Escalade!

My good friend, Stephanie, and her beau, David, visited from South Carolina on the weekend of December 10.  Their visit gave us an opportunity to revisit a few places we had been before, sharing them with folks who had not yet experienced Switzerland.  But each place we revisited had new sights and experiences in store for us as well.

Enjoying Vin Chaud (mulled wine) in Lausanne's Christmas Market

On their first full day in town, we visited Chillon Castle, in Montreux.  We had been to Chillon before, but this time the castle was filled with people in medieval dress.  Some were playing medieval instruments, others were practicing medieval crafts, and still others showed us how to play medieval games.

Quick quiz:  Why is Montreux famous in rock and roll history?

Lunch at Chillon Castle

After lunch at the castle, we took a bus into the center of town for the Montreux Christmas market.  Many Swiss towns and cities have Christmas markets, but the one in Montreaux is one of the biggest and most famous.

On the ferris wheel at the Montreux Christmas Market

Quiz Answer:  Montreux is famous in rock and roll history for two reasons.  First:  In 1971, Deep Purple was in Montreux to record an album.  Frank Zappa was also in town, and a fan at Zappa's concert fired a flare, causing a major fire.  The Deep Purple band members watched from their hotel room as the fire raged and the smoke spread across Lake Geneva, inspiring their song, "Smoke on the Water," which starts, "We all came out to Montreux . . ."  Second:  Freddie Mercury, Queen's lead singer, lived here for a time and owned a recording studio at which his last album with Queen, "Made In Heaven," was recorded.  There's a statue of Mercury by the lake.

We went to Geneva on Stephanie and David's second full day in town.  We had been to Geneva before, but this was a special day.  They were celebrating L'Escalade.  L'Escalade celebrates the night of December 11-12, 1602, when the people of Geneva successfully fought off the Savoy's surprise attack on the city.  The Savoy attack was foiled because an alert watchman saw the Savoy advance party scaling the city walls, intending to open the gates and let their comrades enter.  The watchman sounded the alarm, and the Savoy were beaten back.  The names of the 16 Genevans who died that night are still read out loud as part of L'Escalade celebrations.

Geneva's old city was filled with people in period costume, leading tours, marching in formation, firing muskets and cannons, and playing fifes and drums.  This visit was even more fun because our friend Christophe (who lives in Geneva) organized the day for us, meeting us at the train station, guiding us from site to site, and explaining the history to us.  Thanks, Christophe!

One of the many reasons L'Escalade is interesting is that it is an example of a celebration that is very local in nature.  For the people of Geneva, this is a big and important event.  But it is a Geneva event, not a Swiss event, and there are many such local events in towns and cities across Switzerland.   The local nature of these events is so pronounced that people in other towns and cities may never even have heard of them.  Some of our Swiss friends who live in Lausanne, for example, had not only never been to L'Escalade, they had never heard of it.  This seems sort of like people who live in Baton Rouge, say, never having heard of Mardi Gras because, after all, it's a New Orleans tradition.  This local emphasis seems to characterize Swiss culture and society more generally.

Anyway, here's some photos from L'Escalade:

Matthew and Christopher even got to ring the bells of the Geneva Cathedral.  This is the only day of the year that the bell tower is open to visitors.

Ringing the same bells once used as fire alarms for the people of Geneva. 
Different sounds told the fire fighters which part of the city was burning.

One of the charming surprises of the L'Escalade was the walk through the Passage de Monetier, open to the public only during this festival. This passage takes visitors along the base of the old fortification walls under the Cathedral. It's a very narrow passage through which only one person at a time can (barely) fit through.

Mark in the Passage de Monetier

The climax of the day's celebration is a parade.  Thanks to Christophe's careful planning, our group (now also including his wife, Annick, and son, Leon, who joined us later in the day) was lucky to grab a primo spot at the main square in the old town.  It was very, very crowded, but the procession was spectacular.  Kind of like being in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Us with Christophe, Annick and Leon on a Geneva bridge.

After the parade we headed to the train station to catch our train back to Lausanne.  We did not know it, but the celebration was not quite over.  Christophe had brought with him a chocolate pot.  For the people of Geneva, the chocolate pot is a special symbol.  Legend has it that a woman helped to defeat the invading Savoy by pouring a pot of boiling soup on them as they tried to scale the town walls.  In celebration of this act, one of the Escalade traditions is to make a pot out of chocolate, decorate it in Geneva's colors, and fill it with marzipan vegetables. The custom is for the oldest and the youngest in the group to join hands and smash the chocolate pot, after which everyone partakes of the chocolate and the marzipan.

Thanks to Christophe, we ended our day in Geneva by participating in this special Genevan tradition.  As we smashed the pot and ate the pieces with our Geneva friends, there on the platform as our train pulled into the station, it was hard not to feel a little bit Swiss -- or, maybe, Genevan -- at least for a moment.

Our guys and Christophe's son, Leon, getting ready to smash L'Escalade chocolate pot.

 Truly a wonderful day shared with our friends, old and new.