Our first stop in the city of Geneva was the Palais des Nations, the home to the United Nations in Europe since the UN was founded in 1945. The Palais is the UN’s second biggest operational centre after the headquarters in New York and is venue for multilateral diplomacy
A view of the Palais des Nations from the Place des Nations gate. This is the first glimpse of the historical building, as most trams and buses drop right in front of the gate, and next to the Broken Chair monument...
Unfortunately this gate is heavily guarded and public access to the Palais des Nations from this gate is restricted...
The pathway to Palais from the Place des Nations gate is lined with the national flags of UN member states...
And we spotted the Indian National Flag, the tiranga...
On the opposite side, the first two flags are those of Cuba and Cyprus. In a sense both these countries reflect where the UN has been practically rendered ineffective and helpless for decades - Cuba has been virtually isolated while Cyprus had been invaded and divided into two...
The flag of the UN flies right ahead at the end of the pathway...
It was here we heard that the guided tours may not be held today as the UN was officially closed for the festival of Id. We were disappointed - the Palais des Nations was the main thing that brought us to Geneva...
Dejected, we moved on from the Place des Nations gate, when a tourist volunteer clad in an orange jacket told us that the UN was officially "off" today but the guided tours were on. We just needed to proceed to the Pregny Gate on the western side. This is the gate used by delegates and visitors on organised tours...
With an extra spring in our steps, we literally ran towards the Pregny Gate, pausing for a moment to check out this car from the 1950s. Vintage is in here!
At the Pregny Gate, with the Assembly Hall right behind...
The guided tours were indeed on today...
What ensued was an elaborate security check followed by an inspection of passports. The fee for the guided tour is 12 Euros per person and we were handed our tour badges...
After the security check we had to proceed to the E building, a 10-storey E building, which houses the UNCTAD alongwith assembly halls and meeting rooms for use by other UN organisations...
At the reception we had to wait for about 10-15 minutes for our tour to start. We used this time to explore the souvenir shop...
Flags of UN member states...
Nothing could delight a vexillology enthusiast more...
The UN runs its own postal service too! And their stamps were on sale here...
Coins and stamps of member states...
All about the UN...
Souvenirs on sale...
And we wait anxiously for the tour to start...
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