A sleeping castle with an interesting historical link and a safely moored ship

I had the opportunity to find some time free last week, which inevitably meant I got out with my gear to capture more images of the beauty around this region.

The first image is one I have been planning for some time - to capture the sun as it rises over the Aubonne castle. The castle was built in 1680 for Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, an early visionary of the opportunity in Indian Trade. Interesting historical tidbit (Thanks to Wikipedia), M. Tavernier was the individual who discovered and sold the 118 carat Hope Diamond (as it was known when it was re-discovered after a theft in London) to Louis XIV. This was taken from a secret vantage point I identified near the Arboretum...

The second image was taken on a sunny morning of the CGN ship, "Lausanne". This ship, part of the fleet of the Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman (CGN) who operates the steam ships on Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) is one of the modern ships of their fleet, commissioned in 1991. Here, we find it safely moored at its home in Ouchy, a district of Lausanne in the Canton of Vaud. Taken with an ultra-wide 10mm lens to emphasize the texture and color of the mooring rope and chain.

Thanks for reading! I have a bunch of new interesting photos from an outing to La Salève, a mountainous outcrop overlooking Geneva, Les Rochers-de-Naye overlooking Lake Geneva and others, but I need some time to select the best ones. They should be up soon!

Wade