The president of the Geneva government having declared this week that the health situation was not the same in Geneva as in Ticino, he gave himself an additional day to observe his fellow citizens in the public space, before, perhaps, to send them home permanently. This tolerance day granted is this Saturday, March 28.
As the weather was not very cooperative – there is still no policeman in the sky – we deployed the police on land and on the water. Motorized patrols and navigation police boat. The edges of the lake are monitored twice. Sort of like a weekend of sporting competition, if you like, like an international triathlon.
Large scale subtraction
The measures taken at the level of the roadway in any case make one think: we have eliminated all the parking spaces at the edge of the quays. It was the Civil Protection that was responsible for this large-scale subtraction. She was on the job long before dawn. Three of his transport vehicles were still running in the parks in the middle of the afternoon.
The police, with the support of Civil Protection, sealed off the lake surroundings in order to prohibit the parking of private vehicles. (Photo Laurent Guiraud)
Known objective. It is recalled in the cantonal police press release sent to the newsrooms shortly before 3 p.m. Quote: “The perimeter concerned by this restriction, namely the prohibition on parking private vehicles, runs from the Ruth pavilion at the bottom of the Vésenaz ramp to Quai Wilson, near the Pearl of the Lake. The closure is materialized by 120 parking prohibition signs, 300 Vauban barriers, and 9.5 kilometers of tape. It will be maintained until further notice. “
Deterrent vexation
So, to prevent people from gathering in the harbor, we discourage people from going out with their cars. This deterrent annoyance is ten days behind the daily reality of our city. Residents have long since given up their vehicle: they walk, run and pedal. By the thousands, this Saturday, because the weather is good and we have known it for days.
Our docks being wide, the police have little to intervene. But the flow of people is present, mobility intersects, the bells of two-wheelers signal to our strolling ears, the lawns fill with people and the piers are full of naked bodies sunbathing on the pebbles.
The police patrol the docks and the lake. (Photo Laurent Guiraud)
This summer casting, with the displayed carefree attitude, must be bizarre to the manager of the refreshment bar of the Bains des Pâquis who, the first, there is an eternity already, decided to close his establishment, recalling in passing that, in good weather, at the weekend, 5,000 people come together, from goléron to the lighthouse.
The 5000, and even more, are there this Saturday afternoon, on both banks, but in motion, in a sort of disciplinary fluidity which suggests that everything is fine. We pretend by holding our breath, knowing, without telling ourselves, that the wave announced is happening to us in the face.
General severity
This threat is palpable: it can be seen in the eyes of walkers. General gravity accompanies this silent humanity. It is also visible on the face of a candidate in the upcoming elections, who happened to come across on Quai Wilson. He is in the countryside but that cannot be guessed. Quick gait, that of a man in a hurry to go home. The fear of not being elected seems, at this instant, the least of his worries.
Created: 03/28.2020, 6:26 p.m.
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