Plainpalais
Plainpalais – this is the student quarter, the neighborhood with streets like "Boulevard des Philosophes" and "Rue de l'Ecole de Médecine," the neighborhood where one will find the opera, the music conservatory, and the Parc Bastions (and its wall dedicated to the religious Reformeurs). The actual borders of Plainpalais continue to evolve, as this neighborhood is marked more by its intellectual past linked to the Université de Genève than any physical landmarks. As the campus of the University of Geneva, founded in 1559, shifts, so does Plainpalais. The University's buildings – its many libraries, faculty buildings and conference halls -- are dotted throughout the neighborhood. This gives the neighborhood an eternally intellectual undercurrent, from the cafés with old wooden tables populated by men you imagine are retired professors, to young students walking with musical instruments strapped to their backs. The area is called Plainpalais because of the plain it rests on – and indeed, in the center of Plainpalais there is still a wide open triangle of land, now mostly gravel and used for small visiting circuses and carnivals. Above all, Plainpalais is where you will find small cafés full of people having long conversations over coffee, packed noisy neighborhood bistros, and bars open under the summertime tree-lined streets.Nightlife
Attractions
Ethnography Museum of Geneva (MEG)
Restaurants
