese are that flock to the lagoon in Dekalb and leave their droppings everywhere and also attack you if you get too close...these geese are even more terrifying. It almost made me miss the Canadian geese. Almost. 

Swans live on Lake Geneva. I got to pet one!

While crossing the bridge that spanned Lake Geneva, we stopped by an area with hanging lights and bells. I have no idea what it these signify, but it was very cool nevertheless. I can only imagine how pretty it would look at night, rather than on the cusp of dusk.

Some hanging lights in the center of the Geneva bridges

We passed through what I can only assume was the shopping district of Geneva and made our way uphill (almost a forty-five degree incline--yes, it was rough getting up there) to reach Saint Pierre Cathedral. You can see the French influence on the cathedral: I thought it looked quite similar to Notre Dame cathedral, especially the designs. We found a place overlooking Geneva that was quite gorgeous, even in the fading light.

Saint Pierre Cathedral

The Saint Pierre Cathedral peeking out in an alleyway

The view from Saint Pierre Cathedral overlooking Geneva

After we visited Saint Pierre Cathedral, we found a gourmet chocolate place and bought a few bars before heading out to find some food. I'm going to be honest, after eating in Paris, the food in Switzerland, while still good, simply could not compare. After dinner, we headed out to find another gourmet chocolate place only to find that everything closed at 7 pm! We walked around Geneva trying to find a place that was still open, but nope, every store was closed. So we window shopped as we slowly made our way back to the hotel, eyeing the expensive Rolexes and fashion items that we could never afford. In Paris, Catherine the tour guide told us that the term "window shopping" in French, leche-vitrine, directly translates to "window licking." The more enticing an item in the window seemed, the closer you get to it, so close you are almost licking the window. So...we window licked on our way back to the hotel.

We did find some souvenir shops on our way back, which we perused. A lot of the items they sold were quite expensive, but I bought a fairly priced Swiss army knife for my brother anyway. The man working the cashier pointed us toward a grocery store that sold chocolate, and we pretty much ran there. It wasn't gourmet chocolate, but it was Swiss chocolate and that was all that mattered to us. I bought so many bars, I needed a bag to carry it all. 

At the hotel, I met up with some of the other students and just hung out in my hotel room (which I shared with Jenny) and had some of the food we brought back from Paris--a baguette, some salami, camembert, and wine. We also had some of the chocolate we bought and it was fantastic. It looked like a college kid's attempt at being fancy, with everything spread out on a ripped paper bag, but it was tasty nevertheless. And we're all college kids anyway!

Me, Jenny, Claudia, Joseph, and Curtis enjoyed a fancy feast.
Photo taken by Joseph.

The next day, we packed up and put everything on the coach before heading to the World Trade Organization to hear a presentation on the WTO. Josep Bosch, the press and information officer of the WTO, gave a very interesting presentation on what the WTO does and how it handles issues. He made the analogy of traffic rules to WTO's purpose. The WTO creates regulations for its member countries, but also understands that there is no "one-size fits all" regulation for every member state. After all, with 162 countries in the WTO, it is necessary that the organization respects the rights of all member countries.

It was quite cool to be in the room that the WTO put us in. It was a sound-proof room with the name plates of the different countries set up in the last configuration that were there just a few days prior. I personally sat next to New Taipei, Taiwan's official name, which was very cool for me since my family comes from Taiwan. Mr. Bosch explained that all 162 members must agree on a decision and must therefore use extensive negotiations in order to arrive at a consensus. The power rests with the members, who act as a collective group. It is an inter-governmental organization, not supernational. Mr. Bosch detailed the issues that the WTO faced, such as solving trade conflicts between members and negotiating trade agreements, while also setting and monitoring rules to eliminate obstacles to international trade.

Mr. Bosch also touched on how disputes are settled within the WTO. The entire process for a single dispute can take up to 2 years and 7 months to resolve. Some cases that have been disputed were on issues of imported cigarettes from the US to Thailand; Costa Rica vs. US on underwear; Venezuela vs. US on gasoline; and the US vs. EU on beef exports. It was quite interesting to see that some things, such as underwear and beef, are disputed. These are not items that you would normally think of as being imported or necessary to argue about, but they were. The presentation at the WTO definitely opened my eyes to how the world and international trade works. 

After the WTO presentation, we boarded the bus and Franz whisked us away on the road from serene Genevé to Heidelberg, Germany. While Geneva was a little too pricy for my liking, it was still a wonderful experience and I wish we could have spent more than a night there. The next part of our journey will be continued in Heidelberg!