Hangzhou Global Tour: Day 22

After breakfast in a rooftop atrium of our hotel overlooking Geneva, with a glimpse of Lake Geneva in the background, we boarded a bus to take us to the UN headquarters for a tour.

I found the grounds and tour of the UN quite fascinating, more than I thought I would. Before entering, we spent a bit of time capturing images of the water fountains as kids played, as well as admiring the giant broken leg chair sculpture at the entrance.

Our film crew was not allowed to enter the UN, as no filming or recording of any kind is allowed within the building.
A 100,000 visitors a year tour the Palais des Nations. The tours are available in more than 15 languages, and as I discovered, they also accept nearly ever currency in the gift shop. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable young man who hailed from Egypt and was attending graduate school in Geneva. During the tour, our guide informed us about the current activities of the United Nations, as well as the history of the Palais des Nations, which was formerly the headquarters of the League of Nations. Some other highlights included:

• The Salle des Pas Perdus, from which we saw the Armillary Sphere and the monument commemorating the conquest of outer space.

• The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room, with a ceiling decorated by the famous artist, Miquel Barcelò.

• The Assembly Hall, the largest room in the Palais des Nations (UN).
• The Council Chamber, where many important historical negotiations have taken place, with murals by José Maria Sert.

After our tour of the UN, we had some time to grab lunch, then we headed to the airport en route to our next stop on this Global Tour, which is Paris. I thought it odd that we would be flying to Paris given the short distance from Geneva (since there is a bullet train available), but regardless, this was the plan.

We headed to the airport, and after our usual arduous task of getting checked in, we headed to the gate to wait for our departure. Just as the time to board neared, I noticed a big storm envelop the airport. Soon after, we heard from the gate agent that our flight had been canceled. We quickly went into action to get rebooked on the next flight, but I suggested that we seriously consider getting on a train instead—there was one that left nearly every hour and would not be affected by weather. Looking at the satellite map, inclement weather would be an issue for a few hours. Several of us collectively took control of the situation to think through the details of how to get from point A to point B. It didn’t take long before we informed the ticket agent that we would not be getting on the flight, but rather taking a train.

It took real team effort to organize on the fly each of our next moves. Time was not on our side as there were only two trains left for the evening. It was quite amazing how a group of 14 with a ton of heavy luggage, and a common goal, could quickly move from one area of the airport terminal to the train platform…when properly motivated.

Try as we did to make our scheduled train; we missed it by 6-7 minutes. The coach section of the next and final train of the evening was completely booked, so organizers had no choice but to upgrade us to First Class, which oddly enough we had a section of the car all to ourselves. It was so fantastic to be in the comforts of first class and able to relax and take a sigh of relief that we were now on our way to Paris.

During the trip I noticed the train hit a top speed of 301k per hour. None of us had ever gone that fast on the ground before and was quite the sensation.

Once we arrived in Paris there was supposed to be a bus waiting to transport us to our hotel, but for some reason there was a mix up and it never showed up. After trying to contact the bus company and then eventually rounding up enough taxis to transport all of us and our luggage to our hotel, more than an hour elapsed.

It was well after midnight before we reached our hotel and were able to finally get to bed. No rest for the weary, tomorrow we explore Paris, so I hope you’ll stay tuned. In the meantime, if you missed my update yesterday, click here. Click here to read the next update on this Global Tour.