Lake Geneva
Fly here
The largest lake in western Europe, a crescent between Geneva and the Chablais.
From the basket
Seen from the balloon, Lake Geneva draws a great blue crescent more than seventy kilometres long, from Geneva to Villeneuve. No lake in the Alps is larger. Its northern shore and both of its ends belong to Switzerland, shared among Geneva, Vaud and Valais; its southern shore is French, in Haute-Savoie. The border runs through the middle of the water.
To the east, the Rhône arrives from Valais and brings it three quarters of its water. It enters cloudy and laden with silt, then disappears into the blue. Along the north shore stretch the terraced vineyards of Lavaux, then Lausanne, Vevey and Montreux, sheltered from the bise: a little corner that feels almost Mediterranean, at the foot of the Prealps.
Further west, the lake narrows and becomes the Petit Lac, as far as Geneva, where the Rhône leaves it. This part was carved by the Rhône glacier, whereas the Grand Lac owes more to the folding of the rock.
In winter the lake gives back the heat it stored over the summer and softens the shores; in summer it cools them. Fly along its length, from the river’s mouth in the east to the harbour of Geneva.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Léman” (in French).