Category: Walking

Fifteen Ginners and guests plus an adorable black Labrador, Onyx, met in the centre of Russin with even the latecomers arriving two minutes early. We consequently set off punctually at 10am with three “leaders” who had recently done the walk as well as emeritus leaders who knew it well. The steep walk down to the station and over the railway line went well but then an emeritus leader asked which way to go in view of a choice of at least three options. The group agreed to split and to meet at the first hide which was achieved without incident. Indeed, it would have been extremely difficult to get lost as all roads led to the Rhone.

The Rhone was flowing fast with little bird life but there were several ponds off the right bank – the étang des Bouvières for fishing – and three (Paul Géroudet, Jacques Burnier and Maurice Blanchet) collectively known as the Teppes du Verbois for their birds and nature, each with its own hide. Many pairs of binoculars were brought out and many minutes taken looking at the various birds, including swans, red-crested pochards, great crested grebes, coots as well as a grey heron and a great white egret. The light and the reflections against the water were glorious.

We continued towards the confluence of the Allondon with the Rhone where kingfishers were spotted and then up the surprisingly challenging slope to the Vignoble Doré for an excellent lunch. Conversation ranged from how long it would be before Liz Truss resigned (end of the week), leaders who some would like to see out of power or prospects of such before the year’s end (leading contenders were Putin, Bolsinaro, Trump and Khamenei), the benefits of the House of Lords for the man in the street…

More seriously, would volunteers for leading future walks please contact Alan Baker.

A good walk as underscored by a participant who said he would come back with his wife. Another said so would he, before correcting himself to say he meant his own wife.

Participants:

Brian Allardyce, Alan Baker, Mike Clayton, Bryan Clark, Norman Eatough, Tim Goodyear (not lunch), Philip Jenkins, Hubert Pettingell, Mike Price, Richard Saynor, Paul Sochaczewski, Nicolas Ulmer and Mark Warren

Guests:

Hugh Pettingell, Eric Williamson and Onyx.

We started at 10:30 from the Parking of the Refuge de Gland.
After 15 minutes walk through the woods, we reached the route de Lausanne.
We stopped at the Fortification Villa Rose, which was a big surprise to some the
walkers in our small group. We also admired several times the “Toblerone Line”.
Leaving the Route de Lausanne, we proceeded through fields, woods and
followed the river until we reached the Domaine Imperial Golf Course.

We watched 3 ladies, each hitting on the green of a par 3 as we duly applauded.
The remaining part of our walk went safely through the golf course. We saw
many warning signs and walked cautiously paying attention to flying golf
balls. We arrived at the parking lot at 11:50 continued to the restaurant
Les Aberiaux at the Port Les Aberiaux, where we enjoyed a beer and an excellent
Cheeseburger outside in the sun with a great view of Lake Geneva.
In summary a great walk, beautiful weather, good drinks/food and small,
excellent group of GIN walkers.

John Burley, Wouter van Ginneke and Brian Allardyce and
Gerry Swart

7 stalwarts assembled at the COTY building in Versoix Bourg on this warm (24°) cloudless day:
Richard, Mike, Hubert, Gerard, David, Philip and chef de course Norman.
We climbed the modest hill to the Canal de Versoix then followed it upstream to a point short of the autoroute viaduct.
Norman explained the history of this feat of 18th century engineering: in the late 1700s, the French government decided
to rival Geneva commercially on Lac Léman, so planned a new town (Cité Choiseul) under the guidance of the Duc de Choiseul,
for which the canal would supply water taken from La Versoix at La Bâtie. A few buildings were erected, but then, as my Histoire de Versoix recounts, ‘le Duc tomba en disgrâce’ and the city was never built.
We then dropped down to La Versoix river, which has remained the Canton’s river with the highest volume in these months of drought
(it is fed from underground lakes deep in the limestone Jura). In the shade of the trees, the temperature was refreshing. We turned left at the footbridge and climbed a modest slope back to the canal. Intellectual discussions were the order of the day (and not just about the aches and pains of the tamalou), such that our noble leader inexplicably missed a turning – unheard of. The chattering classes were yanked back and we duly enjoyed the shady sylvan glades of the lower La Versoix back to COTY: 2h05 actual walking time. Beers all round then lunch under sunshades at Le Café National, where comments congratulatory (Norman turned 90 a month ago) mischievous and inspired rent the air. The walk was declared a memorable success. Les absents avaient tort, une fois de plus.

Norman

“WOT – NOT ENOUGH WATER?”

Mark Warren’s plan to lead the GIN Walkers to and possibly through lesCascades d’Hérisson on 2 June 2022 had been postponed for a rarely encountered reason – the spring drought had deprived these famous waterfalls of adequate water to show themselves off in their full glory.

In the circumstances, a cheerful band of 8 Walking Group participants (Mark, Alan, Bryan C., Richard S., Nicolas, Paul, Rob, and Tim retraced our steps along the bank of the Divonne River to and from the Swiss border at Crassier. New decking avoided much of the mud encountered during our previous walk along this route.

Another excellent Lunch was then enjoyed at  Le Bon Accueil in Divonne, during which we added our own toast to the many others ongoing that day in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

Thanks again, Mark, for your patience in planning and then needing to changethe location for this walk. We look forward to sharing in the postponed visit to the “Hedgehog Falls” in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks also go to Tim Goodyear for the photos.

Alan Baker.  3 June 2022

A hardy band of 10 GIN walkers met in the rain at the car park in Tolochonaz, above Morges. We were not put off by a few drops of rain! The walk took us on agricultural roads through the fields to the impressive Chateau de Vufflens, and thence through vines to the village of Denens where one still sees the remains of the Scarecrows erected last year for the ScarecrowFestival.

By this time we were not only wet but thirsty. Here we headed for the Cave du Chateau de Denens where John Burley had organised a wine tasting and light meal with the owner Mr. de Buren. We tried 4 different wines which were much appreciated, especially the Chasselas (at 9 francs a bottle) and the Malbec. Then of course we had to walk back to the cars in Tolochenaz…….and it was still raining! But what an excellent outing we had, thanks to John.

John Burley(leader), Brian Allardyce (wrote the blog), Alan Baker, Wouter van Ginneken, Nicolas Ulmer, Bryan Clark, Paul Sochaczewski, Tim Goodyear, Mark Warren, Mark Watts. Plus (Ginjured) Richard Saynor for lunch.

Follow this link for other photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jKk2n9K42WxYTyzc9

The walk from Montreux to the Chateau de Chillon and then a visit to the Fort had been planned for a long time, but Covid intervened. We finally managed it on 30th March, when 7 of us congregated at the Freddy Mercury statue in Montreux and walked for an hour to Chillon. The weather didn’t look too good, but Alan, Rudi, Tim, Paul, Colin, Wouter, and Brian were undaunted. The spring flowers and the magnolias were impressive, and we remarked that Montreux must spend a fortune on their gardens. Arriving at the Chateau we had a leisurely lunch and some of us even took the opportunity for a quick visit inside the Chateau.

Then across the road to the Fort which has not long been open. It was constructed in 1940 and 41 because at that time the Swiss believed a German invasion was highly likely. It was one of a large number of such Forts across Switzerland and was intended to repel attacks that might come at the end of Lake Leman. There are many camouflaged firing ports in the hillside and the soldiers lived in the various rooms which had been carved out of the mountain. We had an introduction in English and were then able to go by ourselves into the various rooms: the bunk rooms, kitchen, refectory, generator room, hospital, etc. In most of the rooms a full-size video was projected onto the wall showing what went on there. These were often humorous, for example in the hospital where a surgeon was busy doing a spoof operation using tools and gadgets from a Swiss Army knife handed to him by a colleague. The visit continued with a short film and then outside to an observation platform where you get a superb view of the Chateau, see below.

We all agreed this was a very interesting visit and well worth the walk to and from Montreux.

A group of 11 (12, Paul can’t count) GIN E-Z Walkers took a stroll around the often-overlooked corners of Grand Saconnex. For some walkers it was a return to old stomping grounds, where their younger selves jogged and took children for nature walks.

The event began with mild chaos, as folks unused to the particularities of driving in an urban environment failed to find the entrance to the underground car park. The organizer had astutely removed the gates to the car park but the honest walkers nevertheless purchased parking tickets, fearful of the demonic Grand Saconnex Meter Maids.

The walk took us past a cute church, houses of the rich and famous, a few UN missions (India’s new mission, under construction, is huge, and led to discussions about that country’s geopolitical intentions), farms, a forest, a small nature reserve, WHO, and tunnel construction.

At the last section, a tour of the Domaine de Penthes, the group separated into three splinter groups.

A few hardy souls attempted a steep short cut that left them huffing, the main group went straight to Domaine de Penthes, and a third group elected to save their energy and not to make the descent and subsequent ascent at this park. They were instructed to wait at the chateau, but being of independent demeanor, returned straightaway to the restaurant and started drinking before others arrived. This independence might be a violation of GIN etiquette, but on the other hand, it might be the new normal and their initiative should be applauded and emulated in the future. Time will tell.

In the Domaine de Penthes, Richard pointed out the exploding sequoia (too dramatic a tale to recount here). One walker sighted what he swore was the famous (and elusive) Grand Saconnex yeti, but admitted it might have been a large squirrel.

Lunch ensued, at which point Paul’s sloppy organizational skills were revealed, when the eight walkers who stayed for lunch were told that the plat du jour was finished and people had to order from the (more expensive than planned) menu. There were some grumbles, alleviated by beer and good food. Lunch conversation included such earth-shattering topics such as Tim’s career-highlight as Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, whether Monty Don knows best how to grow a wildflower meadow, whether Colin Powell should have resigned rather than tell lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction, and how print-on-demand is changing the publishing industry.

Distance, about 7.2 km, time, almost three hours. Some walkers suggested this walk was on the hard end of the E-Z walking scale.

Richard Saynor, John Burley, Mike Price, Marks (2Rs & 2Ts), Norman Eatough, Tim Goodyear, Brian Allardyce, Philippe Jenkins, Wouter van Ginneken, Hubert Pettingell, Paul S.

Some of the above is true.

Seven of us ( Hubert, Mark Warren, Mark Watts, Norman, Philip,  Tim and myself) set out to explore the banks of the Rhone (see the map below for the route). We started walking downstream at the Moulin des Frères. With a small parking area and a picnic zone this is a favourite spot for weekend sailors – there is also a stop for the pleasure boats that travel between the lake and the Verbois dam. As we left the area Norman pointed out the site of the old leper colony. This was  one of the many ‘maladières’ administered by the diocese of Geneva (which covered a large area between  the Jura and the Alps).

The first part of the walk was along the riverside – the sun filtering through the trees was very pleasant. The path, like those on the rest of the walk, is well maintained. Before long we saw signs of the Givaudan factory: boundary fences and (clean!) effluent flowing into the river. This factory, founded at the end of the 19^th century is a  world leader in the production of fragrances for products ranging from washing-up liquid to expensive perfumes.

Soon afterwards we crossed the Passerelle de Chèvres. This footbridge (which takes its name from the nearby village) passes over the remains of the dam of a former hydroelectric station. The plant, which was the first in the Canton de Geneve, functioned from 1898  to 1943, when it was superseded by the one at Verbois. The dam and the associated buildings can be made out quite clearly on the 1904 map. (By the way, I stole the maps from https://map.geo.admin.ch. You can find full set of modern and historical Swiss maps there.)

Turning left after the footbridge we continued upstream through wooded countryside crossing several small streams. At a point about halfway between the Passerelle de Chèvres and our starting point we turned right and, after a short, steep climb, headed inland. From this point we could see the massive buildings of Le Lignon. Constructed in the early 1960s Le Lignon is one of the largest apartment complexes in the world. In contrast, the area we were crossing, Deuxfonds, is surprisingly rural sandwiched as it is between the two arms of the Rhone and largely inaccessible to traffic.

We soon reached our second footbridge, the Passerelle du Lignon. This footbridge was built in the 1970s by Sappro, a pipeline operator. The footbridge supports a pipeline transporting petroleum products from France to the Vernier storage area.

Back in the woods we continued downstream towards our starting point. The weather gods, apart from bestowing  a couple of showers on us, had been kind. We all agreed that the area is surprisingly rural and isolated despite being so close to the town.

After some further adventures we met back at the Auberge de Vernier for a very welcome beer and lunch.

On exactly 10am 16 GIN walkers set off on the “wild side” (expression from Alan Baker) of the Divonne river – direction Crassier. After some time (see the two pictures on the bridge – taken by Tim Goodyear). Norman Eatough gave us an interesting explanation of the origin of the area, notably the Canal de Crans which we walked along, and which supplied water to the Château de Coppet.

He also told us that he went to the Divonne Tourist Office two years ago saying that the path was very muddy. The Office took his advice and now the muddy parts are covered with splendid wooden decking. According to Norman this must have cost them a small fortune, which Divonne taxpayers, such as Mark Warren, John Burley and myself, have helped financing. We also visited the viewpoint of the “Marais des Bidonnes” (see map) and even saw one cow (see picture) of the “aurochs” herd that lives there.

Our group then split in two: one going on to Crassier and visiting a local pond (see picture) and the other returning to Divonne on a path next to the old railway track, which is now converted into a bicycle-cum-walking road. This stretch of track had continued to Nyon, but was not paying for itself and when the Geneva-Lausanne autoroute cut through it, that was the end of it.

At about 12:30 everybody met up for our lunch (see picture) at “Le Bon Accueil”, which provided us with a delicious and well-presented three-course meal. At 14:30 we all went home – after an enjoyable walk and lunch, which gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better and to benefit from the Divonne environment.

Wouter van Ginneken (with help from Tim Goodyear and Norman Eatough).