Jet d'Eau, Geneva, Switzerland

What you see here is one of the first photos from my trip to Switzerland in September 2015. That morning, I had flown to Geneva from Manchester and got my bearings enough to catch a train from the airport to the city centre where I found my hotel and dropped off my luggage. Once settled into my room, I then set to trotting about the city to see its sights and get to know the place.

There are times when I cannot recall how an idea came to me and my making for Lac Léman (or Lake Geneva) would be one of those. My suspicion is inspection of a map led me there and that is when I got my first glimpse of Jet d'Eau, once part of a scheme harnessing water power for local craftsmen.

That the vantage point was along Quai du Mont-Blanc tells you that there is something more ancient than the 1891 water spectacle to be seen too. After all, I had come along Rue du Mont-Blanc on the way there and passed up the chance to cross over Pont du Mont-Blanc until later in the day. Sadly, Mont Blanc was hidden during my visit and I seem to remember that a look at a weather forecast for Chamonix revealed that it was none too promising so that may explain things.

Jet d'Eau and what lay about it was enough for me though, and I even discounted the chances of seeing the highest mountain in Western Europe from Geneva until perusal of other photos on the web convinced me otherwise. Such a viewing needs to await another visit, and it did nothing to take from the delights that Switzerland served up on my first trip there anyway. Without them, this album would never exist.

See more photos from this album (Switzerland)