Coppet, Nyon, and St Cergue (1/23/1982)

Saturday, January 23, 1982

Awoke at 6:30 and noted the sky had clear patches with stars shining through.

Train day pass

Caught the 7:48 train to Geneva, arriving at about 9:45. Did some shopping before catching the 11:00 local train towards Lausanne, getting off at Coppet 10 minutes later. The château was easily spotted across a field. Walked down a tree-lined avenue to its gates. It was closed for the winter season. The guidebook states it is built in a sober style, but apparently it is quite elegant inside.

Château de Coppet

The main street of Coppet was not very long and had a couple houses with arcades.

Coppet main street with arcades

Arcade arch into courtyard

General view of Coppet

Bought a snack bag of peanut butter-flavored puffs, like cheese puffs, but a different flavor! Caught the next local at 12:05, passing Crans with its mansion-like château sitting on a hill overlooking vineyards, and arriving in Nyon about 12:30. I walked down the pedestrian-only shopping street and saw three skiers standing in the middle of the road. They turned out to be mannequins holding ropes attached to two motorbikes. A moto-ski demonstration was being advertised.
I continued to the castle of Nyon on a hilltop overlooking the lower town.

Château de Nyon entrance

In the courtyard there is a Roman mosaic of Artemis on the wall.

Roman mosaic of Artemis

Castle courtyard

I went out the back of the castle and down the steps to the edge of Lac Léman.

Château de Nyon

I passed Caesar’s Tower with a statue of Attis.

Caesar's Tower

Returned to the castle to walk the ramparts. The walls were topped with hedges and the walk was lined with severely pruned trees.

Ramparts

Nice views of the lake. The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds, but it was still too hazy to see the Alps or Mont Blanc. At the other end of the ramparts were Roman ruins; two and a half columns!

Roman ruins

The arch over the street leading into the city was of Roman architecture.

Roman arch

Château de Nyon

In front of the train station I saw the old red wooden coaches of the Nyon-St Cergue-Morez (NSCM) railroad, which I boarded.

Nyon-St Cergue-Morez train

We left at 13:40. The heater under my seat kept my rear end warm and the draft from the window kept my face cold! As we climbed, we began seeing patches of snow, then we began weaving back and forth. Saw a farmer sweeping his barn roof. The horn of the train sounded like an electrified Alpine horn! Passed through snowy evergreen forests. Arrived about 14:26 in St Cergue at an altitude of 1047 m/3435’.

Nyon-St Cergue-Morez train

Nyon-St Cergue-Morez train 

It was cold and lightly snowing in this ski town. With a car you can go to points to see the Alps and the stands of giant Picea abies/Norway Spruce, called Les Gogants. My other option was to walk to the old castle for a view. After two minutes of climbing the road to the castle, I ran into a snowbank a meter high that blocked my path!

St Cergue village church

Walked back across town and up the other side to an area of ugly refurbished apartment buildings. The parking lots were full of Mercedes Benzes and Alfa Romeos. No Alps in sight and only a hazy view of Lac Léman.
At the station I thought I heard a real Alpine horn, but then a train came around the bend.

Train with a ski rack car

Caught the 15:30 train back to Nyon, arriving about 16:20 to catch the 16:30 to Lausanne. Arrived there at 16:55 in time for the 17:09 train to Biel.

When I got to the Personalhaus/staff residence about 18:45, there was a note from Jan & Kirby inviting me to dinner and dessert. Wow! They served a Japanese meal of Tonkatsu/pork cutlet with rice and Bulldog sauce, and a salad. Coffee ice cream with hot chocolate sauce for dessert and then we played UNO.