Wandering Amongst Cats in Geneva

There’s been quite the talk in the press of the recent arrival of “the wandering cat” (le Chat déambule) along the lake in Geneva. In fact they are a clowder of 20 cats on a European tour. They kicked off in March 2021 on the Champs-Elysées in Paris after which they moved onto Bordeaux, then most recently onto Caen. Geneva is their 4th stop. The Cats will eventually end up in Brussels. The wandering cats arrived in Geneva on the 21st of February and will be here until the 20th April.

Each one weighs between 1000kg and 2500kg; it must make for quite the logistics to transport 20 of those kittens around Europe!

These creatures are the brainchild(ren) of the Belgian illustrator Phillippe Geluck. He first came up with the concept of the Cats all the way back in 1982. The Cats have been a mascot in the Belgian press since then as a way to reach the public concerning big current affairs and political topics at the time.

It was a beautiful day in Geneva so many other people had the same idea! Kai was spending the afternoon with his friend, so I took Luka and we made it an outing for the afternoon!

We took the tram to Bel-Air then got the mouette (the cute little yellow boats) across the lake from in front of La Lacustre restaurant (Molard) to Paquis stop on the other side of the lake. I love taking the mouette when ever opportunity allows, because it feels like a little adventure and it’s all included in your TPG pass so I call that a free mini-adventure! The boats are not super regular, but we were lucky and didn’t have to wait long.

One word of warning if you have a pram however, that when boarding the boats, prams must be folded up.

We got off the other side, and it was a short walk from the stop past the Bains des Paquis after which the Cats are exhibited along Quai Wilson.

Dogs are of course allowed here but it is strictly on on-leash area. If your dog is nervous in big crowds or doesn’t like children/other dogs, then I would not recommend bringing your dog as this strip of the lake is almost always very busy, particularly on sunny days during the day.

The boys were more interested in experiencing the Cats as a massive toy, by running around and behind them but the Cat that squashed a car was a real crowd-pleaser. I didn’t have the chance to do this myself, however there was a QR code on the side of each Cat, so I imagine if you were to scan this, that you would access further information about the Cat.

There were other Cats doing various funny things which I would have been happy to take a little longer to take in, if it weren’t for chasing after two energetic boys! We made our way past the 20 Cats and eventually ended up at the playground in the Perle de Lac park. Here the boys had a good time running around and playing and we also took a little break on the bench to have a snack. We even bumped into another friend and his mum there so that made for an extra fun play in the park.

The Perle de Lac is a leashed zone in its entirety, however there is a small dog park in Parc Chateau Banquet on the other side of Quai Wilson, if your pup really needs a good off-leash run around. We didn’t make a stop there this time, as the plan was always taking the boys out for a fun afternoon but I often stop by here when I am in Paquis and it’s certainly big enough for Luka to stretch his legs.

If you do visit this or any other dog park, always be vigilant when bringing children into a dog park, as some dogs do not like children and some dogs adore children so much may pounce and push the children over. Also it is never a good idea to give your children snacks inside a dog park.

If like us, you don’t necessarily venture into the centre of Geneva very often and you want to have a reason to get down to the lake front, then I definitely recommend this outdoor exhibition as a fun activity to do as a family.

Fun factor for child: 3/5 - it’s perhaps more interesting for older children. Since the exhibits are strictly for viewing and not climbing upon (understandably), it loses a little appeal by the younger audiences.

Fun factor for dog: 2/5 - It’s not the walk that Luka would suggest for us to do, however he gets to walk along the lake and sniff around the park, it could be worse!

Pram-friendly: Yes

Water Access for dogs: Yes, there are a couple of points at which your dog could access the lake.

Potable water: Yes, there are some water fountains available along the lake front at various points.

Baby changing facilities: No

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