La Désalpe in St-Cergue

This is an event we missed last year and I was looking forward to it this season. La Désalpe takes place when the cows come down from their grazing fields and stay in barns for winter. Yep… it means summer is definitely over.
We headed to a small village of Saint Cergue, already high up in Swiss Jura mountains. Cows were undoubtedly in the spotlight but other attractions included mountain shepherd dogs, long musical tube-horns (I’m pretty sure I once knew their original name but it’s gone now), and lots of countryside goodies like cheese, ham, liquors etc.

Did I mention the goodies? 🙂

There were lots of people, lots of cows, lots of noise and lots of sunshine. Such a nice day to say goodbye to summer.

Discovering France and Switzerland in summer

Another season is past. This summer wasn’t the best one when it comes to weather. I really was hoping for more sunshine that would enable us to set out for more challenging routes in mountains. Maybe the next year. Nevertheless, we managed to see some lovely places and instill the views in photos. See yourself. Other photos of this kind: Discovering.

Rolle:

Russin

Gruyeres:

Broc:

St Genis Pouilly

View on Mt Blanc:

Villaz

CERN:

Chamonix:

Vevey:

View on Geneva:

Annecy:

Dardagny:

Challex:

Cessy:

Ornex:

Montreux:

Fort l’Ecluse:

View on Chamonix:

Our balcony:

Friends’ visit: Annecy, Gruyères, Montreux, Salève

We are hosting Monika and Przemek this week and so, we are doing a must-see-places tour with them. Since they have all appeared on our blog thousands of time, I decided to do a summary post about all the places so that you won’t be bored.
So here it is…

Annecy:

CERN / CMS:

Salève:

Gruyères:

Montreux:

Goldenpass train ride: Gstaad and Château-d’Oex

We have friends coming over to our place so this always mean busy and fun days. I really try and keep my house open to anyone willing to visit us and I always enjoy those visits. Although seeing the same places becomes a bit of a routine to me (I never enjoyed going twice to the same spot) there are still places we haven’t seen around and friends’ visit is a very good occasion to discover something new.
And so… Switzerland is well known for its panoramic trains that meander through mountains and lakes. There are two that are particularly famous – Goldenpass panoramic trail and Glacier Express. The first one is a train that goes way up to the Swiss Alps and has big panoramic screens. The other one goes through glaciers and snow caps.
We drove to Montreux with Monika and Przemek where we hopped on the Panoramic train that would take us up to Gstaad.

The panoramic trail was nice but I guess living here we are a bit used to those landscapes of Lake Geneva and mountains. Gstaad on the other hand was really nice.  It’s a well known ski resort and a very posh place where all the high class of Switzerland spend their holidays and shop for accessories in fancy boutiques.

After a short walk and a hot chocolate break in Gstaad we hopped on a train again and rode to Château-d’Oex (crossing the language border – back to Frenchies). Again, we had a walk in this picteresque village, situated in a valley between the mountains. We didn’t get to see the castle in close up but I don’t regret it as we had a pretty tasty lunch instead. Tummies full? Yes? So let’s go back to Geneva.

La Jonction (2598 m)

Yet another splendid hike that truly took my breath away. I am so happy I went up this route – it’s just amazing what marvels there are in mountains. La Jonction (2598 m) is the place where two glaciers join (or split – depending on the direction you chose to think about). But let me start from the beginning…

This is Glacier des Bossons:

And this is Glacier du Taconnaz:

The path leading to La Jonction is situated exactly between these two – enabling keen hikers experience „the wow effect” twice (thrice if we count also WOW at La Jonction).
At first we spotted Glacier des Bossons…

…and then Moraine de Taconnaz.

After that the path kept bouncing from one glacier to another. An interesting piece of fact: this route is a historic trail of the first ever climb to Mont Blanc mountain in 1786. The two climbers hiked up to la Jonction, stayed overnight under two big boulders (which are now called Gite a Balmat – from the name of one of them) and then successfully attacked the mountain the next day.

I was really hoping that at some point the trail will be close enough for me to touch the glacier. In the end, not only did I touch it but I also climbed on it. How cool is that?

The views were already super cool at the place I took the photos, but they were even more awesome at the Jonction. I think it was one of – if not 'the’ – most beautiful view I have seen in the mountains.

We spent almost an hour staring at the ice ahead of us, bathing in the sun rays, talking to fellow hikers, and doing photos. We had lots of fun taking the group shots (photo credit goes to Matthias and his wide angle lens). Usually I don’t like having long pauses while in the heights but this time I just couldn’t get enough of this view. I actually think that for this place I could break with my rule of not going twice to the same summit.

Museum Ariana

Today we visited Ariana Swiss Museum for Ceramic and Glass. Although I am not a particular fan of museum (especially on a day like today), we are all still feeling a bit ill and need a break from tiring and challenging weekends. That’s why we decided to see an exhibition.

I won’t lie to you – I didn’t like the exhibitions… 22 000 ceramic pieces – it’s just too much to take in and I am not into the topic anyway. There two most interesting bits about the museum were the building itself (built at the end of the 19th century) and a contemporary artist exhibition (but that was very small).

When we finished the tour we sat outside by the fountain and enjoyed a truly summery weather. It was hot like it should have been the whole August! After that we went to see the United Nations. We are planning to pay a visit to the building itself but we never had occasion so far. but even the surrounding is nice. There is the Broken Chair (5.5 tons of wood and 12 m high) that is there to remind about the land bombs and mines’ victims. There is also a fun fountains installation – they change size and sprout water in various manners. That one is kids’ favourite on a hot day like today!