My husband and I just returned home from a 5-month stay in Rivaz for his sabbatical as a university professor. I worked from home, and he took the train to work near Lausanne.

We found Guy-Louis to be very accessible through Airbnb between the time of booking and travel. Once there, we could reach him by phone. (Note: My husband’s phone worked better than mine in Switzerland, so he made the calls.) The concierge assigned to the building lives next door and was also available to answer some of our questions. Since Guy-Louis’ business is on the property, we would often see him, and he usually kindly asked if everything was okay.

The biggest news about this apartment, of course, is the spectacular view of Lac Leman, the Swiss and French Alps, and the lovely green slopes filled with rows of grape vines. It’s all one sweeping panorama that changes frequently with cloud formations and colors of the sky, water and mountains.

And there’s a lovely scene out the front windows, too, of the local fountain, other ancient neighboring buildings and a piece of green vineyard to the north. The village, in fact, is a charmer.

The apartment is pleasant and was very roomy for just the two of us. The living room has some interesting old pieces: notably, a clock, a barometer and an armoire filled with vintage glassware and other unique items.

We were told that the master bedroom had just been repainted before our arrival and new flooring laid. It was cozy and cheerful.

We used the second bedroom, which is outside the apartment and across the hall, as a guest room and bought some items that we used to pull the twin beds together into a full-sized bed for a couple of our visitors. Something to consider: There is a lock inside the door that works, but the old key that used to lock it from the outside has been lost. The village is safe, but we did offer guests using the room to move valuables to the main part of the apartment when they went out.

We went to Rivaz in early February and enjoyed the terrace as the weather warmed up. In fact, I often chose to work outside on pleasant days. There’s a table that seats 6.

We were glad to have a washing machine. Since there’s no dryer, we draped some clothes across radiators when the heat was on and larger items outside on clothes lines. Eventually, we hung most items outside. There’s an overhang above the clotheslines, so you needn’t fear rain, unless it’s very windy. And we found it useful, as well, for sitting under on warm, wet evenings.

The hills are steep. Quite a few times we walked up to Chexbres, the nearest town with stores, restaurants, and Bidlingmeyer’s, a wonderful cafe/bakery :-). Originally, we would walk down to the train station in Rivaz when we wanted to go to Lausanne or somewhere else along the coast, and then we'd climb back up the hill later in the day. Eventually, we changed the routine by leaving via Rivaz and returning through Chexbres, so that we would walk downhill only.

Sometimes we would just stroll, because that’s something that many people do in this UNESCO World Heritage region. There are many paved pathways for meandering through the vineyards that are not steep. We had a favorite route to St. Saphorin that was kinder on our knees.

We leased a car in France that we used occasionally, but maneuvering the narrow streets is challenging. Even outside the village, there are stone walls lining the vineyards.