Geneva, the city that gave us the World Wide Web, covers itself in flowers and takes chocolate to an art form has got to be okay. You can’t go wrong visiting this city, even if you just walk its streets and lakeshore for days on end -- those flowers are everywhere and the Lake Geneva is clear and picturesque.

It might be in Switzerland, but Geneva is tres French.

It didn’t join the Swiss Confederacy until after 1815, so French culture permeates the place by way of foodand language. Still, Calvin, who preached here during the Reformation, seems to have had a deep effect, tempering the French spirit a bit.

But if the city seems a little staid, perhaps it’s because it contemplates the fate of the planet on a daily basis. Switzerland hasn’t seen a war for over 300 years; Geneva hosts hundreds of humanitarian and scientific agencies. It was the home to the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. The UN still maintains an office here. The International Red Cross is here. So is the World Health Organization. And the European Centre for Nuclear Research, CERN, which also brought us the Web. The list goes on and on.

It makes us dizzy to contemplate, but we’re awfully glad those organizations are here, working towards a peaceful, healthy planet. It seems fitting that when Genevans get off work, they get to wander through a peaceful, beautiful city.

Geneva is a town of Arts and Culture. Its numerous museums and libraries, the Opera, the Orchestra of the Suisse romande have largely contributed, among others, to its development. For nearly twenty years they have been new cultural centres which have been created from old uninhabited buildings, some of which are now preserved as monuments, like the Halles de l’Ile, l’Usine, la Maison des Arts du Grütli.

Recently, there have been annual events such as the Music Festival, exhibitions of books (Fureur de lire) or the "Journées du Patrimoines."

The term "urban district" is often used to depict Geneva. However you only have to fly over the City to notice that it has very close links with the surrounding country-side and this gives it the privileged position of having less pollution of any city in Europe.

The City of Geneva is therefore deservedly called the city of parks. Geneva has an area of 330 hectares of parks of which the following are the most famous: La Grange, Les Eaux-Vives or Mon-Repos.

Geneva has always been a friendly city and is very international. This is confirmed by the presence on its soil of 17 international organizations, around 150 non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and 140 permanent missions to the United Nations and over 400 international companies.