Geneva Journals: Art History Museum in Geneva
Stately limestone Beaux-Arts edifice, Musee d'Art et d'Histoire de Geneve, houses art history artifacts, from prehistoric to contemporary periodsOn Day Two it is snowing, but less windy than the first day. Our inn, Romantik Hotel Auberge d'Hermance, provides a wonderful breakfast of cafe au lait, croissant, fresh-baked breads, brioche, cheeses, yogurt, jam, and pears. The weather feels cooperative, so we bundle up and walk to the bus for Geneva to see Musee d'Art d'Histoire. The walk from our medieval village to the bus stop convinces us that we want to return to Switzerland. Most of the people speak and wish us, “Bonjour” on the street. We've traveled many places, but by far, these are the most open and friendly people we've encountered. It is considered rude here not to speak to people when you pass them on the streets. The bus ride winds around Lake Geneva along Rue du Rive and features one grape vineyard after another. The gamay and chasslas vineyard rows scroll past in the windows of the bus like a kinetoscope of gnarled vines in the snow. The grape rows are planted on gentle slopes that run perpendicular to the edge of the street. The best wines in Switzerland are those in the cantons of Valais and Vaud, on the sheltered hillside around Lake Geneva. Very few of these fine wines are exported and are unknown outside the country.
Striking example of Classifical period sculpture depicting the beauty of the human form
The Geneva art history museum is a multidisciplinary group of structures with a survey of civilization from prehistoric to contemporary times. The main building is an elegant, beautifully preserved limestone Beaux Arts edifice that is free to the public. We are lured by the exhibits of antique arms, art, and architectural details, but the smell of baking bread inside is just as enticing. The Beaux Arts features that we notice in this magnificent structure include: relatively flat roof; rusticated and raised first story; a hierarchy of spaces from “noble” and grand to utilitarian; arched windows, arched and pedimented doors, classical details with a tendency to eclecticism, symmetry, statuary and sculpture, classical architectural details of balustrades, pilasters and cartouches; and a subtle polychromy.
The Museum restaurant offers excellent French cuisine at reasonable pricesAfter a 4-hour survey of world art, we can no longer ignore the food cooking on the first level restaurant. Behind the red velvet curtain that shelters diners from doors that open to blasts of cold wind, is a warm, bright bistro. The featured plat du jour was a masterful Coq au Vin with salade frisee and a glass of vin rouge du Provence. We inhale the chicken dish, and unable and unwilling to move, we somehow manage to layer up again and lumber back to a stop at the bottom of the hill to board the “large orange E bus to Hermance.”
We wish we could tell you that we have the willpower to pass on dinner and wine this evening, but when we enter the auberge, our hostess Eva was there waiting to tell us that she arranged for transport to a bistro in Anienes at 7. So, of course out of politeness, we nap and then go downstairs to wait for Igor to drive us to La Floris. The food here is deceptively simple with a clear taste of the ingredients. I order the terrine of duck covered a with a gratinee of garlic potatoes; Steve has shrimp with tomato-stuffed endive and truffle foam sauce. We return to our room with the plug-in heater made from tiles and marble that radiates plenty of warmth, take steamy baths, and crawl under our heavy comforter, happy to be at home here. We need to abandon this stupor of food and wine to be able work with our clients over the next two days!
In gallery below: architectural details of Beaux-Arts style museum, from doors, windows, staircase, furniture, floors, to the floor heat returns. Also pictured, whimsical exit signs that need no translation, the bus trip, shrimp at dinner and cafe au lait, and one of the efficient Swiss buses.
About Steve Chambers
Steve Chambers AIA, Residential Architects, Dallas TX. Steve is a Residential Architect and a licensed interior designer. He achieves unique styles by enquiring into what his clients think would be their ideal home and building a home that meets their stylistic aspirations while centering the design of their home around their daily habits.
Visit his portfolio or contact Public Relations Director, Stephanie Chambers.
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