Tomorrow you will be wake up at 8 am by 23 firing of 3 cannons on the Promenade de la Treille, on the Promenade Saint-Antoine and on the Rotonde du Mont-blanc. 23 because of 23 cantons.

some music, official stuff will follow and it will end at 10:30 with the carillonns concert.

If you read french or want to use google to translate.

http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-geneve...bre-2010-12-30


It's linked with Geneva's history, to the release of Geneva from the French troops, 197 years ago and became again a free republic.


see you in a few months

Thank you Bertrand.

But I thought the French continue to invade Geneva every working day! So why can't the Geneva defence corps wait until mid-day when people will be awake after late night partying? I suppose they made it a public holiday to ensure the French frontiersmen would be at home.

I have taken the liberty of tidying up the Google translation:

Why is December 31st a holiday in Geneva? Because it commemorates the departure of Napoleon's troops from the city in 1813. Two celebrations are planned today and tomorrow.

In 1798, Geneva was annexed to France and became the capital of the department of Léman. The marriage between Geneva, Haute-Savoie and the Pays de Gex lasted only fifteen years. Following the defeat of Napoleon's army, the French troops withdrew from the city on the morning of September 30, 1813. Austrian troops arrived in the afternoon and announced the restoration of the old order. On 31 December, Geneva announced the official proclamation of independence. A provisional government was formed and Geneva became an independent republic

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Will they be firing into France?

Yes. Any subsequent incident will be blamed on the subpar frontalier / grenzgänger gun crew. WIN.

yeah, but the french already surrendered ahead of time.

don't mess with Genevans, we are armed and ready (love the costumes)

Even if i'm away from Geneva from around 10 km, I heard them ....

I'm starting to worry about my deep sleeping habits. I did not hear one cannon go off!!

Not really, they had lost the huge Battle of the Nations earlier that year at Leipzig and the Grande Armée was just exhausted.... They were not battled out of Geneva... Not to say the French were not tired of war, which had been going on literally since 1792 non-stop against several nations at once with England holding the sea, pulling strings and financing mostly. No one can accuse the French of surrendering easily until 1940, when the armiy was mostly run by closet fascists and the soldiers were sent out without proper boots or ammo to literally lose a battle (See Alistair Horne's brilliant work on the subject)...

Cheers.