Saturday, May 30
Today the weather was superb and early in the morning I went down to the lake. There were few people out, just a small number of protesters, but a large number of photographers.
Quite by accident I discovered that the Garage du Mont Blanc which is located under water, just under the bridge, has been walled up with cinder blocks. And the escalator entrances to the garage have been completely covered over and painted dark. No yellow to attract one's attention.
After that I walked home through the university. All is quiet there although 4 of the 5 gates that open from the Campus onto the Place Neuve have been chained shut fo crowd control.
When I got back to our neighborhood I was amazed to see that my drugstore has been completely boarded up, leaving only a tiny doorway. The pharmacist told me that drugstores are natural targets and she is really concerned for the safety of her little shop which she only acquired a year ago.
After lunch I went back downtown and was just in time for my first procession. A small rogue group of protesters had formed in the Jardin Anglais and were marching across the bridge. They wove in and out of the moving traffic causing it to slow down to a crawl. Once they got to the other side, they turned up the lake. And once they got down to the last little park they suddenly got very fat as a group and stopped the traffic altogether! So easy to cause trouble!
I am surprised at the inflammatory nature of the graffiti which has appeared on all the boards downtown. There are even signs like Bomb the Banks! It is hard not to feel a bit apprehensive, although so far everything has been totally calm.
These "visitors," by the way, are supposed to stay in designated areas. But they seem to be just plopping down on any green space. The communities further up the lake are concerned about having them near the water on the lakeside parks. Being near the water is considered a security risk, and having seen the logo on their website, le feu au lac, I wonder if there might not be something very spectacular afoot.
The G8 starts tomorrow and today all the biggies are flying into Cointrin and and immediately transported across the border to Evian by helicopter. The big march is scheduled for tomorrow morning, but thunderstorms are forecast.