Art fair schmart fair

I went to Geneva's annual art- and book fair yesterday. I went there last year, so I knew roughly what to expect. Last year I went there because of the art fair, and saw the book fair as an added bonus but nothing I would've bothered going there for alone. This year it was the other way around. What I learned last year was that this art fair, which has been given the humble name "Europart", has very little to do with the European art scene in general and is called so only to fool people into believing that it is bigger than it is. The thing is that Europart takes up only a little corner of Palexpo whereas the book fair is actually the main event.
I was vastly disappointed when I visited it last year, not only by the size, but also by the quality of the art. Europart is not a place where you will find the latest trends or hottest names in art right now, its quality lies more in the fact that it is democratic. Although democracy does not necessarily have to be a positive thing if you pay 12 francs to go and see good art. Democracy in this case means that anyone can rent a corner of the fair; and they do as well. And this is the reason why I this year dedicated about 30 minutes to look at art but 2h to stroll around the book fair, even though there was only one English book shop represented in the entire place, and I am far too bad at French to be able to read a whole book in this language.
What actually drove me to go there at all this year was the massive book sale that the English book shop had there last year. Not only did they have very low prices, but then 50% off on top of that! Last year I went home with bags too heavy to carry, after having spent very little money. The same thing happened this year. And this is what made it all worth it. Because the art fair was as crappy this year as it was last. Some good things, but mostly tacky stuff. Qualitywise it is light years away from Art Basel, which completely blew me away last year. So, even though I didn't see any art that really blew me away at Palexpo yesterday, I returned home with a fat book full of pictures by David Hockney which had cost me only 10 francs!