A Tale from my Thollon Balcony
Let me tell you the tale of my Thollon balcony, in a small Alpine village overlooking Lake Geneva in eastern France. I fell in love with the balcony as soon as I stepped out of the door.
Here, clinging to the foothills of the Alps, in the Haute Savoie region of France, which I also wrote about in a piece for The Good Life France, my little balcony had sweeping views of Lake Geneva.
But behind me lay the best balcony of all… the ‘Balcon des Memises’. A range of mountains that dominate the little French spa town of Evian les Bains.
Below the Memises, sits Lake Geneva. From here, it stretches from Montreux and the Swiss mountains in the east to the distant Jura and city of Geneva in the west.
This breath-taking view has inspired travellers, writers and artists for centuries.
Of course, there are so many stories to tell you about the whole region around Lake Geneva, or Lac Léman as it’s also known, but all the best stories start at home…
Home is where the heart is in Thollon
Here, my own balcony nestled beneath the eaves of a chalet-like building in a little French village that sits not far from Evian les Bains.
On hot summer nights, meanwhile, the balcony is sheltered from the wind and the wild storms that rattle the windows. Thunder rolls across the lake and lightning illuminates the mountain peaks for miles.
At times, we shared the balcony with a small family of bats. On warm, balmy evenings they darted from the eaves across the balcony rail. They rode out into the clear night sky and danced through the pine trees silhouetted on the hillsides.
In the daytime, we drank coffee with friends on the balcony. We watched the buzzards as they cruised the thermals way above our heads. We counted the small white boats that crisscrossed the lake for business and pleasure.
A winter wonderland in Thollon
In the winter, however, the balcony protected us from the horizontal snow. We lit candles in the evening and drank hot mulled wine that warmed our hands and steamed up Dan’s glasses.
The lights of Lausanne shimmered on the opposite side of the lake, like strings of Xmas lights hung up by a drunken uncle.
But by spring, everything changed – the snow melted, the water ran through the village, and a quieter rhythm returned.
It became the backdrop to everyday life in this quietly beautiful, lesser known corner of France.
In truth, there is so much to enjoy and to discover here between the shores of Lake Geneva and the pre-Alps of the Chablais. I hope you’ll join me as I write about living in France, on the beautiful Balcon des Memises.
