Jet d'eau

The Jet d'eau is the awesome fountain on a jetty that stretches into Lake Genève.  It is one of Genève's most famous landmarks and is definitely a must see for any of our friends and family planning to visit us in the near future (HINT HINT J). To be honest it is so huge it is hard to miss!

According to the Genève Tourism website (http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/?rubrique=0000000172&lang=_eng) and Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_d'Eau) the Jet d'eau was originally a simple security valve at the Coulouvrenière hydraulic factory, this water fountain has, over the years, grown to be the symbol of Genève.  In 1891, it was transferred to the "Rade", to become a major tourist attraction. 

The present Jet d'eau was installed in 1951 in a partially submerged pumping station to pump lake water instead of city water. The pump propels 500 litres of water per second to a height of 140 metres at a speed of 200 km per hour (124 miles/h).  When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 7,000 litres of water in the air. 

Since 2003, the fountain has operated during the day all year round, except in case of frost and particularly strong wind. It also operates in the evening between spring and autumn.

If you do not mind getting a bit wet you can stare up at the Jet d'eau via the jetty leading you to a few metres from the base of the nozzle exit.

Hubby and I really find the Jet d'eau beautiful and are often fascinated by how different it looks depending on the weather and the time of day. If it is windy the area of spray is huge, in the evening it is lit up by clear lights and on some evenings it is lit by a red light. The best, however, has to be when the weather is rainy and overcast and a rainbow appears. The rainbow on Monday was truly the most beautiful and breathtaking I have ever seen (the pics don't do it justice).

Below are a variety of photos we have taken of the Jet d'eau at various stages of our stay so far. Which is your favourite?