Made an excursion to downtown Geneva to explore shopping and history. We answered the call of the sweet tooth and had delectable macaroons in a variety of flavors including caramel, orange blossom and rose petal. I can’t quite describe these tasty treats other than to say they really do taste like their name implies.
We broke the group up after our snack with the younger kids going home to get their cousin from school. Tim, Lindsey and Kristen headed on for a dose of Reformation history. First, we stopped in the Calvin Auditorium, an austere building which hosted many lectures by “the man himself.” When we walked in, a choir was practicing for an upcoming concert so we took seats and enjoyed the acoustics in this building. Such beautiful sounds of the young girls when they hit the high notes perfectly. Next, we took a short walk to the The Reformation Museum houses tons of info regarding Jean Calvin and friends. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of displays including video presentation of the Predestination banquet (yummy) and the music room where you could press buttons to hear different musical recordings of traditional psalms. Following the museum, we walked to St Peter’s Cathedral and the Chapel of the Maccabees. Here we saw Calvin’s chair and a massive mausoleum for the Duke of Rohan, leader of the French Hugeonots who found safety in Geneva after fleeing persecution in France. The church was completely stripped of its finery when it transferred from Catholic to Protestant in 1536. All the walls have been whitewashed except for a tiny chapel originally built by Cardinal Jean de Brogny in 1405 to house his tomb. The chapel still sports a dazzling array of gilt and bright colors.