The Irresistible Lake

Just walking alongside the calm lake brings me equilibrium.

There's something really special about those aqua and blue tones.
Through the overhanging branches of the weeping willow,
I can see the mountains in neighbouring France.

A family gathered on the jetty to enjoy the closeness to the water.

The steamboats are back again for the season 
and I love to watch them glide across the water.
If you look carefully, you can see that this one is called 'Vevey'
which is the name of another lakeside town not far away.

A swan passes by with puffed up wings. I have a feeling that
he's using them like sails to move along a little faster.

The cloud formations clung to the mountain tops, as they often do.
The mountain to the left of the little sail boat is called La Dent d'Oche
and is in France.

We stopped for a coffee at the Hôtel du Port (with the pink shutters)
with a great view on the lake.

This lovely tree, called Albizia julibrissen was in full bloom with these
colourful powder-puff like flowers!

This statue represents The Flight of Icarus.
Greek Mythology tells us the story of Icarus, son of master craftsman Daedalus.
Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus
had constructed from feathers and wax.
Despite his father's warnings, Icarus flew too close to the sun
and his wings melted and he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea.

Maybe you've heard of the idiom: "Don't fly too close to the sun."

I chose this lovely scene for my blog header for the month of July and August.
All the photos above were taken in Ouchy which is a port south of  the centre of Lausanne.

Now we're in the lakeside town of Vevey where I came to live when I first came
to the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
The statue represents a nymphe riding a seahorse on the water's edge.

There are two of them in the lake.

Another lovely boat on its way to Geneva.
This one is called La Suisse and is extremely elegant with a first class restaurant inside.

This is a view towards the Valais 

A closer view of the chain of mountains called Les Dents du Midi.
There are seven summits to this three-kilometre long mountain range.
the highest being Haute Cime which reaches 3.257 metres.
The range dominates the Illiez and Rhone Valleys in the canton of Valais, Switzerland.

The lake walkway in Vevey where beautiful flowers are always planted.

Now we're in the lakeside town of Morges, only twelve minutes away by train from Lausanne
The port is so pretty.

I love the hanging baskets of geraniums on one of the jetties.

This is the same jetty showing the imposing white building in the background.
This is the Casino Restaurant which has a beautiful outside terrace
 under the trees for welcome shade.

The tiny sailing boats were part of a sailing school and a motorized red dinghy
was there to give useful advice to all the youngsters learning new skills.

The flowers along the lake are always beautiful, like these Petunia blooms.

The Dahlias are stunning too.

I've never seen this kind before with amazing centres.

Their colour combinations quite take my breath away!

We all need colour and beauty in our lives right now as we do the best to live our lives
in complete safety, but still enjoy the loveliness of all that nature offers us.

Take care and be safe!

Note:
If you click on each photo, you will be able to see them in a much bigger size and you will feel part of the scene!