Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Well, It's Not Geneva

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I have visited Geneva, Switzerland, once. Years ago, Mrs. C, the kids and I were staying in the Jura Mountains of eastern France and we popped over for a day. What I remember was that it was pretty, it was the most expensive place on earth I had visited to date and it had this enormous water spout shoot up out of the lake toward the sky.

It was, of course, the famous Jet d'Eau. (My American ears heard only "jeddo" for a while and I had no idea what they were talking about). Well, the Lou has its own version. This is the Gateway Geyser. It is straight across the Mississippi from the Arch in Illinois. Unlike its Swiss counterpart, it goes off for 15 minutes, three times a day. But it's pretty cool - at its maximum the water spray is as high as the Arch itself, quite a lot higher than the Jet d'Eau. I think they have to turn it down sometimes, depending on the wind, for aircraft safety. I took this picture while standing under the Arch so it was a long way off.

I regret that I will not be able to make comments on others' posts from Tuesday evening, probably until Wednesday evening. We're getting a new telephone/Internet/television bundle at home and until they finish installing it we we have no web service. You would laugh to see me writing this post while sitting in my car outside of a cafe with free WiFi. The show must go on.
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6 comments:

lewi14@gmail.com said...

You brave, Rob. It's a fascinating photo and an interesting story. For my better understanding: this geyser hasn't any natural sources? It's man-made? But it doesn't derogate its impression.

Olivier said...

Waouhh superbe geyser (ou très belle douche ;o) )

brattcat said...

Thank you, intrepid poster. Hope all goes well with your new internet installation.

Virginia said...

They probably think you're some pervert lurking in your car!

The only French my five year old grandson came home with last summer was "eau" and chocolat!
V

Anonymous said...

I have to say I'm not a fan of the Gateway Geyser. I know its a monument to the confluence but we have the river right at our door step. I'd like to see some plans to replace the gateway geyser or bring more life to it.

I do like the metrolink train in the background though. = D

Chuck Pefley said...

I've done similar stunts, though the most recent memory was with my laptop open on the seat of my scooter, parked outside a coffeehouse -:) We do what we have to.