May 2022: Weekends around Geneva

The first 2 weekends of my trip I was based in Geneva and explored the nearby towns. Geneva is based at the Western end of Lake Geneva, or Lac Leman, as the locals call it.  The N shore of the lake is Swiss and French speaking, most of the S shore is in France.

Geneva

I didn’t spend a great deal of time in the city itself, but visited the botanical garden which is lovely and has well labelled alpine beds which were full of spring flowers.  I also visited the Patek Phillipe museum which has an amazing collection of time pieces dating back several centuries. The joy of Geneva, as is the case is in almost all lakeside towns, is the waterfront.  Although the weather was not great, I was able to see the famous Jet d’Eau which rises 140m into the air.  This fountain started its life as a safety valve on the hydraulic system used to power the watch making and other factories in 1886. The Rhone flows out of the lake in Geneva and divides the city. I was staying on the N side near the United Nations.

The lakes in Switzerland are crystal clear and in summer full of bathers. One almost thinks one is at the coast.  One evening we enjoyed a Swiss cheese fondue and my first Aperol spritz at a restaurant on the pier in the lake. I imagined how lovely it would be in summer.

Morges, Nyon and Yvoire in France

There are towns all along the N shore east of Geneva and on the first Saturday we went to explore Morges and Nyon and took the ferry across the lake to the French town of Yvoire.  Morges was celebrating its tulip festival in a garden down near the lake. Both Morges and Nyon have lovely old buildings. Churches in Switzerland are usually open and one can admire the stained glass windows and we found some especially nice ones in the Temple de Nyon .

It took about 30 mins to cross the lake from Nyon to Yvoire in France. This is a charming little town geared for tourists and after enjoying an ice cream we visited the Jardin des cinq sens (Garden of 5 senses).  Although small this garden was well designed and labelled and packed with interesting plants.  After a stroll about town we headed back to the ferry and on home.  K mentioned we had walked 18kms that day!

Neuchâtel

Sunday saw us head to Neuchâtel, on Lake Neuchâtel, about an hour from Geneva by train.  I particularly wanted to visit as on the first Sunday of the month the famous Jaquet- Droz automata in the museum are started up.  Before visiting the museum we headed up the hill to the botanical garden, which I am not sure was worth the steep climb! Later we visited the old town and the castle and walked along the very attractive lake front.  Everyone was out enjoying the sunny day. I especially admired the swans, but after observing them for some time realized they are rather mean aggressive birds.

The 3 automata were amazing, although much of the hour long session was an explanatory lecture in French! However there was a very interesting video shown which displayed the complicated interior workings of the pieces. I wished my brother could have been there to enjoy it.

Fribourg

On Saturday of the 2nd weekend we headed to Fribourg stopping off at Romont en route to visit the stained glass museum.  We continued museuming in Fribourg as the day was a bit rainy. We visited the Fribourg museum which has rather a strange collection including a bejewelled skeleton relic and rather nice picture of Louis XIV at 3.  Even at 3 he appears aware of his worth!   We also visited the Espace Jean Tinguely and Nicki de Saint Phalle which was great fun as one could operate the Tinguely creations.  Lastly we visited the cathedral and admired the art nouveau stained glass windows which are very bright and I think worthy precursors of Disney.

Fribourg is a lovely old city which slopes down steeply to a river which bisects it.  We walked down to admire the old wooden bridge still in use and wandered along the river bank for a while.

Lausanne and the Lavaux

Sunday found us briefly visiting Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva before going for a long walk through the vineyards.  I would like to spend more time in Lausanne as we only had time to visit the new impressive modern art museum and Botanical garden both near the station.

We then caught the train up to the top of the terraced vineyards which lie on the S facing slopes between Lausanne and Vevey. This region of known as the Lavaux and most of the grapes are white Chasselas.  The lake must moderate the winter cold and the S facing slope provides maximum sunlight. Coming from the Cape winelands, I found the vineyards tiny, very steep (they must all be worked by hand) but beautifully sited overlooking Lake Geneva. We got a chance to sample the wine and I was amazed how different it tasted from adjoining caves (cellars).    As it was spring the vines all had fresh green leaves and it was lovely to walk along the well maintained paths and through the tiny villages. I was pleased we had started at the top though and were walking downhill!

Read about my Swiss rail romtomtallie

2022: Weekends around Geneva Gallery