Cycle from Satigny through the Pays de Gex

Believe me there really is good reason - we now have 6 bicycles in the Blackwell household (2 remnants from history, 2 mountain bikes and now 2 road bikes). The mountain biking from the ski lifts does not get going for a few weeks... and therefore we had to get her a road bike..

From Cycling with the Dolans

Caroline's new bike
















The 40 km route starting in vineyard country in Satigny and heading off to France. For your reference note Geneva Airport on the right hand side of the photo.

From Cycling with the Dolans

Total innocence before the start..

From Cycling with the Dolans

Michael had days to plan the route....

From Cycling with the Dolans

Water before beer at the halfway point .. that is what the photo says..

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Route detail
More of our cycling

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White-water rafting at La Dranse

An elite crack team from the Cresta Run Club headed off for some hydrospeed on the Dranse River. Alas, a SNAFU caused a change of plan to white-water rafting. .. but we have free passes for a hydrospeed session later in June.

From Dranse white water rafting

The team..

From Dranse white water rafting

first paddles..

From Dranse white water rafting

The optional 10 metre leap..


Keith leaps..


followed by Mark..


and Geoffrey..


and Ebru...


who missed Michael?

From Dranse white water rafting

white-water action..





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Dranse white water rafting

Sailing in Lac Leman from Yvoire

From Sailing from Yvoire

Back in March we walked from Nernier to Yvoire which was quite helpful as I forgot to take photos of Yvoire before we set sail.

From Nenier and Yvoire Mar 09

From Nenier and Yvoire Mar 09

From Nenier and Yvoire Mar 09

Alas the wind was not great but it was a great introduction to the J24 we are thinking of buying. No one is denying that it needs a bit of spit and polish but that is why the boat is up for sale - with a mooring in Yvoire.

From Sailing from Yvoire

However, this is the world's most popular one-design keelboat and the link may provide some more dynamic guidance of what the boat is capable of.

Lake Geneva (aka Lac Leman) affords the opportunity for cruising and racing with multiple ports for overnight stops in two countries. There are also some extremes of weather especially the catabatic winds to make sailing (let alone learning) a little more exciting.

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Sailing route

Caves Ouvertes 2009

Each Spring the vineyards are Geneva open up for all to sample the wines of the previous year. The Swiss tend to avoid the export market so you may well be surprised how much wine is produced in the region.

A bus was filled and we headed out of Geneva to visit Peissy, Laconnex and Anières. First stop 10 am. The good news is that whilst all the Caves open up on this day - it is possible to visit many of them during the year to sample their wines.
















"The Geneva region is separated into three areas, the largest of which is Mandement, on the right bank of the Rhône. It is concentrated around the town of Satigny and the vineyards of Peissy.
Although the Chasselas still dominates the white vines, Geneva's winegrowers have won great successes at international wine competitions with classic grape varieties, such as the Chardonnay, usually considered as alternatives. Among the red vines, the Gamay equally dominates with excellent, well-structured wines. However, the Pinot Noir is taking more and more importance just like other red vines.
Geneva is one of the most dynamic wine-producing regions and was the first canton to introduce and adopt laws about the production of wines with the appellation d'origine contrôlée - AOC (controlled term of origin)." www.swisswine.ch




Peissy
Cave & Domaines Les Perrières - 54 Route de Peissy, Peissy CH 1242
Cave les Cretets - Chemin des Cretets 24, Peissy CH 1242
Domaine des Trois Etoiles - Peissy-Satigny 1242

Laconnex
Chateau de Laconnex - 16 rue Maison-Forte, Laconnex CH 1287
Domaine de Bossatier - Laconnex CH 1287
Domaine Jean Batardon - Route du Lavoir 13, Laconnex, CH 1287

Anières
Domaine des Menades - rue Centrale 30, Anières, CH 1247
Domaine Villard & Fils - 46, rue Centrale, Anières, CH 1247
Domaine de la Cote d'Or - rue Centrale, Anières, CH 1247


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Your guide to Geneva's countryside - www.campagnon.ch
Variety is the spice of Geneva wine
www.swisswine.ch
www.winecity.ch

Pomier - part of the Saint Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage

From Pomier walk

It is starting to get warm - and the thought of a cool walk in the woods suddenly became very attractive one day. Pomier, half way up the Saleve offers some great walks through the cool woods and a little history with the Chartreuse de Pomier and more importantly being part of the famous pigrimage of Saint Jacques de Compostelle.


Chartreuse de Pomier (from Wikipedia)

From Pomier walk

The charterhouse was founded in 1170 by Willian I, Count of Geneva, and was subsequently used as a place of burial by a number of Counts of Geneva and Vaud. It was visited by the Emperors Sigismund and Charles IV, who put it under Imperial protection. In the course of its history it had 91 priors.

In 1793 it was pillaged during the French Revolution, and the religious structures ruined; the site was sold off into private ownership. At various times it was used for the production of pottery and as a brewery, before being put to agricultural uses. In 1894, Jérémie Girod bought the site from the then owner, the Baron de Drée, and from the ruins was able to restore the main building for use as an hotel, which under the name Hôtel Pension Abbaye de Pomier remained in business till 1991. The present and newly restored Chartreuse de Pomier, consisting of the cellars, and the chapter rooms on the ground floor, is now an event and conference venue.

From Pomier walk

The Way of St. James or St. James' Way (Saint Jacques de Compostelle) (is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle St James are buried.

From Pomier walk

The route of the pilgimage is marked with scallops shells nailed to trees..

From Pomier wal

The significance of the scallop symbol (from Wikipedia)

The scallop shell, typically found on the shores in Galicia, has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. Over the centuries the scallop shell has taken on mythical, metaphorical and practical meaning.

There are different accounts of the mythical origin of the symbol. Which account is taken depends on who is telling the story. Two versions of the most common myth are:

James the Greater, the brother of John, was killed in Jerusalem for his convictions about his brother. James had spent some time preaching on the Iberian Peninsula.

1. (version 1) After James' death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost to the ocean. After some time, however, the body washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.
2. (version 2) After James' death his body was mysteriously transported by a ship with no crew back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. As James' ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on the shore. The young bridegroom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse got spooked, and the horse and rider plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, the horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.

Besides being the mythical symbol, the scallop shell also acts as a metaphor. The grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims traveled, eventually arriving at a single destination: the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela. The scallop shell is also a metaphor for the pilgrim. As the waves of the ocean wash scallop shells up on the shores of Galicia, God's hand also guided the pilgrims to Santiago.

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Chartreuse de Pomier (from Wikipedia)

The Way of St James (from Wikipedia)

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Cycle to Hermance

The return of Formula 1 to Europe may limit some of our weekend tours, but we did manage an late afternoon cycle from Geneva to Hermance and back. Only one minor hill and a delight to stop for a drink in beautiful Hermance by the French border. Pass through Cologny - home of Lewis Hamilton on the way.

From cycle to Hermance

Brief pause at Corsier. Caroline has had lunch at the lakeside restaurant "Le Petit Lac" and gives it a thumbs up. She continues to assure me she really isn't a "lady who lunches" whilst her husband toils in the office.

From cycle to Hermance

Return to Geneva - the current home of the Americas' Cup! .. Yes this is it at the Societe Nautique de Geneve

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Route details
Hermance web site
Hermance photos on Panoramio
Some of our other cycles

After work stroll up the Saleve

Spring has arrived and new afterwork activities.. this was the objective...

From Saleve after work walk

next time, past the Chateau, and all the way to the top



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Photos on Picasa
Route details (run down not the climb up!)

Cycle around the vineyards from Geneva?

We went to Divonne today and whilst the girls were wandering around the Sunday market, Neil and I headed off on our bikes towards Switzerland and found some great cycling paths which were for the most part flat - and certainly a lot easier than much of the Haute Savoie.

So I've started finding routes in the area - and the tour of vineyard area looked to be fun (43 kms). If the widget below does not work click here to see the route on mapmyride.com (it may only work in Internet Explorer) - unless someone has a better idea.

An alternative might be the organised "Cyclotour Leman" on May 31, 2009 as part of the training for the assault on Lac Leman. We could do the run to Lausanne.

"Organized by an association formed by a dozen volunteers, the “Cyclotour leman” unifying profibikers and hobbybikers. The race is open to all, and goes around the Swiss and French part of the Lake of Geneva. .

Three stretches are proposed, which are more or less long, depending on its level and its physical conditions.

The “Round the lake” strech starts and arrives in Lausanne and covers a distance of 180 km.

Going to the French side of the lake by boat, the participants will start in Evian and arrive to Lausanne, and will ride a distance of 110 Km

Finally, a distance of 60 km between Geneva to Lausanne is proposed."

Geneva slips to third best place in the world to live

"In Mercer Consultings annual Quality of Living Survey, Europe once again dominates the list of 215 countries around the world. The top three cities are, by rank, Vienna, Zurich (last years winner), and Geneva. Commonwealth nations fare pretty well, too, winning 9 of the top 30 spots—even though London comes in only at 38. The U.S. also fares poorly, barely making it into the top 30 with Honolulu and San Francisco in the bottom two places. The top city in Asia is Singapore, at no. 26. No cities from Africa or South America are in the top 30. The bottom? Baghdad once again comes in at 215." - BusinessWeek

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from genevaexplore.blogspot.com