Saturday, January 2, 2010

Ferney-Voltaire


The French poet and philosopher Voltaire stands watch over the village of Ferney : Ferney-Voltaire, FR

I'm currently living in the French village of Ferney-Voltaire. The actual village itself has a population of less 10,000 and covers less than 5.5 square miles, but the area surrounding it supports over 100,000 residents. A few of the folks who live in Ferney are British and American expats who are working for CERN and various United Nations organizations, as well as the U.S. and British Permanent Missions to the U.N.

In the 18th century, the French philosopher Voltaire lived in Ferney. According to Wikipedia, he left neighboring, Calvinist hotbed Geneva for the border town of Ferney because Geneva had no theaters. Voltaire lived in Ferney for 20 years before returning to Paris, where he subsequently died and was later buried with honor in the Pantheon. A statue in the center of the village of Ferney-Voltaire commemorates this famous Frenchman and his 20-years residence in this part of France.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10.

3 comments:

Cele said...

Ah a little history, very kewl. How many UN organizations are there?

Maya said...

I'm sure he was toothless.

Janet M Kincaid said...

Cele: Oh, let's see.

The United Nations, originally formed as the League of Nations after WWI, is located in Geneva. There are more than 38 agencies here. Here's a list.


Maya: I think so, too. But how do we find out officially?