April 14, 2017 -- We don't often travel to the Southwest part of Switzerland (area around Lake Geneva) because it takes too long for a day trip, but since this was our only trip of the week and this Good Friday was the last day with super weather especially down in this corner, we ventured out for a trip through the vineyards and canola fields at the foot of the Jura mountains.
There is a special narrow-gauge train called the BAM (Bière-Apples-Morges) that services this area, and I was tickled at the names (Apples and Beer, how fun) so that was the choice for the day. The line ends at the town of Bière where the source of the river Aubonne is, which we followed through forests to the Aubonne Arboretum, a 200-hectare National Park where about 4000 different varieties of trees and bushes from all over the world (temperate zones) thrive. These trees have been collected here for scientific research and species protection, including apparently very old and rare sorts of apple trees that are no longer grown elsewhere.
From the Arboretum we walked to Yens, also on the BAM line, with nice views of Lake Geneva and the French Alps. This "first part" of our hike took three hours (13 km) but we weren't finished; we wanted a closer look at the massive Vufflens Castle (privately held and unfortunately not open to the public.) along the line, so we took another 6-minute train ride from Yens, and then walked another hour (4 km) along the Morges River down to Morges on Lake Geneva.
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| The first views of Lake Geneva and the vineyards as the train comes out of the tunnel from the North. |
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| Heading to Bière on the BAM train, we pass the mighty Vufflens Castle (seen from train) |
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| Apples and Bière, love the names! And "Froideville" means "Cold City" |
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| This is in Bière at the foot of the Jura Mountains |
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| First stop is at a WC... there are websites where you can search for public toilets! I'm downloading the App.. |
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| Two hikes, total 17 km in 4 1/2 hours. |
First we took the BAM train from Morges to Bière via Vufflens-le-Chateau, Yens, and Apples, then walked along the Aubonne Valley through the 200-hectare Arboretum, then to Yens, from where we caught the BAM train again for a 6-minute ride to Vufflens, and walked another hour along the Morges River.
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| Walking along the Aubonne River |
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| In the Aubonne Valley Arboretum |
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| In the Aubonne Valley Arboretum |
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| Lunch Time in the Arboretum |
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| About 4000 species of trees and bushes in the Arboretum |
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| From the Arboretum, we walked through the vineyards above Lake Geneva |
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| Architecture in French Switzerland differs yet again from other parts of the country. |
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| Architecture in French Switzerland differs yet again from other parts of the country. |
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| Canola fields above Lake Geneva |
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| Canola fields above Lake Geneva (heading to Yens) |
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| Canola fields above Lake Geneva |
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| Canola fields above Lake Geneva |
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| Canola fields above Lake Geneva |
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| Japanese Cherry Tree? |
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| From Yens we took the train to see the Vufflens Castle, and walk from here to Morges. |
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| Vufflens Chateau is privately held, so one cannot view the inside. |
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| Behind the castle is a lovely 4-km trail along the Morges River to the train station in Morges. |
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| I'm surprised to see the forest floor still covered in Bear Garlic, but it is starting to flower now. |
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| On the way home on the train we pass the castle in Neuchatel. |
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| On the way home on the train we pass the castle in Neuchatel on Lake Neuchatel |
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