Royal Resort, Hotel Ermitage
Royal Resort, Hotel Ermitage
Royal Resort, Hotel Ermitage
Royal Resort, Hotel Royal
Royal Resort, Hotel Royal
Royal Resort, Hotel Royal
Royal Resort, Grounds
Royal Resort, Grounds
Evian water on tap!
The Cachat Spring
Halfway down Rue National this chef d'oeuvre of Art Nouveau houses the Evian Mineral Water Information Center.
Cachat Spring (detail)
Villa Lumiere (1885-1896), Exterior
The former summer residence of the Lumiere family (the inventor of cinema), this sumptuous villa, built in the Renaissance inspired French Classical style, became the Evian town hall in 1927.
Salon Dore ("Golden Lounge"), Villa Lumiere
Salon Dore, Villa Lumiere
Bronze Sculpture, Pascal Devaux, Villa Lumiere
Best yogurt ever!
This past week I took off to Evian to visit Laura and Micheal, family on my mom's side, who have been living in Europe for the last 25 years. I touched down in Geneva late monday afternoon and was greated at the airport by my wonderful hosts.
We decided to take the scenic route home which included a short tour past the Jet d'Eau, National Mall and the UN, Red Cross and other diplomatic/embassy buildings.
Once we arrived at Laura and Micheal's beautiful house in Evian overlooking Lake Geneva we didn't have much time to settle in before their friends Peter and Beatrix (very cool and interesting couple who have done some amazing things and A LOT of travelling) came over to join us for dinner.
And what a dinner it was, the evening began with apertifs and a Cremant d' Alsace (probably the best thing i've ever tasted – its a sparkling wine from the Alsace region of France made the same way as Champagne). After polishing off two bottles of Cremant it was onto a big bold red from Bordeaux and dinner! Which consisted of couscous infused with cilantro, grilled seasonal vegetables and the most amazing herbed chicken. Dessert was made up of an amazing cheese plate, stacked with 5 local cheeses, all of which I had never heard of before and all of which were absolutely delicious! We topped the evening off with a hit of espresso and then it was time to hit the hay.
We got off to a bit of a slow start the next morning, but managed to get out the door by 11:00am for a walk-about through Evian.
For those of you not familiar, Evian is a beautiful village located in the nothern part of the Haut-Savoie region of France and lies on the shores of beautiful Lake Geneva (opposite Switzerland). It is the birthplace and home to the famous Evian natural mineral water which has become known throughout the world. The town also hosted the G8 Summit in June 2003 at the absolutely exquisite Royal Resort – five star accomodation consisting of two hotels, The Hotel Royal and The Hotel Ermitage. Both are equipped with helicopter landing pads to accomodate the millionairs who fly in for dinner and weekend visits.
Evian has opulent public buildings, beautiful prommenades and is also a Ville Fleurie. Each year there is a big competition amongst the towns of France to determine who has the best gardens. Evian has won that distinction several times and its obvious to see why as the whole town is amassed with gorgeous green gardens, colourful flowers, and themed displays.
We stopped at the local market (every tuesday and friday) at the end of our excursion to load up on goodies for dinner, and some of the most amazing locally made natural yougurt I've ever had! A great morning!
