A small group of Ginners enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Café du Raisin in Begnins on Wednesday 8 October, preceded by a walk through the charming vineyards surrounding the village. The view of the Vaud countryside and the lake was very good; unfortunately, the Alps were covered.
From left to right in the photo – Robert (O’Riordan), Rudolf (Staehelin accompanied by Daisy in the foreground), Bob Rankin (on his first outing as a new member), Jeff (Crudgington), Mark (Warren) and Gerry (Swart).
Local boy Al (Peters) and Norman (Eatough: he made it all the way from Thoiry) joined the group for lunch.
We were a football team – 11 people – setting off this morning at the “Ecuries du Bois Clos” in Grilly in the “Pays de Gex”. It was a glorious, sunny day – with clear skies illuminating the lush green fields and horses grazing peacefully between the Jura and the Alps.
Our journey first led us to the Bridge of Grilly (see photo) – on the border between France and Switzerland. Just over the border we observed the early stages of the land fill operation. This project has attracted significant criticism, and, as of our visit, the final decision regarding its future had not yet been reached.
We continued along our route to the Mill of Grilly (see photo), a charming spot situated beside the Divonne/Versoix river. The walk was both refreshing and scenic, allowing us to take in the natural beauty of the area.
Our excursion concluded at the “Taverne des Ecuries”, where we sat outside under the high roof, shielded from the sun (see photo), and enjoyed a delicious meal. For many of us, the highlight was finishing with a classic Tarte Tatin.
We walked almost 6km – with an estimated 40m height difference.
Our participants were: Brian Allardyce, John Broadbridge, John Burly, Philip Jenkins, Mike Miller, Robert O’Riordan, Thatcher Shellaby, Paul Sochaczewski, Rudolph Staehelin, and Mark Warren.
To my knowledge, this is the first time a GIN walk has involved a boat trip which requires the added challenge of not missing the boat!
Bravo to all participants – John Broadbridge, Tim Goodyear, Philip Jenkins, Robert O’Riordan, Richard Saynor, Nicolas Ulmer, Ralph Wares and Mark Warren – for being at the Nyon jetty in time for the departure of the MB Valais at 10h55.
It was a lovely day and the lake was calm, so we arrived in good form at Yvoire. Our walk was slightly extended following a request to visit the centre of Yvoire with its crowds and commercial activities, including many restaurants, before returning to the Porte de Nernier for a group photograph.
The walk itself of some 2 kilometres each way is straightforward with minimal height difference and welcome shade. Nernier is smaller and much less commercial than Yvoire; even so it has several restaurants, one of which, the Restaurant du Lac, gives onto the port. There have been mixed reports about this restaurant but its location is ideal and for us at any rate the food and service were excellent; we all chose the filet des perches (from Ireland) and many the café gourmand for dessert.
With our clear view of the jetty, we noted that with the boats stopping at Nernier, including the PS Montreux, there was no real need to walk back to Yvoire. But walking is what we did, visiting Nernier again by boat on our return to Nyon.
An enjoyable and convivial trip.
Total distance with diversions about 5kms with a height difference of 20 metres.
This walk of some 8kms and height difference of 240m was more challenging than most GIN walks and took place on a Friday since the télécabines from Crozet do not operate on Wednesdays, our normal walk day. Even before we started, requests were made to include some wives who are members of the IWCN, but us being Gentlemen considered their club should be the ILCN. Despite the warning of “more challenging”, fifteen people signed up but to be fair several of those were also of the Hiking Group who were attracted by the lunch chez Franck and Kathy at la Loge. Franck himself was a bit taken aback by the numbers coming as it is principally only he and his wife who run the place. The logistics were further complicated by one person meeting up at La Catheline and another directly at la Loge following his early morning start from Crozet (620m) for a walk (trek, hike?) via the Crêt de la Neige (1720m), no doubt to give him an appetite.
So, thirteen of us and two dogs (Mike Muller and Nessie, Robert O’Riordan, Mervyn Powell, Richard Saynor, Rudolf Staehelin, Peter Taylor and Kobie, Wouter van Ginneken, Ralph and Pat Wares, Mark Warren, Mark and Lynda Watts and Bill Westermeyer) took the télécabines up to La Fierney (1300m).
There are several trails to the Catheline, none signposted. Apparently signage isn’t allowed in summer but is in winter, for reasons I don’t understand. One of the trails is a pleasant hike up to the Crêt de la Neige, another is extremely steep, another follows the ski track and another, the one we took, is mostly on jeep tracks to the Catheline with a steady slope upwards for about two kilometres following the contours of the mountains up to the table d’orientation at the Col de Crozet (1485m).
Starting up the jeep track, it was hotAnd dryBut we made good progress, if a little strung out.View from the high point
We made good time to the Catheline (1445m), where we picked up Gary Vannatter, and onto la Loge (1436m) where Nathan Finkelstein was waiting.
Table 2 from table 1
In view of our numbers, Franck wanted us earlier rather than later over the lunch period. In the event we were there around midday and had two tables suitably protected from the sun by parasols, and beers and other cool drinks were rapidly consumed and reordered. A recent recruit to GIN was a bit confused as to who was Mervyn so everyone on that table called themselves and him Mervyn. Meanwhile, the real Mervyn was on the neighbouring table. It is difficult to give a resumé of the various conversations given there were two table and the GIN secrets act (anything embarrassing or slanderous said in GIN stays in GIN). However, discussions about where one member drank his first Leffe took us to the Roi d’Espagne in Brussels and onto the Duchy of Burgundy.
A table of Mervyns; almost an Eistedfodd of MervynsYet more Mervyns
On a more sombre note, we drank to two former GIN members, John Webb and Barry Amstrong, who have recently passed away. John sent an email back in March after reading a blog – “Many thanks for keeping me in the loop even though I cannot participate. A great reminder of lovely times with a great bunch of fellows.” That about sums up our objective.
A table with a single Mervyn, and some welcome members of the ILCNThe two tables receiving genepi
There was the usual choice of food produced meticulously by Franck and served by Kathy; Laos, who had welcomed us, kept watch with Kobie on any other walkers in the vicinity; and following the tartes aux myrtilles and coffee, Franck produced fifteen glasses of genepi to set us on our way.
Patrolling docks in a stick-watering routineFranck starts to perform the Genepi ceremonyWhich needs some theatricalityAnd a soliloquyKobie sniffs genepi as the nectar is delivered, sadly only one each and not 15 as we might have hoped..A roar of approval and the ceremony is almost over. Bottoms up everyone!Table 2La Loge with patrolling hounds
La Loge is indeed a refuge not like any others I know. You take them on their terms, which are great, and enjoy. And we did.
Time to go
We all left together for our return journey, leaving Gary, who generously offered to take up to three people back with him but had no takers, at la Catheline and onto La Fierney by the same route.
Mike and Nessie lead Kobie back to the ChatelaineIt seemed even hotter going back down – it was…
My hips not being great for steep climbs, I proposed a short walk up in the hills to avoid the heat in the plain. It started at La Cure so Paul Sochaczewski, Tim Goodyear and Richard Flett boarded the train from Nyon and picked me up (Mike Muller) at Trelex. We were joined by Robert O’Riordan at St Cergue. At La Cure we were met by Mark Warren who had come by car. Peter Drew cancelled at the last minute due to a bug biting his foot.
The weather was ideal – a bit under 20 degrees with sunshine and blue skies. Accordingly the 6 of us struck out from La Cure railway station at 11.30 hours protected by Nessie the cairn terrier.
We followed the road up through an area of chalets and then crossed the road to go through the Bois de la Pile (see map below). Coming out of the forest we sauntered through some fields being grazed by cows and walked under a path which could have taken us to the Couvaloup de Crans. We continued through La Trélasse before arriving at the car park of La Givrine which is famous for being built after 35 years of pfaffing about between the Swiss and French authorities.
We were lucky to have dined at the restaurant La Givrine. Because normally they are closed midweek. I had contacted them via email to verify this information (they don’t have a website) and they proposed to open exclusively for us if we would be a minimum of 8 eaters. We would be 7 + Nessie and this was acceptable (in the end only 6 because Peter withdrew). The food was typical mountain fare and quite acceptable to our taste buds.
Paul had ordered mushrooms which lead us to discuss the Australian lady who had managed to kill several members of her family after serving a dish with poison mushrooms that she claimed had been bought at Woolworths. Apparently Woolworths is alive and well in Australia and some other countries, unlike most of her dinner guests in question. She was found guilty.
This led us on to discussing how to kill somebody and get away with it. One example is to stab somebody with a sharp knife made out of ice. But you need to do this in a sauna so that the evidence melts away quickly. Or how do you get rid of the body? An example was evoked from the film Snatch which involved hungry pigs. Such lighthearted discussion was in order to avoid spending too much time discussing the perils of AI.
I forgot to take a picture of the group, so here instead is a photo of our body guard.
The walk was about 5km (up 127m and down 90m) and took 1.5 hours.
In common with many people, the Fort des Rousses was not on my radar until Mark Watts told me about it when driving back from a hike. So, Richard Saynor, Bill Westermeier and I with our wives went on an exploratory walk following which the proposal for this walk, lunch and visit was made.
Nicolas U, Drew M, Robert O’R, John B and myself met at the usual Divonne customs car park and motored up to les Rousses on what promised to be a hot day for most of the time.
Intrepid Fort Inspectors, John, Nicolas, Drew, Robert. You and I we’ve been through that..
The Fort des Rousses is the second largest fort in France and is hardly visible until you come to and enter it through a narrow tunnel. The Fort itself was built from 1843 to 1862 and was capable of housing 3,500 men and 2,000 horses, with 50,000 sq. m of vaulted rooms, many kilometres of underground galleries, 2.2 km of ramparts etc. With a gap in military use between the two wars, it was finally abandoned by the military in 1997 and sold to the local Commune, which rented out a part to a cheese company for maturing its comté cheese.
Gearing up to attack the Fort, there are many here among us, who feel … Looking for weapons of massive destruction, no reason to get excited
The walk of about 3 km was around its walls on a rough road/good trail that revealed views over the Dôle side of the Jura. There were occasional plaques explaining the history of the fort; towards the end the road was closed for restoration work on the ramparts which entailed a deviation through a very welcome shaded path in the woods. We then came upon a commando course which was unfortunately closed so we couldn’t climb up various ropes or use any of its three zip wires!
Fortified members, but there’s too much confusion, I can’t get no reliefThere must be some kind of way out of here All along the watchtower… the hour is getting late three riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl
And so back to the cars and a short drive to an excellent lunch at the Golf du Rochat where we were joined by Richard S.
We had been warned that the visit to the cheese maturing cellars could be cold at around 10°C and we mostly had an extra layer, which was hardly necessary – it was such a relief getting out of the heat. There were about 40 people on our visit, mostly French nationals and our guide spoke an excellent French but fast and to his majority audience which made it challenging to some of us. There are some 75.000 cheeses maturing in the galleries and films were used to show how they were treated over several months. Towards the end there was a tasting of 12-, 18- and 24-months old cheeses, each with their distinct tastes. A most interesting visit.
Business men they drink my wine
At the end we were all asked from where in France we came (most from the Jura department) and as an after thought were there any foreigners. The British were answered by a quip on cheddar cheese; our Australian friend received a round of applause – I don’t know what the world is coming to!
So this was billed as a hike up to the Creux du Van with a height gain of about 700m but turned into a walk from Morges to Ouchy with a height gain of all of 40m.
Thursday’s forecast was not great with temperatures of 5 degrees predicted at Creux du Van and rain much of the day so when 7 of us turned up at 8am at the parking in Divonne the immediate question was “what’s plan B?” It didn’t take us long to decide to stay lakeside and follow the very pleasant walk from Morges to Ouchy returning by train.
The 8am start was to allow us to get to Noiraigue so we could set off hiking at 10. This was an unnecessarily early start if we were only going to Morges. However the traffic Gods soon got together and made sure that we didn’t arrive in Morges until about 9:15. Then suitably attired and booted and parking metered up we set off, initially through the tulip display (tulips all gone) then past the apartments where Ian Cappin and Dave Knewstubb used to live.
We soon arrived at the ile aux oiseaux where much time was spent identifying the many birds, aided by the very helpful posters, and removing all the extra layers we’d added in anticipation of rain or coolth.
Then it was on again to the wonderful old (11th century) church in St Sulpice. We’d visited this on the previous walk and it was well worth a second visit.
We then continued to the camping at Vidy where we had an early lunch. The campsite restaurant serves indifferent but edible food and decent beers so, duly refreshed, we were able to continue to Ouchy.
The last part of the walk is alongside the road which had been closed off for a bike race, unfortunately not yet started.
At Ouchy we simply caught the metro up to Lausanne gare then caught the train to Morges.
About 14 km with a height gain of all of 40 m. Not quite as strenuous as the Cret du Van but a pleasant walk mostly dry and somewhat warmer than 5 degrees. All agreed it was a good plan B but we need to reschedule the Cret du Van and make sure we do it on a good day this summer.
Ten walkers and a dog met in glorious springlike sunshine at the Place de l’ancienne Gare in Divonne les Bains for the 2.8km saunter along the old railway line to the Restaurant des Bergers in Grilly. The walk took us by the homes of two of the participants where we noted the wife of one was working hard in their garden pruning roses and the other participant joined us having sat on a bench in the sun waiting our arrival about 1km into our journey.
We were joined by the final participant at the restaurant itself so there were twelve of us who sat down to eat an excellent fondue washed down with a delightful Chablis.
After such a lunch, the return journey was most welcome.
Participants: Jeff C, Norman E, Mike M and Nessie, Robert O’R, Mike P, Richard S, Paul S, Rudolf S, Gerry S, Gary V, Ralph W and Mark 2R.
Ed: Many thanks to Mark for organising the walk and lunch and for the blog.
It is always sad saying goodbye to good friends, and this time it was to say au revoir to our good walking buddy and organiser Alan Baker. Unsurprisingly, many members of GIN, and not only those in the walking group, showed a wish to join in all or part of the day’s activities and others sent their regrets. The planned walk took place in Versonnex, France and consisted of about three kilometres around the “mighty” Oudar, a tributary of the Versoix. In view of the limited parking in Versonnex, most walkers met in Divonne for car sharing to the parking by the church in Versonnex where they joined the others, and in all 23 walkers set off at 10h40.
The beginning (and end) of the walk was on level tarmac and with a relatively rapid early pace, people remarked that we would be at the restaurant well before noon. A herd of bullocks (?) came trotting out to look at us before we turned in through the woods on an earth path by the side of La Lillette, a tributary of the Oudar.
Bullocks
Those with a good sense of smell noted an abundance of wild garlic before we crossed a bridge over La Lillette and into the sunshine with fields on either side of the path. It was the turn for horses to be entertained by our passing with at least one rolling about on his back, no doubt trying to get to that itchy spot that he couldn’t otherwise reach. In noting a wild animal in a field in the distance, there was a short discussion as to whether it was a deer or a hare; in the end we decided that cataract operations were a good thing as we could at least see there was a wild animal in the distance. After walking by some farm buildings, with woods on the left where La Lillette merged with the now “mightier” Oudar, we reached a small clearing by the river for photographs.
“Mighty” Oudar
The return walk was on level pavement and only had one small incident that required a car to collect one of our number who had an issue with one of his toes that hindered his walking.
All walkers except Richard S, photographerAll walkers except Larry, behind cameraWild garlic
The lunch at Sur l’Ardoise went extremely well and they catered for the now 27 people most professionally. We were in a partitioned section of the restaurant on three tables. Also, the acoustics enabled us to have conversations easily. Thank you, Richard, for setting this up. It is certainly a restaurant to be considered for future GIN lunches.
We all said our fond farewells to Alan, with our thanks for his having organised the walks over so many years. Good luck to Tim Goodyear, his worthy successor (we hope, not yet confirmed).
Present: Alan Baker, Peter Taylor, Mervyn Powell, Tim Goodyear, Larry French, Gerry Swart, David Gwilliam, Ken Forrester, Ray Fiander, Trevor Davies, Robert O Riordan, Ian Cappin, Paul Sochaczewski, Steve Long, Mark Watts, Mike Price, Wouter van Ginneken, David Colledge, Alan Peters, Philip Jenkins, Rob MacKenzie, Norman Eatough, Hubert Pettingell, Bryan Clark, Ralph Wares, Richard Saynor and Mark Warren.
Wouter and Larry of the GIN walking group. July 14, 2033.
Tolochenaz, near Morges, where Audrey lived after her retirement from the world of cinema. Lucky encounter in the parking lot with retired head of public works for Tolochenaz, Hubert, who knew Audrey and had the sad task of digging her grave. Audrey’s home is 100 metres beyond the hedge in the background.
The wall of La Paisible, Audrey Hepburn’s residence for the last thirty years of her life.
Miracle! The gate to the residence La Paisible was open. A view of Audrey”s beloved garden where she spent much of her time.
Larry in front of the chapel where Audrey was buried.In the chapel where Audrey’s funeral service was celebrated. Memorable passage from Ecclesiastes, ‘There is a time and there is a season…’Wouter looks at home in the pulpit in the chapel. Gift of a broad and deep education.
The mural that adorns the back wall of the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion. Here for many years the memorabilia from her years’ modelling and acting were displayed.
Larry in the Salle des Mariages of Morges Hôtel de Ville, where Audrey celebrated her second marriage to Andrea Dotti, after her divorce from Mel Ferrer. They had a son, Luca, half brother to Sean Ferrer.
Lucky encounter on the Grand’rue in Morges on the way to lunch. We are in distinguised company – well known to Larry. Standing is Nuria Gorrite, former Syndic of Morges, former President of the Canton de Vaud, now Minister for Transport in the Conseil d’Etat de Vaud. Standing beside her is her father, Rafaêl. Seated to the left is Aristide, archiviste in the Bolle Museum, his wife, Jacqueline, then Salvatore Gervaisi, Director of the Bolle Museum, soon to be our host. Finally, Wouter, enjoying this fine moment. L’Hôtel de Ville with flags flying that we had just visited is visible behind Nuria.
The archives of the Bolle Museum, in the room dedicated to Audrey Hepburn. Director Salvatore Gervaisi gives us a lightning tour of the Hepburn Collection before we visit the new exhibition dedicated to Audrey, her life in comic strip form. The exhibition continues till mid-August. July ’24 will see an exhibition featuring the designs of Hubert Givenchy for the costumes and dresses that Audrey wore so gracefully.
