For Norman Eatough’s first GIN walk, the weather was perfect: sunny, around 25°.
Meeting at Les Gravines restaurant, we walked upstream close to La Versoix, which always manages an impressive volume, even after days without rain, as several remarked. Norman ventured an explanation: in the limestone region of the Jura, rain dissolves the rock and forms big underground lakes. These release water progressively, evening out the flow.
We arrived at a timber mill and its millrace, where Mike explained that the water used to drive a turbine, providing street-lighting for Versoix many decades ago. This was closed down and could only resume if a fish-ladder was built. It was not possible to peer over the steep slope to see whether this requirement has been implemented.
Norman explained that the notice deviating walkers up the road and through the woods, which we ignored, was due to the collapse of a wooden footbridge further up the millrace; we suddenly arrived at the further metal footbridge,
and he realised that the broken footbridge had been totally dismantled since his last visit. It doesn’t seem likely that the wooden one will be rebuilt, as the metal one suffices perfectly. A scramble up a steep slope ensued, survived by all and we climbed further, accompanied by soothing Water Music (acknowledgement to G.F. Händel) until emerging on to the Collex-La Bâtie road:
We progressed to the Bossy road on a track mercifully dry of its usual trying mud and relaxed for 15 minutes on the benches of the recreation area, where a charming circle of tinies and their teachers greeted us.
We crossed La Versoix over the Pont de Bossy and turned immediately right along a pretty path down the right bank, where a photo was taken at a little beach:
We emerged into sunlight for the 5 minutes down to La Bâtie and the much-regretted Auberge des Chasseurs, whîch a few of us remembered in its heyday.
The assembly was invited to peer down and observe the Prise d’eau/intake of water from La Versoix into the Canal de Versoix: photos below. This was built around 1766, to supply water when France conceived a plan to rival Geneva commercially by building a new settlement 2 km North of Versoix-le-Bourg (where La Versoix enters Lac Léman), called Versoix-la-Ville. Voltaire pointed out that the Pays de Gex produces nothing and needs supplies from Savoie. The canal descends imperceptibly until entering the Lac du Léman beyond Montfleury: it is an engineering triumph. Despite a new dead-straight road being built to connect Versoix-la-Ville to then-French Meyrin and thus Lyon, the project never really got off the ground, only one factory and a couple of houses being built, and was abandoned when France’s Foreign Minister, Le Duc de Choiseul, appointed by King Louis XV to organise the project, fell into disgrace (sadly no details were supplied in Norman’s Histoire de Versoix).
Versoix became Swiss and Geneva was connected to Switzerland along the lake after the Napoleonic wars in 1815.
A short stretch of tarmac brought us to the charming path along the shady canal, with dappled sunshine adding to the experience. Crossing a final footbridge, we arrived back at Les Gravines after 2h15 actual walking, there to imbibe a refreshing canette or two and enjoy a very fresh green salad and either the plat du jour or a pizza: two comedians had clearly preferred the tastier inner delights thereof:
Norman was profusely thanked for his outing, which was new to the majority, then intellectual conversations rocked the place.
Norman