Fêtes de Genève (8/8/1981)

Saturday, August 8, 1981

Caught the 8:17 train to Genève/Genf/Geneva. I filled out my day pass and put it in my “Reka’Check,” the plastic holder for my Half-Price Pass. The conductor seemed satisfied, then said, “Un moment!” The first conductor of the day has to punch the day pass.

I sat on the lake side to enjoy the view, but as soon as we left Biel we entered a tunnel! A couple kilometers later we did emerge to travel along the Bielersee/Lake Biel then Lac de Neuchâtel/Lake Neuchâtel. After Lausanne we followed Lac Leman to Geneva. I had seen posters for Fêtes de Genève/Geneva Festival and figured something exciting had to be going on!

Arrived at 10:10 and headed down Rue des Alpes/Alps Street to Quai du Mont Blanc. Picket fences were everywhere to protect flower beds and the Mausoleum of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick, who died in Geneva and bequeathed his wealth to the city in exchange for this monument built as a copy of the Scaliger Tombs in Verona, Italy.

Mausoleum (1879) of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick

Statue of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick

Along the waterfront, there were amusement rides, food booths, arcade games, ticket booths, etc. but all still closed. It was drizzling and hazy. In the water, a pair of water skiers wearing giant butterfly wings was pulled past. They passed again as the girl stepped out of her water skis and onto the guy’s skis. They didn’t use the water ski jump ramp! Passed a parade float covered with tissue paper flowers on pine branches. Another float was a large black bird with flowers in its beak.

Parade float

Walked through the lakeside parks, first Parc Mon Repos/Park of My Rest with the shuttered nineteenth century villa (1856) that houses the Henry Dunant Institute. Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Dunant wrote about the aftermath of war that inspired the creation of the International Red Cross in 1863, and the 1864 Geneva Convention was based on his ideas.
Parc de La Perle du Lac/Pearl of the Lake Park had a hillside of roses and flowers below a building marked Institut de hautes études internationales/Graduate Institute of International Studies. There is also the Musée d'histoire des sciences/Science and History Museum (1830 by the French architect Callet).

Musée d'histoire des sciences/Science and History Museum

Hazy view across Lac Leman

Saw reddish-black squirrels (a morph of the Sciurus vulgaris/European Red Squirrel) and a lone Eutamias sibiricus/Common or Siberian Chipmunk came scurrying right up to my foot!

European Red Squirrel

Common Chipmunk

There are Sequoiadendron giganteum/Giant Sequoia trees here.

Giant Sequoias

Parc Villa Barton (1858) was the main building of the Graduate Institute.

Graduate Institute of International Studies

An ivy-covered building attracted me to the Jardin botanique/Botanical Garden with its Alpine rock garden and conservatory.

Ivy-covered building

Alpine Rock Garden

Conservatory

Followed Avenue de la Paix past the Comité international de la Croix-Rouge /International Committee of the Red Cross Headquarters to the Palais des Nations/United Nations, built 1929-1937 and designed by the architects Carlo Broggi (Italy), Julien Flegenheimer (Switzerland), Camille Lefèvre and Henri-Paul Nénot (France) as well as Joseph Vago (Hungary).

Red Cross Headquarters (Building erected in 1876)

Palais des Nations entrance

Paid 3.50 CHF/$1.75 for a guided tour of the United Nations European Office.

UN Tour button

There were four of us waiting for the tour in English. Had to wait 15 minutes before being ushered downstairs to watch a video on the Nuclear Age. After 15 minutes that became boring. As instructed, we returned upstairs after the video, only to be told the English tour had already left.  The four of us were escorted to join that tour in the observation booth overlooking two circular general meeting halls. Saw Finland’s gift to the UN, La Creation du Monde by Oili Mäki, a bold modern tapestry depicting the beginning of the world according to Finnish legend. Crossed a bridge to the older buildings that previously belonged to the League of Nations.

Through a lakeside window we could see the US gift, the Celestial Sphere, a bronze globe showing stellar constellations that revolves at the same rate as the earth. It is a memorial to Woodrow Wilson.

Conquest of Space and Celestial Sphere

The Russian gift was the Conquest of Space, a soaring spire representing mankind in space and is made of a heat-resistant metal used in space. A combination of gifts was used to build the lobby: marble from Belgium, Norway and Italy, and garish paintings from France depicting war and peace.

The Assembly Hall is a large dark hall used rarely; once a year each by the International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization, and when visiting dignitaries speak. The “Spanish Room” or Council Chamber with murals by José Maria Sert, is where the UN Security Council meets if they are in Geneva. The murals are in brown tones depicting the social progress of man and are reminiscent of the Rockefeller Center murals.

"Spanish Room"

It had been pouring rain, but it stopped to allow for a wander in the gardens.

Conquest of Space

Celestial Sphere in front of Palais des Nations

Saw the Swiss gift of the Montbovon Chalet with carvings in the wood façade.

Montbovon Chalet

Wood carvings

Peacock

When I returned to Quai Wilson. I saw parade participants lining up, including a large real flower-bedecked float, motorized bicycles with a variety of wheel configurations, and clowns in various modes of transport. One car was two front halves welded together, and the two drivers facing each other had to cooperate to steer. A VW Bug came apart with two clowns in the back having to catch up with the two clowns in the front section.

Lining up for the parade

I bought a 10 CHF/$5 ticket to enter the parade area and passed through a gauntlet of five security officers.

Parade ticket

A young boy ran up and gave me a program. It was in French, but told me the parade started at 15:00, in a half hour.

Program cover

The sun was coming out and things were drying fast. You could now start to see across the lake.

Marina

Looking across the lake

The food booths and amusement rides were all open and busy now.

Quai Wilson

Quai Wilson

Quai Wilson

I put my program in my bag to change camera lenses, and boys kept coming up to give me a program!

Fiat must have been a major sponsor as there were many red Fiats with waving girls. There was a Grand Marshall in a horse-drawn carriage, and later a Grand Marshallette. Floats seemed to represent commercial organizations and they alternated with bands. British Airways had a double-deck bus and band of bagpipes.

Bagpipes

A band on bicycles from Norway. Dance troupe from Bulgaria. Swiss bands. Clowns. A “jazz” band from France playing Latin rhythms. A couple groups in traditional dress from Quebec and Portugal.

After the parade I walked past vendors selling hats and shade umbrellas. They were also selling Chinese yoyos, bags of confetti, plastic hammers that squeaked, and miniature Rubik’s Cubes.

Festival sign

Crossed Ponte du Mont Blanc.

View towards Quai Wilson across lake

Passed the ship restaurant and floral clock. Headed into the old town. Decided to buy myself a Michelin guide to Switzerland.

Trams on Rue de la Croix d'Or

Place du Bourg de Four

Walked out of the old town along Rue des Chaudronniers and passed the Musée d'art et d'histoire/Museum of Art and History (1903-10 by architect Marc Camoletti)  that was in a block with two major roads in trenches on either side.

Rue des Chaudronniers

Rue des Chaudronniers

Museum of Art and History

Found the Église Orthodoxe Russe/Russian Orthodox Church (1863-66 in Byzantine Moscovite) with gleaming gold onion domes.

Russian Orthodox Church

In the Geneva parks there is no walking on the grass, no dogs, and no picking flowers.

Back into the old town on Rue du Vieux Collège, and then out to Place du Molard that was full of flags and outdoor cafés, street musicians and orators.

Place du Molard

Along the Rhône, there were hippies and tough-looking people wearing leather jackets. Crossed the pedestrian Ponte des Bergues, detouring to the little island to see the statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher who was born in Geneva.

View from Ponte des Bergues

Transit ticket vending machine

Police call box

Trolley bus

On the way back to the train station, passed the Basilique Notre-Dame/Basilica of Our Lady.

Gare de Cornavin/Cornavin Train Station
(1858, architect Julien Flegenheimer)

Took the 18:24 train to Biel. Got caught in a downpour on my way back to the Personalhaus/staff residence and arrived dripping wet. Two girls in the hall asked me if it was raining…