In the fall of 2020, I went on a hike to Montagne des Princes, starting from Frangy and arriving in Seyssel.

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A few weeks ago, the Vidange du Rhône (or Chasses du Rhône, meaning Flushing of the Rhône) took place between Barrage de Génissiat (Genissiat Dam) in France and Barrage de Verbois (Verbois Dam) in Geneva. Both the CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône), which manage the dams on the French side, and the SIG (Services Industriels de Genève) cooperate on this operation: It is performed every few years in order to purge sediments brought into the Rhône river by the Arve, which accumulate and increase the risk of floods.

For a few days, the dams in the area are opened and their reservoirs emptied, in order to increase the discharge rate with the goal of flushing the sediments from the river bed. The river then turns gray, just like the Arve. Another side effect is that the level of the Rhône is lowered, almost as low as before dams were built along the river so it becomes quite the view. One other, less happy, consequence is that it is a bit of a fish apocalypse, with many of them dying because of the increase in solids suspended in the water.

I went to see this phenomenon in the area around Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, first in Éloise near Pont de Grésin, as part of a hike. Then a few days later, I visited Bellegarde itself just for this purpose and walked along the Rhône. Because of the the Corona restrictions on border crossings, unfortunately, I couldn’t visit the area upstream of the Verbois Dam in Geneva.

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As my last outing of 2019, I went on a hike to Barrage de Génissiat, a large dam on the Rhône, then followed the river north to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine.

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In the fall of 2019, I went on a hike near Bellegarde-sur-Valserine: I walked the Voie du Tram until Pont des Pierres and took a trail along the Valserine river on the way back.

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The Église Saint-Michel (aka Abbatiale Saint-Michel) is a church in Nantua which got its start as a monastery during medieval times and was improved over the centuries. Some of the older elements remain but most of the church dates back from the early 19th century.

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Last spring, I went on a hike in Nantua, a small town in Ain located between Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and Bourg-en-Bresse: I walked a loop around the lake (Lac de Nantua), first going along the cliff above it, then coming back following the shore.

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While waiting for a bus to Nantua, I stopped at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, a city west of Geneva, for about an hour in early morning. I walked around, visited a park along the Rhône then went back to the train station.

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Fort l’Écluse is a fortress near Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. It guards the Rhône valley between the Vuache hills and the Jura Mountains and is a natural entrance into France from Geneva. The fort was founded by the Duchy of Savoy in the 13th century and, after it was ceded to France along with the Pays de Gex during the reign of Louis XIV, completed by Vauban. It was destroyed by the Austrians in 1815, but was rebuilt by the French and considerably strengthened and heightened. The fort is open to visitors during summer.

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Earlier this summer, I went on a hike in the Bellegarde-sur-Valserine area: I visited the Pertes de la Valserine, Fort l’Écluse, Rocher de Léaz and Pont de Grésin.

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