Festival Histoire et Cité March 24 2018 Geneva

IMG 6775 We've been to this cultural weekend before with disappointing results but I (Christine) wanted to give it another try so first we headed to Place Plainpalais, a huge open area in the center of old Geneva where (not sure if it is every but) on Saturdays there's a flea market. IMG 6776 Doesn't everyone need a crocodile skin for their home? IMG 6777 And, who has the full series of all these comic books? I didn't get close enough to know how many are Tintin, but they remind me of my childhood IMG 6778 We milled about and watched as other people dug into piles of discarded objects
IMG 6779 This cast iron piece would go so well in mz kitchen! IMG 6780 And what about a sled? These are classics. Greg says this is a Swiss shape. IMG 6781 Bags! OMG! I could add to my collection IMG 6782 This is a beauty and the case was in perfect condition. Belongs in a museum
IMG 6783 Hey, when I was liquidating Claire's coin collection, the man to whom I sold them told me that this hobby has fallen terribly out of favor. I guess these people didn't hear the news or my source was just reducing my expectations (and price) about what I was selling IMG 6784 We then went indoors (on a beautiful day) and listened to a panel discussion about walking. Greg wrote it up in a post for the 24th March. IMG 6796 After the panel discussion we went to an open house at the Geneva municipal library which is attached/closely connected to the University of Geneva. The event started off slowly and then we went into the stacks. The white labels are a change in filing system being implemented due to a move of 15,000 volumes of historical interest to another facility. One interesting thing I learned is that these books are arranged by size, not topic or author! IMG 6797 This is the other side of the same row where the librarians have yet to begin cataloging. There are 8-10 people who do this for 3 hours daily. They can't stay in the stacks for longer without raising the temperature and humidity
IMG 6798 Some of these are very old and, in some centuries, old books needing to be rebound continued life dressed in the remains of even older books IMG 6799 There were tall books IMG 6800 In fact, these laying down are the largest format, measuring nearly a meter and a half IMG 6801 This could be of interest to geographers among us
IMG 6802 these are the smallest books in the library IMG 6803 IMG 6804 small books IMG 6805 Now we got into the more modern sections... where we learned that the municipal library's principle purpose is to collect all the publications of everything ever printed in Geneva. That's a lot of magazines, club newsletters and even posters
IMG 6807 Here are the anatomical studies of Leonardo da Vinci from the queens collection at Windsor Castle IMG 6808 this is a scrapbook essentially, that someone started of all the musical events in Geneva. It goes back to 1971 and the library decided to maintain it into present day! IMG 6809 Do not push any buttons on this panel IMG 6811 nine stories high and I don't know how much surface area. I think the guide said 33 kilometers of shelf space
IMG 6812 The Daily Worker was printed in Geneva IMG 6813 then down to the lower floor IMG 6814 into the room where they store posters IMG 6816 back in Montreux we passed a trio of guys playing music in the small park across from the College de Montreux Est