Stage 6 – Nyon to St.Gingolph

Travelling along the north bank of Lake Geneva I found it quite difficult to decide which town to explore and which to leave out. Although they all offer stunning views of the lake and the mountains beyond, none of them strike me as typical border towns because the Swiss-French border in this area runs, for the most part, in the middle of Lake Geneva and so I decided to simply enjoy the lakeside ride through the quaint towns, villages and vineyards.

Between Nyon and Morges it's possible to catch a glimpse of Mont Blanc which lies on the French-Italian border, but during our visit the distant horizon was a bit misty.

Our first photo-stop was at Rolle. Being only a fifteen minute drive from our breakfast table in Nyon it was a bit early for a coffee, but we did take a short stroll in the grounds of Rolle Castle. Another quarter of an hour along the lake found us wandering through a small yacht marina in Morges.

Having visited Lausanne, canton Vaud's capital city, on a previous occasion, we decided not to stop. The city lies opposite the French town of Évian-les-Bains. Lausanne is home of the International Olympic Committee. It has an attractive 'old town' and very picturesque lakeside views and will no doubt be added to my list of places to re-visit.

Heading towards the eastern end of Lake Geneva we passed through the wine growing area of Saint Saphorin but I resisted the temptation to sample the wine... I was driving.

Now it really was time for a coffee, and what better place to stop than Montreux. Although a dry day, it was probably the cloudiest day of the summer when we visited Montreux and my images just didn't do the place justice. The town is famous for it's Jazz Festival, Deep Purple's song 'Smoke on the Water', a whole list of other very cultural stuff and of course several very grand looking hotels.

My photograph of Castle Chillon must surely be one of the very worst ever taken, not one drop of lake visible and not a mountain in sight... but I like trains and I was parked somewhat awkwardly and therefore didn't have too much time to study composition ;-)

We ended the day's drive 'around the edge' at the border town of Saint Gingolph, where we tucked in to our picnic in the small harbour.

Preamble - Stage Five - Stage Seven