https://www.facebook.com/105783155100812/

Melvyn's Switzerland and France Photography

Home
United Kingdom
Drybrook
Melvyn's Switzerland and France Photography

These posts will showcase Switzerland through my camera lens over 57 years of extensive travelling

First going to Switzerland in 1964 I then went there over 70 times across 57 years. The earlier non-digital photos were taken in the 1970's/1980's, and scanned in from poorly stored colour transparencies. Photos from the 1990's/2000's have been lost, but the remainder are all digital. For France I started to explore initially in 2010 and been many times since, covering most regions. By adding France to an already large page following I hope to provide further travel inspiration.

28/02/2024

I am selling a selection of Swiss Railway books if anyone is interested. PM me for cost and details if required.

17/02/2024

My latest book is a trip down memory lane sharing my experiences however amazing, bizarre or downright scary they were during that period in the UK. This era wasn’t politically correct, health and safety conscious or dealing well with diversification, but we survived and loved what we did. Scouting is and always will be an organisation that bonds individuals and gives them skills which will stay with them for life.
With 120 glossy A4 pages and containing over 200 photos and illustrations this will bring back to life a time when the sun always shone, play was safe, cuts, bruises and broken bones were commonplace, shorts were only worn by boys and not postmen, we carried knives in public and being part of a team was the best thing out of school. Features expeditions and trips abroad that I took part in and quotes and stories from friends and others at that time alongside my own recollections. Photos and stories from Brittany, Morocco, Corsica and Switzerland are featured within it.
‘Dehydrated Chicken Supreme and other great Scouting adventures’ is only available direct from me. I only have a small number available prior to a re-print so either email: [email protected] or PM me for cost and more details.

03/12/2023

"The story of 120 bars of gold found four years ago has finally been resolved".
In October 2019 3.7kms of gold, worth around CHF 200,000, were found on a train from St.Gallen to Luzern. Despite a thorough investigation it had not been possible to confirm who owned the gold or that they were the proceeds of crime. The ingots were in a white package bearing the words "IKRK Wertsendung" (ICRC valuable consignment). The Luzern Public Prosecutor's Office assumes that the unidentified owner intended the gold for the ICRC.
"As the gold was in a parcel addressed to the ICRC, we can assume that the unknown owner wanted to give the gold to this organisation. The gold will therefore be handed over to the ICRC".
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that it had been reassured about the origin of the gold following an in-depth investigation, and was therefore able to accept the gift.
(Press release from the Luzern Public Prosecutor's Office and featured in the magazine of the Swiss Railway Society)

28/09/2023

In France, shopping for dinner in the open air by vendor and not by supermarket aisle, is simply the norm. The marché (market), as a source of fresh fruit and vegetables, is an integral part of France's famed tradition of good eating, and is one of those French traditions that never died.

Most towns and large villages have a market at least once a week, or even every day. Typical French markets are a mix between the farmers' market and a traders' market, with stalls offering local produce straight from the farm standing alongside fruit and vegetable stalls, cheese stalls and other stalls offering a full range of produce. Other stalls are likely to include butchers, bakers, and delicatessens offering specialities from within the region too.

This was the market at Fouesnant, Brittany this September. A very hot day indeed and very humid. We queued at the cheese counter for nearly 20 minutes before buying - the Brie was almost liquid in the heat but spread onto a freshly baked baguette an hour later it was absolute heaven!

01/09/2023

Back in late 2021 I published my book, "SWITZERLAND. The Scenery, The People, The Trains - The Whole Experience! A very personal journey over 57 years". This was 126 pages and 320 photos, mostly mine, charting my high number of visits to this beautiful country - as told through the Facebook group - Switzerland Pictures Community.
The last copy has now sold but it is still available as a digital Word document which I can send via WeTransfer. Here are a few extracts. A copy is available from me costing £4.95. Message or email for more information : [email protected]

02/08/2023

On our last evening in Sursee we arranged to have a meal in the old town with my Swiss friend Daniela Kneubühler. Imagine our surprise when we saw there was going to be a free mini-circus right opposite the restaurant where we were eating in the old town, and just below our apartment!

26/07/2023

Ascona (TI) is Switzerland's lowest lying town. It is located at 196m above sea level on the northern shore of Lago Maggiore, also called Lake Langen. Ascona is famous for its mild climate, its Old Town and a lake promenade which is dotted with street cafés and boasts a Latin ambience. Typical colourfully painted houses turn the former fishing village into a very particular place that invites you to relax, stroll or enjoy a magnificent sunset over the lake. This is the area around the Piazza Giuseppe Motta. A very hot and extremely humid day, 21/06/2023.

23/07/2023

Sursee is a small "old" town about 14 miles from the city of Luzern. For our holiday in June we stayed there for a change and found it quieter and less expensive. Plenty to do - bars, restaurants (our apartment was above a Mexican one), bus stop outside, bakery and supermarket all easy walking. The train station only just over 1/2 mile away. Here are a few shots of the old town (Altstadt).

15/07/2023

Although the greatest extent of our travels around and on Swiss lakes this June centred around Lake Luzern, we did take in 4 others. Lake Maggiore in Ticino, Sempachersee in Luzern, Zugersee which is surrounded by the cantons of Zug (ZG), Luzern (LU) and Schwyz (SZ) and Lac Léman (GE).
Lake Maggiore is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided between the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy and the Swiss canton of Ticino. Located halfway between Lake Orta and Lake Lugano, Lake Maggiore extends for about 64kms (40 miles) between Locarno and Arona. Here we took a ferry from Locarno to Ascona stopping at the lakeside village of San Nazzaro which is in the Ticino municipality of Gambarogno.
The Sempachersee has an area of 14.5 sq/km and is 87m deep at its deepest point. Its length is 7.5km. In contrast to most Swiss lakes, large parts of the lake shore are not open to the public, but blocked off by fenced off private property. The bathing ban for the entire Sempach waterfront dates back to the 1960s. However we were taken to a beautiful open bathing area just outside Nottwil which is used by 100's every day in summer. The Swiss Air Force used to use the lake as a shooting range, where they practiced dropping bombs and using on-board cannons.
The Zugersee is bordered by 3 cantons. Zug in the North, Schwyz in the south and a very small section of Luzern in the west near Chiemen, with a share of 2.42 sq/km of the lake. Zugersee is the 10th largest lake in Switzerland with an area of 39 sq/km. At the very southernmost end is the village of Arth, and 2.6kms to the south east of the village is the railway station at Goldau. Named Arth-Goldau, it is an important junction of the Swiss Federal Railways. The Voralpen Express train connects here to Luzern and St. Gallen. Meanwhile, trains to Bellinzona, Lugano and Italy, as well as trains to Zug and Zürich join here with trains heading toward Basel.
Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) is the largest body of water in Switzerland, and greatly exceeds in size all others that are connected with the main valleys of the Alps. It is a crescent-shaped lake shared between France and Switzerland, and overlooked by the Alps and is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the river Rhône. Sixty per cent (345 sq/km or 133 sq/mi) of the lake belongs to Switzerland (the cantons of Vaud (VD), Geneva (GE) and Valais (VS) and forty per cent (234 sq/km or 90 sq/mi) to France (the department of Haute-Savoie). Geneva at its southern tip is a diplomatic hub with luxury shops and a cobbled old town. On the southern, French side, is the spa town and resort of Évian-les-Bains. The chic, palm-studded Swiss Riviera stretches along the north shore from Lausanne to Montreux.
Here are some photos from each taken on June 20th, 22nd, 23rd and 25th this year. Locations in each.

13/07/2023

Lake Luzern also known as the "Vierwaldstättersee", which translates as the Lake of the Four Forest Cantons, is sometimes cooler on a hot and humid day. This was June 22nd 2023.
The four forest cantons (district or a section or part of a country if you like) were Unterwalden (NW/OW), Schwyz (SZ), Uri (UR) and Luzern (LU) and they surround the whole lake which is 30kms long with a shore length of 144kms, and the 4th largest lake in Switzerland.
Now for a bit of history and background. Around the beginning of August 1291 the 3 cantons of Unterwalden, Schhwyz and Uri signed a pact pledging to help each other resist any threat of violence or injustice. In essence this was the start of the formation of the Confoederatio Helvetica, or CH as the national registration mark shows. From that time other districts joined the federation and led to Switzerland becoming the united country that it now is, with an overall count of 26 cantons. Interestingly the division of Unterwalden into two separate territories, in the early period is less than clear. The split formed two half-cantons of Nidwalden and Obwalden (NW/OW) Their status as two independent Talschaften (which is the body of voting population in a certain valley) appears to develop over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, while they retain a single vote in the Confederacy.

12/07/2023

Locarno (TI), Switzerland is an Italian-speaking city on Lake Maggiore at the base of the Alps. It's known for its sunny climate. Founded in the 12th century, the old town's Castello Visconteo houses the Museo Civico, which showcases Roman antiquities. The 15th-century Santuario della Madonna del Sasso, an art-filled pilgrimage site overlooking the city, can be reached by funicular railway. The Piazza Grande is an enormous Renaissance square in the centre of the city. Used as a market, International Film Festival and Jazz Festival venue it can can accommodate up to 8,000 viewers every night, the Piazza is both the Festival’s heart and its showcase.
The trip back to Luzern was via the new Gotthard Base Tunnel which opened in December 2016, the train was boarded in Bellinzona which is the capital city of southern Switzerland’s Ticino canton (TI). It’s known for its 3 medieval castles, including the hilltop Castelgrande and Sasso Corbaro. Both have views of the city, the surrounding Alps and Montebello, the 3rd castle. The Museo Villa dei Cedri features regional art from the 19th century to the present. Original elements in the restored Palazzo Civico include a 16th-century fresco.

08/07/2023

The Stanserhorn above the village of Stans (NW), Switzerland stands at 1,898 metres. To reach the top, and its relatively new revolving restaurant which opened in 2001, you first go by an old style wooden funicular built in 1893 and then complete the journey by the ultra-modern "CabriO" cable car. The CabriO entered service in 2012 and is a double-decker, open-air cable car – the first one in the world. As the world’s first cable car with a roofless upper deck, the CabriO is an incredible piece of new engineering. It moves on two side-mounted support cables, so you’ll enjoy the extraordinary views without any cables overhead. It can carry 60 passengers at a time and if you wander up the elegant staircase, you’ll find the open-air top deck with room for 30 people.

Every Thursday evening they have a dining experience (DONNERSTAGABEND) in the revolving restaurant, I booked it for my family and we went on 22/06/23. This centre section revolves 360 degrees in 43 minutes. A large group were on the revolving platform so we were placed next to it, but the views when he cloud cleared were still stunning.

Address

Drybrook
Drybrook

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Melvyn's Switzerland and France Photography posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Photography Service in Drybrook?