June 2003. 
At the beginning of June 2003 the G8 summit convened for three days in Evian, France.  Because of its proximity to Evian, nearby Geneva, Switzerland, became the unwilling host to thousands of anti-G8 demonstrators.

Geneva spent two months preparing for the event.  The official estimate was for 100,000 visitors.  But some estimates rose as high as 400,000.  Border crossings were closed, the population was advised to get their cars off the streets, pleasure boating on the Lac Léman was curtailed, a steel fence was erected around the famed Flower Clock, and the parking garage under the Pont du Mont Blanc was sealed with cinder blocks.  Portable toilets and tents sprang up in all the parks,   the army took control of the airport, and helicopters clattered overhead round the clock.