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.
Another walk through the Swiss Wetland of International Importance
Setting out from the town of Villeneuve on Lake Geneva, 26 February 2016, once into the protected wetland the first landmark is a bird observation hide.
A path along the spongy woodland path
Drainage ditches out to the lake. The floodplain of the Rhône river at Lake Geneva was only deswampified in the 18th and 19th centuries and depends upon a vast network of canals and ditches to stay above water.
The wetlands around the eastern end of Lake Geneva extend from Villeneuve 3 or 4 km across to the mouth of the Rhône to the south.
A handful of old farms still remain within the reserve.
Our path takes us through the middle of a commercial campground.
Les Grangettes reserve, though not large, is easily the largest of Switzerland's eleven Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
The shoreline, looking northeastward towards the Swiss A9 motorway and its Viaduc de Chillon, 2km long and 100m above the lake level, and the Château de Chillon just offshore on the left.
The Grangettes shoreline
A rough winter
Information panel, birds to watch for (probably fewer in February)
"No wetlands, no water!"
The Grand Canal, which extends out about 300m into the lake (for sedimentary reasons, presumably); the swans are sticking it out for the winter, and a few ducks
The Castle of Chillon zoomed, and the A9 autoroute on the viaduct above
Downtown Montreux
One swan, two ducks in the Grand Canal
The Grand Canal a ways inland
Information on traditional pasturage methods
A horse farm, or ranch, and riding school
A fine old house on a little lake amid the horse paddocks
Dwight Peck's personal website
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 12 April 2016. 
