With its rich, revitalized past, Yvoire is also known as the "Pearl of Lake Geneva". Built on a rocky spur overlooking the lake, at the junction of the "small" and "large" lakes, Yvoire is an elegant fortified village that has preserved its coveted enclosure from modern construction. This covetousness began in 1306, when Amédée V le Grand undertook to protect this veritable sentinel of Lake Geneva with walls. This strategic position ensured the town a certain prosperity, thanks in particular to its franchises. Although the castle survived the Middle Ages without suffering major damage to its buildings, it was unable to withstand the onslaughts of the Genevese and the French, and was left without a roof for 350 years! Over the following centuries, Yvoire once again became a small fishing and farming village, until the post-war years. It was then that it became clear that the heritage contained within these walls could be of interest to many tourists. And to restore Yvoire to its former glory, the villagers began to put flowers in the village. In 1959, Yvoire was awarded the first national flowering prize. In 2002, Yvoire, a member of the prestigious "Most Beautiful Villages in France" association, was awarded the Trophée International des Paysagistes et Horticulteurs and represented France at the European Flower Competition. Although Yvoire is a picture-postcard lakeside village, where our Swiss friends like to disembark on sunny days, in summer the village is subject to a heavy tourist "invasion", which has to be channeled through the narrow streets. Paid parking, crowded restaurants, quiet crowds, Futé loves nothing more than to visit Yvoire out of season, when you're strolling alone among the old stones, the boats are stowed away in the harbour and the (all too rare) open restaurants welcome you with tales of the history of this charming village...Enter the village through the Porte de Rovorée and take to the streets lined with narrow, flower-filled houses. The first thing that catches your eye is the church's gleaming bulbous steeple. For the record, this steeple is clad in stainless steel, whose shine in the sun is supposed to recall the silver belly of the féra, the emblematic fish of Lake Geneva. Next, we discover the 14th-century château overlooking the lake, where we descend to experience the infinite peace that reigns here (out of season, of course!). A stopover rich in history, not to be missed.

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Le village d'Yvoire Legabatch - Fotolia
Le château d'Yvoire RICHARD MATÉO - FOTOLIA
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