Cornettes de Bise

Tanya and Georgie and Pete and I went to France a couple of weekends ago. Driving in Georgie and Pete's little car we skirted Lac Léman and nipped into France via St-Gingolph, stopped almost immediately for French pastries, then moseyed our way to Châtel in the Abondance valley.

Beer with a view. Cornettes de Bise on the right.

Sometimes ordering the mystery dessert is worthwhile!

The next day we walked up the Cornettes de Bise (2432 m), a rocky peak that looks over Lac Léman and sits right on the border between Switzerland and France. It's a destination for rock climbers and you can see why — its huge limestone cliffs are very appealing.

Looking up at Cornettes de Bise.

Much to Tanya's delight there were a few ibex hanging out on the higher slopes. After sweating our way to the top we were rewarded with magnificent views and a cool breeze.

Looking across Lac Léman to Vevey.

Chocards à bec jaune on the summit cross.

Pique-nique français.

We turned our walk into a traverse and went down via the Pas de la Bosse path, which took us across a wonderful limestone ridge and then down between rocky features. The path was very steep and mostly made of gravel, which made for slow and slippery walking.

Cornettes de Bise and boulder.

Having originally been only aiming to walk to a col below the Cornettes, then getting summit-fever and extending our walk in length and difficulty on the fly, we were running low on water by the time we reached the car park. We headed straight for the nearest place that would serve us a cool drink, in the form of Orangina ("et sa pulpe!").

Life-giving Orangina.

That evening, swimming at Lutry, it was great to look across the lake and see a peak that we had stood on that very morning.