Blog Ani i Radka
It’s difficult not to notice a sudden aura change around. We went for a Sunday walk just around our house and took our camera with us. just within an hour of walking we spotted countless signs of spring. Are there any botanists reading this post? Would be good to know the names of these flowers.
It seems like the winter is over (with the temperatures ~18 dg C.) so it’s time for a winter photo post. This year there were not so many occasions for taking proper winter shots. The ones that look truly cold and winterish are taken in the mountains. Nevertheless, the springish photos taken in December and January look nice too 🙂
Evian:
Jura mountains:
Le Turet:
Col de la Faucille:
La Chevrerie:
After Radek had come back from skiing, we still had like half a Sunday to do something fun. With a clearing sky and warm temperature, we decided to go for a walk at Teppes de Verbois – a nice route around ponds and vineyards. The route has not been fitted for prams but we somehow managed to go through the mud and bumps.
The road first went through a forest with ponds that are a habitat for different species of birds. There are even special observatories aside and inside we encountered a couple of photographers with very fancy and long lenses covered in camouflaging material… Well, we’re not at that point with our photography hobby, perhaps some day?
Soon we left the forest-pond area and entered the vineyards. Although grape trees are rather bare at this time of the year, we enjoyed the view anyone, especially when the clouds turned ominous dark blue (but these were not rainy clouds, it was just the sun set that made them look like sinister).
The last part of the walk led through a lovely village of Russin. Those little dots on the map are all so quaint and peaceful – like the laws of time don’t rule in this places – everything is quiet and peaceful. We went past the village, then last straight through the fields and back to the car. Very nice stroll.
New Year – new adventures. We can now cross out „snowshoeing” from our to-do list. We had to take turns to be able to go on a trail, but it’s OK since we had different conditions and could later compare impressions and photos.
Take „Radek”:
Radek set out on his trip on Wednesday. It was way colder than the next day, so the snow was nice and neat, covering the pines and forming snow caps all over. The weather was sunny in general, however with the gaining height it got misty. Pros of mist and sun: lovely views through trees. Cons of mist and sun: no view at a viewpoint (see photo above).
Take „Ania”:
Iwent out the next day, on Thursday. Weather conditions were a bit worse, it got warmer and the snow melted and got heavy and watery. There was almost no sun and I didn’t do any photos from the trail (mainly because I was in hurry but also because Radek’s ones would be much better). However… When I reached Le Turet bench I was struck with a beautiful view of the sunset over Jura and surprisingly clear look over Geneva to the Alps. So I would say that by the powers combined in these two days we made most out of Le Turet.
I posted an autumn post just in time, since just hours later winter came in full bloom. With mist and temperatures below zero, we are experiencing something that I personally think are the most beautiful landscapes throughout the year. The omnipresent frost does marvelous paintings outside. Yet again, perfect timing, since Radek’s special macro gear has just arrived. Don’t ask me about the technicalities, have a look at those shots instead.
I did a similar post about summer (check it out here). This time I want to show autumn marvels of the area we live in now. Although this fall is a special one for us and we weren’t able to visit as many places as we would like to, still even with those few we did, we came up with some nice autumn photo shots.
Divonne-les-bains
Jura mountains
Concourge – pumpkin festival in Vernier (those evil pumpkins were carved by children) – a bit scary, huh?
Vineyards in Challex:
Le Tiocan:
Park in Prevessin:
Weather pampers us this fall, so we try to get as much of sun rays as possible before winter comes. Today we were passing by Swiss vineyards and we just couldn’t help and stopped for a brief walk along.
Grapes’ harvests are already finished but every now and then we could find a bunch on the grapevines.
With a remarkably beautiful weather today, we decided to go out to catch some sun. We went to Divonne-les-bains which we had visited a week earlier for Gourmandiv’ Festival. This time we went straight to the lake side (we hadn’t seen it earlier). We were planning to make a tour round water, but I was too tired, so we sat on a bench instead and relaxed in the calm atmosphere of warm sunbeams and surrounding nature.
With a truly autumn weather, I went for a hike to Le Reculet. I was hoping to see a lot of colours on the hills, instead I only saw thick mist. I guess in two-three weeks the mountain will be bursting in pastels.
What to do when weather is rainy and „on foot” mobility is reduced? I asked myself that question on the gloomy weekend and decided to have a „waterfall excursion”. There are just so many of them in the neighbourhood – easily accessible by car. Not discouraged by the rain (which later turned into actually nice and warm weather), we set off to discover the beauties of French nature.
We started with Pain de Sucre cascade. I need to say, it was pretty awesome. It felt a bit like we were in a fairy-tale forest full of magic. Dark colours, soft drizzle and a waterfall you basically can walk around and hide yourself at its back. The only thing missing was a cave with a treasure 🙂 We really enjoyed the view as well as the humming sound of water.
Next stop: Cascade de Cerveyrieu. The water of river Seran falls down for around 60m to meet rocks on the ground and splash with great rumble. We watched it happen from the top, with a nice view on the valley.
Waterfall number 3 – Cascade de Claire Fontaine – was situated well in woods, but we managed to reach it by car and needed just a few steps up to see this beauty. I imagine it must be even prettier in spring or late autumn, when there is more water falling. Anyway, there is something ethereal about the waterfalls, is it the levitating mist? Perhaps gentle or aggressive roar of water? Crudity of rocks? Softness of moss? I don’t know, but for me they are enchanting.
Lastly, we saw Cascade de Glandieu, situated in the centre of a small French village. Although it was the biggest of all we had seen, it didn’t make such an impression on me. Perhaps the proximity of agglomeration stripped the waterfall from its charm? Other possibility, we had had enough of cascades for one day. I mean, don’t get me wrong – it was really nice, it’s just that we liked the other three better. Anyway, we stayed for a while in the village to have a meal in a restaurant and went back home.
