"La Suisse"

    Photo: HRI

This photograph was taken from the Mont Blanc bridge as the steamer La Suisse came around below the Jet d'eau (see photo on the What's New page) to complete her journey from the far end of the lake before starting another one back again.   She and her sisters ply Switzerland's Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) throughout the warmer months, keeping to schedules that allow passengers to plan trips to any of the major towns and cities along the Swiss and French shores.  The following information about "La Suisse" was obtained from the SwissInfo website:

 

For over 100 years, paddle steamers have been plying the Swiss lakes. More than mere modes of transport, they have become part of the country’s heritage. "La Suisse" is the flagship of the General Navigation Company (CGN) of Lake Geneva. The steamer has generous proportions: it is 78 metres long, 15 metres wide and has a capacity of 1,200 passengers.  The steel plates are not very thick at 6mm.  If she were a sea-going vessel, the salt would have totally corroded her hull by now.  Like the other 11 boats ordered by the CGN between 1904 and 1927, “La Suisse” was built in the Sulzer workshops in Winterthur.  The two big paddles give the steamer its characteristic silhouette, as well as its stability and propulsion. Like many of its sister ships (there are 8 on Lake Geneva), “La Suisse” has a flat underside with a small keel and a draught of less than two metres.  “La Suisse” sports a wooden figurehead on her bow and has recovered one of her original lifeboats.  Built in 1895, she proudly holds the title of the oldest steamboat in Switzerland.

 

Source: swissinfo http://www.swissinfo.org/: Marc-André Miserez (translation: Samantha Tonkin; edited and condensed by R. Doggett, HRI)  

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 Last modified: May 25, 2009