The Ramsar Photo Gallery

Significant events in the life of the Ramsar Bureau - The Escalade 2000

In December 1602 (we're told), the Savoyards attacked the city of Geneva (now part of Switzerland), and the civic wives turned the invaders away by pouring huge pots of hot soup down upon them as they tried to climb the city walls.

Genevans commemorate this triumphant occasion every year by 1) admiring, 2) breaking, and 3) devouring huge soup pots made of Swiss chocolate. Bureau personnel Alain Lambert and Ibrahim Shaame, in this poignant photo, have completed the 1) admiring part, and are fully prepared to 2) break and 3) devour it.

Delmar Blasco, Montserrat Riera, and Annette Keller pass the time whilst awaiting the arrival of the ceremonial Escalade hammer.

Nick Davidson ajudges that this is a festooned Escalade chocolate soup pot that needs to die.

Najjam Khurshid, Tobias Salathé, and Delmar Blasco begin to grow impatient for Big Chocolate.

The Ramsar Interns Soup Pot Demolition Unit (Marco Flores, Inga Racinska, Evans Okong'o) prepare to swing into action.

But it's "Tug" (Satiraporn Sirisampan) who finally gets the job done, wielding the ceremonial hammer courageously and smashing up the soup pot and cascading nasty almond sweeties all over the IUCN cafeteria.

In the end, by pulling rank egregiously, it's the Secretary General who gets to wear the sacred chocolate soup lid.

For further information, please contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Posted 16 December 2000, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.