Dwight Peck's personal website

Scenes from the Chablais, April/May 2015

Life in the Rhône valley with a lot of rain


You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

We're recently back from a few weeks in Tuscany in March, lots of fun and culturally inspiriting, and Kristin's been to the USA for a few more weeks and come back again, so now we're killing some time before we're both off on a consultancy assignment in Uruguay in late May and June.

Arezzo and roundabout, March 2015

March 2015, in front of a saint with a metal face in the Arezzo cathedral, Kristin counters with the iconology of Mr Spock.

Floral displays in Verschiez

Spring is here in Ollon, 14 April, even if it's still the ski-touring season up on the Dents du Midi.

The tiny hamlet of Verschiez, a kilometre up the road from Ollon

Les Dents du Midi from Verschiez

Flowers on the wall

And back down again

The Sentier du Sel to Panex

A frequent walk of ours, from Panex through the woods to the Sentier du Sel, the old Salt Path, 19 April

The Sentier du Sel. The town of Bex, down below us, was an early celebrity in the salt trade and remains so. The "Salt Path" is a waymarked educational hike from Bex up along the route into the mountains whence briney water was sluiced down in wooden pipes in very early times.

The village of Panex, also part of our village Ollon's jurisdiction

High waters in the Rhône valley

The creek down out of the mountains near Vionnaz in the canton of Valais across the Rhône from Aigle, called (like so many other small rivers) L'Avançon, with dredgers frantically trying to keep it clear before disaster intervenes.

The Avançon nearly out of its banks

A little spillway at full capacity

It's 2 May, well into snow-melt season, and it's been raining a lot recently as well.

Out of the Grands Clos woods, with Vionnaz in the background, the Avançon creek joins the system of irrigation canals or ditches spread all across the Rhône floodplain.

This is called, for some reason, the Canal Stockalper.

A few days later, this is the Grande Eau coming down to the Rhône near Aigle.

The backyard

The backhard in springtime, 13 May

The owners of the palm trees next door have recently burned off the fuzz along the trunk, who knows why.

Squirrel welcoming the change of seasons in her own way

Ever vigilant

The Rhône in high water

14 May and the high water continues

The mighty river Rhône, not far from its entry into Lake Geneva, or Lac Léman

The dredging facilities at the mouth of the river at Lake Geneva, apparently already shipping water

Near the mouth of the Rhône, from its eastern or Canton Vaud side, looking towards the Aquaparc in Le Bouveret on the Valais side. A veritable aquaparc, now, indeed.

Through the brush to the lakeside

Back through the sometimes swampy woods called Le Fort . . .

. . . and on through the woods called Les Iles.

The marina at La Praille on the very vestigial Vieux Rhône, or Old Rhône

The Grand Canal back towards Noville, where we left the car

Ollon en fête

Shouts of laughter, unbridled hilarity, coming down the street from the centre of town, so we'll go investigate.

An artisanal fair and street market in the Place Cotterd

In front of the church tower

It's not an impressive crowd of punters yet, but it's fairly early in the day.

Alongside the church

Round the front door of the church

A calming and leisurely event in the life of the town

That's the Hôtel de Ville or town hall

Snapping photos is tiring work, and I'm going back to my book. That's the Rue de l'Industrie running up the hill past our favorite pizza restaurant.

Down the Rue du Carroz to our flat

Late in the day, Kristin's back from Geneva, and the festivities have sprung to life, especially the wine tents.

Everyone's welcome.

It's been a long day in the library.


Feedback and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative, . All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 18 October 2015.


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