Everyone loves the Geneva Motor Show. Car manufacturers love it because the neutral Swiss ground allows them to launch a new car without fear of being upstaged by huge imposing stands; visitors love it because there are always lots of new products; and, finally, journalists love it because Volkswagen has a boat moored on Lake Geneva that's awash with free alcohol.
Geneva residents like it, too, as the opening of the show is marked by the turning on of the Jet d'Eau in the centre of the lake after its winter hibernation - a giant geyser that fires water into the air at 132 gallons a second (about the same rate as the champagne is going down over on the VW boat).
Sports cars were the name of the game this year, in perfect time for the petrol price-hiking Budget on the same day. Small ones, large ones, coupes, saloons, soft-tops and concepts, they were present in all shapes and sizes, from Ford to Ferrari.
Aston Martin was one of the first on the launch itinerary with its new DB7 Vantage. It's the first Aston to be powered by a 12-cylinder engine, but that didn't seem to impress the audience - its unveiling was greeting by welcome colder than the snow-topped French Alps on the skyline.
Things were different at the Bentley stand. Introduced with a drum roll and a rousing speech, Bentley's new concept car - the Hunaudieres - was met with huge applause despite the fact many journalists couldn't see the car because of its low setting. Bentley could have unveiled a Reliant Robin and most of the hacks present wouldn't have noticed until the crowd had cleared.
The Hunaudieres was named after the famous straight at the Le Mans 24-hour race, although Bentley hasn't competed there for 70 years. Just as well the Crewe firm harks back to those glory days - as the car, with its W-format, 8.0-litre, 16-cylinder engine, is not unlike a concept car launched by Bentley's new owners, Volkswagen, a few years ago.
Closer to production reality (and a real racing heritage) were the new Porsche 911 GT3, with a massive twin wing on its tail; and the new Ferrari 360 Modena. Apart from a video in the Ferrari press conference revealing that Michael Schumacher can drive very fast and that Eddie Irvine needs to work on his golf swing, there was little to be learned about the new car - especially as it ran out of translators by the time the UK press arrived. The Ferrari bigwig could have read out the menu from the local Italian restaurant and no one would have known.
Sticking with sports cars, having blitzed the 1998 show with the unveiling of the Focus, things at Ford were somewhat more subdued this year. Sporty concepts of the Puma and Cougar were all the blue oval could muster, as well as a Mondeo that ran on unleaded and gas.
At the Seat stand, the mid-engined Lotus Elise-like two-seater Formula sports car was all but ignored by journalists who were too busy fighting over all the freebies the Spanish firm was giving away. At least those pushed to the floor in the battle could console themselves by watching the giant underfloor Scalextric set.
Plenty of other cars made their debuts at Geneva - from the Audi TT Roadster to Vauxhall's new small car and the Mercedes CL Coupe, to the new Bugatti EB218 saloon boasting a shape more slippery than a thoroughly sucked sherbet lemon.
However, the undoubted star of the show was Citroen's C6 Lignage concept car which showed a return to form for the French firm's big saloons. With beautifully stylish lines and such Citroen-esque details as swivelling headlamps (like the old DS) and a chevroned slatted sunroof, it ditched the pomp and circumstance and let the car do all the talking.
The C6 may not be a roadgoing car as yet and only a taster of what's to come from Citroen. But, like the Jet d'Eau in the centre of Lake Geneva, here at last was a car worth gushing about.
