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Geneva is a paradox to me in the summer when literally hundreds of
happenings spill forth onto the weekend pages of the newspaper and on
the GenevaLunch Events page.

This weekend I was nearly paralyzed by indecision as I pondered which bands I was missing at the Fete de la Musique, or the similarly free movies in the festival I would not see, or the knuckle biting penalty goals I was missing in the Euro Cup…

Summer solstice in Geneva, pictures at 9:10p and 9:51p on 21 June

Whoever says that Geneva is sleepy, was not out and about this weekend in Plainpalais, Old Town, and environs. I have also been guilty of uttering the above non-truth, namely during the Monsoon Season, otherwise known as the Geneva Spring which we emerged from only 4 days prior to the Summer Solstice. The City has been on fire, literally and figuratively for the past few days, with mood altering oil barrel torches lighting up the night for the music festival, and the pulse of thousands of nocturnal pedestrians hungry for the carelessness of warm summer evenings we have thus far been cheated of.

I felt like I had been transported this weekend seeing so many revelers in the streets at midnight, and not (or not only) beer happy football fans wrapped in national flags and clubgoers, but people out with their children, and more mature crowds like my own parents, taking in the richness of music and activity in Genveva streets well into the night. I am a grateful transplant to Geneva, I count the City qualitatively as one of the best I have lived in, and yet, my one complaint boils down to what feels like the absence of streetlife much of the year.

Having said that, I returned from the Fete de la Musique two nights in a row well past midnight
and told my wife, the experience was transforming, not only for the musical acts I was able to see for free, and spontaneously, but for the warmth of human bodies milling about in Old Town, wandering in and out of theatres, music halls and in public squares; the City opened its doors, literally, this weekend and thousands of residents and visitors breathed life into public spaces too often empty for my personal taste.

The paradox is that Geneva becomes an enchanted garden in the summertime with its endless parks, swimming in the lake, bounty of music venues in and around the City, and that half of the residents (or so it seems) choose this time to escape; March, or November would be a much more sensible time to leave the dreary Geneva weather behind and visit family or to see any number of the tourist destinations in the nearby vicinity that become mobbed with visitors in July and early August.  That is precisely the time to stay home.

This year, we are going against traffic, following a short visit home in July, we are planning on enjoying  summer in Geneva.  I am already looking forward to returning to enjoy the City, La Fete de Genève, and swimming at Bains de Paquis on hot evenings…

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