Today was our first full day in Geneva, and as we are still getting on the local time, we ended up sleeping in until 9:00. We had a simple breakfast at home, and Susan and Emma met at the information booth, then returned home. We ventured forth to the train station, and took a tram out to Plainpalais,
which is a big open square where there is a huge flea market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but today there was only a modest selection of sellers due to the rain. After looking around, we went for lunch at Le Gruyérien and met one of Emma’s friends there.
After a delicious and leisurely lunch, we walked to the Patek-Philippe Museum where we got to see many, many watches. I was expecting more of a history of watchmaking (think the mechanical aspects), but it was more of an exhibit about the artistic aspects of watches. Cool stuff, and made us think about how watches are (generally…) less a piece of artwork/jewelry today, and more utilitarian. On the other hand, most people today could afford a watch, whereas in the early days of watchmaking, presumably only the wealthy could. Lots to think about there. Also, the heyday of watches sort of passed when nearly everyone began carrying a cell phone, which has a built in clock. That said, few would accuse a Patek Philippe (or indeed any of the famous Swiss brands) of being utilitarian.
From there, we headed to see Emma’s digs, but stopped on the way to have a coffee at Boréal Coffee Shop which is Emma’s favorite local cafe. And finally, we headed back to our apartment, where we shared a simple dinner.