In the city of Lausanne, the capital of Canton Vaud, Switzerland

 "From Geneva, we drove for a time on the motorway ... and we took a slight deviation on minor roads through the towns that line the north of the lake with tantalising glimpses of the water, before picking up the road that would take us through the mountains. This was quite interesting, but slightly boring after the much more imposing Alps." -- Kate Foster, Alpine And Other Adventures

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(in southwestern Switzerland) The canton of Vaud, which borders France and the Jura Mountains to the west and Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) to the south, has an area of 1,240 sq mi (3,212 sq km). Vaud is the third largest of the Swiss cantons by population and fourth by size. It is located in Romandy, the French -speaking western part of the country. The canton’s southeastern part, north and east of the Rhône River, is Alpine, containing Les Diablerets, its highest summit, and more than four square miles of glaciers.

+ Vaud was first inhabited in prehistoric times by the lake dwellers and then by the Celtic Helvetii, who while attempting to migrate south were defeated by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. The establishment of Vevey, Lausanne, and other Roman towns followed; in 27 BCE the state Civitas Helvetiorum was created, with its capital at Avenches, where important Roman remains have been excavated. There were frequent Alemannic incursions in the 2nd–4th centuries CE, and the Burgundians occupied the area in the 5th century, followed by the Merovingian Franks. In 888 the Carolingians made the region part of Jurane Burgundy until 1032. The German Zähringen overlords, who had defeated the rebellious Burgundians, were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy, who gave political unity to Vaud. The power of Savoy declined in the 15th century and Vaud was overrun by the Bernese, who annexed it in 1536 and imposed the Reformation by force. The Vaudois enthusiastically received the French Revolutionary troops in 1798 and proclaimed first the “Lemanic Republic” and, shortly thereafter, the canton of Léman. The present canton of Vaud was set up and joined the Swiss Confederation in 1803.

+ Lausanne, the capital of Vaud (pictured here), is the only major city -- found in one of the most important wine-producing areas in Switzerland, with vineyards mainly along Lake Geneva. The most important activity, however, is tourism, based on lakeside resorts such as Montreux, Vevey, and many mountain resorts.

+ Western Europe’s largest lake, known by the francophones who populate its shores as Lac Léman (by the rest of the world as Lake Geneva), is anchored by the city that claims it, wrapping around her southern shore. Half the lake belongs to France and most of its eastern shoreline, but the rest of it is the pride of the Vaudoise, from where views across the lake onto the Alps are spellbinding. Explorations into the Alps reward summer hikers with perfect mountain air and unimaginable vistas. (In winter, the region becomes a playground for the world's ski-loving elite.)