Along the Watercourse of the Versoix River on the French Border

(DAY3 of 3-day trip to Geneva Region...   photos of DAY1 and DAY2)

Saturday August 2, 2025 -- On this, the third day of our three-day trip to the westernmost part of the Lake Geneva (or better, Lac Léman) region, we were now headed home. (The main reason for this trip was to avoid the loud noises of private fireworks in our neighbourhood on August 1st). But as we were in the region anyway, and it would make the long ride home seem shorter, we did one more excursion near the lake. It was another riverside walk along the French/Swiss border, also mostly through forests, with pleasant weather, more sunshine than forecast, but not too hot.

We rode the train to Versoix north of Geneva, and took a bus to another border crossing called Sauverny. A quick foray into France and then back again to walk along the course of the Versoix River, ending back in the town of Versoix. (I chose this trail on our map because it is part of National Trail no.3: "Alpine Panorama Trail", of which we have done most sections in Northeast Switzerland, but very few here in the region of Lac Léman. But also, because it was supposed to be an overcast day, a walk through the forest along a river sounded good). It was only as we got there that we realized there is a themed trail called  "Au fil de la Versoix" ("Along the Watercourse of the Versoix River", which is basically what we ended up doing!). Furthermore, Versoix is a stop on the main railway line on the way home, so we didn't waste time with extra connections. After getting to the train station at 1:30 p.m., it was still a four-hour trip home, but we were home before 6 p.m.!

At 7:30 a.m. the final look out of our studio apartment which we rented for two nights, onto a pedestrian court in Annemasse in France. Before heading to the train station, we bought lemon muffins at the bakery on the bottom left of the photo.

A lovely painted mural on the side of an apartment building at the Annemasse train station. It's 8:12 right now, and we were planning to take the 8:35 train out of Annemasse. We ended up catching an earlier train, but had to wait about 20 minutes in Versoix for our bus connection to the French border at Sauverny. 

As we waited for 20 minutes in Versoix for our connecting bus to Sauverny, we realized that this town was right under the flight path of the Geneva airport! There must have been a plane flying overhead every three minutes! They were from all different airlines, and even two Easyjet flights in the time we waited here!

At 9:30 we got off the bus at the border station of Sauverny Douane. The Versoix River flows along the Swiss/French border here, but before starting on our walk (headed to the left along the river), we took a quick detour into France to have a look at that church there. The town of Sauverny is first mentioned in documents of 1164. 

This is the parish church of St.Maurice, built in 1848 at the site of a previous church. 

Inside of the St.Maurice church in Sauverny, France

Inside of the St.Maurice church in Sauverny, France

St.Maurice church in France, just near the border in Sauverny. 

Heading back to the Swiss border now to start our walk along the Versoix River. That building is the former customs buiding. Switzerland is just on the other side of that bridge!

An old photo of the customs building and the Sauverny church, taken from the Swiss side of the Versoix River. 

This was another 11-km walk, mostly along the Versoix River, from Sauverny at the border to the town of Versoix. An easy walk of just under three hours, part of it right along the border, on the Swiss side. 

Description of the themed trail "Au fil de la Versoix". We didn't exactly follow the suggested trail, but rather took a narrower trail right along the waterway. 

Following the Versoix river along the border with France. 

One small clearing before heading down to the riverside again. 

Always fun to cross these little bridges. 

The trail followed the course of the river for three kilometers, two of which were along the French border.

It was a very nice trail, and with more sunshine than we had expected. 

Interesting sections along the river. 

Thick, lush forest as we follow the Versoix River. 

We found a good place to sit near the river to have our sandwiches at 11 a.m. (On my map, this was near a side stream coming in from the French side, called "La Fontaine-de-Pissevache" !!!)

This trail is part of both National Trail no.3 "Alpine Panorama Trail" and Local Trail no.104: "Au fil de la Versoix". 

A short section through pastures on the way to the small hamlet of La Bâtie.

After La Bâtie was another long section along the river through a forest called "Bois des Vies", until we passed under the Autobahn (I am always impressed at these massive bridges). 

After crossing under the freeway bridge, we left the themed trail to continue following along the actual course of the river, instead of the side canal. There was large park here, where we stopped again for a snack at 12:15

A stretch through a residential area before returning to the river. 

Instead of going directly to the train station, we headed into the heart of Versoix-Bourg at lakeside. We took a shortcut through the garden terrace at the "Auberge du Lion d'Or". 

Looking up the main street in Versoix-Bourg

It was nicer to walk along the lakeshore! There were signs everywhere that there had been celebrations the day before. (Empty fire-cracker shells).

A look eastward across Lake Geneva. The strip of land is still in Switzerland, although the mountains behind that are in France. 

We were happy that the day turned out better than expected. 

More airplanes flying overhead on the flight path to the Geneva Airport. 

(The steamboat which we had traveled on two days earlier from St-Prex also stops here in Versoix, but we had gotten out one stop earlier in Coppet). 

Now back at the main road and heading back to the train station, we pass the "castle" in Versoix. In all, there wasn't really anything spectacular to see here. 

There was a pretty nice lakeside restaurant patio here, but we didn't want to stop for refreshments, as we were pretty well done for the day and wanted to head home. But I whipped in here to see the view of the lake for one last time. 

This was the view north along the lakeshore from the restaurant's patio. (There is another part of the city called Versoix-la-Ville, and this is the harbour there). 

Filling up our water bottles before heading up to the train station. We caught a fast train at 13:42 back to Geneva, and from there another fast train to Renens and Zurich, for a total trip home of four hours (the fastest connection). 

We got back to the Versoix train station about 15 minutes early for our train, so we could watch the planes fly overhead every three minutes or so... as the Geneva airport is very close to here. 

VIDEO:

As we had to wait 15 minutes at the train station, we were able to watch at least four airplanes fly overhead toward the Geneva Airport. They came about every three minutes, and fly fairly low at this point!

What our 11-km walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. Most of the walk was along the Versoix river. The map shows the proximity of the Geneva Airport to Versoix, where an airplane flies overhead about every three minutes!

As the train heads along the north side of Lac Léman, we pass many vineyards, which is what the area is mainly about. At Renens near Lausanne, you switch to a fast train to Zurich. 

Location of the Versoix River within Switzerland.