Gateway to the Vineyards


In September it was decided to have a mini stay in the vineyards.
The weather forecast was excellent and it was easy to take a couple of short train rides
to return to the lakeside village of Chexbres in the canton of Vaud.

Two nights in the vineyards was sheer bliss.
The daily walks along small paths with no traffic was ideal.
The views over the lake and mountains were a constant joy.
The village below is called Rivaz.

The temperatures were still very warm and sunhats and bottles of water
were always with us.

This is the Hotel Prealpina where we stayed.
It's perched high above the vineyards and has wonderful views over the lake and mountains,
but it was quite a trek to get up there on foot from the village below.
It took us about thirty minutes pulling our suitcases uphill from the train station!

This was the sideview of the surrounding mountains.
From left to right, these are called La Dent de Jaman and Les Rochers de Naye.

These were the colours of the same mountain range very early in the morning before sunrise.

This is a wider view of the faraway mountains leading to the Valais
and the end of the lake.
I took this from my hotel room just as the sun was hitting the tips of the mountains
at 7:33 a.m.

Here comes the sun from behind the hill in the foreground

After breakfast, we walked down to the small Chexbres Tourist Office near the station.
I love the flower decorated window.

A beautiful hanging basket hanging from the roof covering the village fountain.

We walked down through the village to the vineyards below to start our first walk of the day

I rather liked this palm tree jutting out above the view on the lake 
looking towards the town of Geneva at the other end.

It sometimes seems that the vineyards lead right to the edge of the lake,
but below these vines are many others
and they go down in layers right down to the lake's edge.

Way below the vineyards, I zoomed in on a passing steamboat full of happy, waving passengers!
This is my favourite boat of the fleet called La Suisse.
A few weeks later, we were able to take a sunset cruise on this boat.

I liked the winding trail left in the water where the steamboat had passed by

We decided that it time for lunch and knew a restaurant that we'd been to in the past,
but first of all, we stopped off at a terrace, called the Deck, for a sparkling water
overlooking the fabulous view.
This is the terrace of a hotel where it would be nice to stay another time!

Here is the hotel called Le Baron Tavernier.

A pretty archway, with climbing roses, leads us to an sheltered area with a bench to sit
and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the view.


Up through the village again, past this lovely chalet and to enjoy
our books from the peace of our hotel surroundings before having dinner.

The sunset created pink hues on the mountain tips and in the sky.

This view is from the hotel restaurant.
Most of the light has gone now, but the surface of the lake and the mountain tips
look so lovely at the end of the day.

This is the last scene of our first day in the vineyards.



17 comments

  1. Looks like a beautiful place to stay. Thanks for sharing photos of your trip.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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    1. It really is very beautiful there and not far away from where I live at all.

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  2. Oh a beautiful stay among the wineyards. A fantastic hiking area. Can surely understand you enjoyed your stay. Beautiful images goes with the hiking👍

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    1. Thank you, Lasse. It was indeed very beautiful up there. A lovely place to walk and relax and enjoy the beautiful views!

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  3. Oh, what stunning photos, Sandra! I can feel myself relaxing just looking at them :) It must have felt wonderful to get away in such a gorgeous area!

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    1. Thank you, Carol. It was wonderful to get away for a couple of days to such a beautiful area and stunning views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was so necessary this year after three months of total confinement in the splring because of the pandemic.

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  4. You always seems to find the most peaceful view to photograph. Looking at your photos is traveling for me as I don't like to travel at all, not even when I can.

    The mountain view with the sunrise and sunset are lovely. I like how nature seems to blend in with the everyday things like the archway with the climbing roses.

    Have a lovely day.

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    1. Thank you, lissa. I'm glad that you were able to travel to this beautiful area through these photographs! I wanted to capture all these wondrous views as I enjoyed being there so much and I can revisit the area as much as I like by looking through this blog entry. I didn't put up all my photographs as there were far too many, but I will be doing another blog entry before the end of October!

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  5. Lovely scenery! It appears to be a great place for flowers as well as grapes. Did you visit any wineries while you were there?

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    1. Thank you, Sandy. It is a very beautiful area and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is protected.
      No, we didn't go to any wineries during our stay. We did however drink the excellent local wine with our meals!

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  6. Such a beautiful place to go, explore and enjoy.
    Thirty min. walk up hill with your suitcase, that is a bit of a workout.
    So nice that you got away.
    This area is similar to here.
    Lovely Sunday to you!

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    1. Thank you, Tammie. I love going to this area at all times of the year when the landscape changes with the seasons. Yes, it was lovely to get away, especially as now the situation has very much changed for the worse with the pandemic. We shall all be staying very close to home. I did lots of mini outings during the summer and early autumn.

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    2. I am so glad you were able to do outings. Covid is going through so many of my friends recently and our community. For the most part it is not near as bad as last winters flu. Many of them loose most symptoms by the 3-4th day, then feel tired with a lingering cough. But it has me being more careful again.

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  7. A wonderful outing! This area is breathtaking and of course, your photos showcase all it's beauty! You know I love the water and mountains, but this time I was taken with all the beautiful flowers in pots and windowboxes and hanging baskets! They are gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. We spent two days there to enjoy the beauty of the area. Now it is no longer wise to travel with the Covid cases increasing so much again. The Swiss houses are often beautifully decorated with window-boxes and hanging baskets!

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  8. Sandra, it was a pure pleasure to tag along with you on this wonderful adventure. I was very surprised to see a palm tree is Switzerland. My thoughts about your country are always of snowy peaks, beautiful gardens and cool or cold weather.
    Thank you for a lovely tour . . . oh, I would be traveling very light if I had to carry my suitcase up hill for a 30 minute trek. LOL

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    1. I'm so glad you decided to join me in this lovely short stay in the vineyards, Connie!
      Oh yes, there are palm trees on the sunny slopes of the vineyards and further along the lake and also in the south of Switzerland in a canton (county) called the Tessin which runs alongside Italy and where Italian is spoken! We get quite hot summers (even too hot for me sometimes with humidity)!

      The distance from the country station up to the hotel was a bit of a surprise as I'd been told '5 minutes' over the phone!! Luckily, we had small cases on wheels, but also backpacks and I had my fairly heavy camera bag too!

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