Has anyone gone to Divonne to buy
glasses? I am wondering if it is cheaper than Vaud. Given that there are more Swiss number plates than French there, I thought I'd ask before making the journey. TIA.

Divonne prices are likely the highest, for just about anything, in France. You really need to get a little further from the border.

Thank you. It’s rather what I thought.

Les Rousses, up in the Jura, used to be a big centre for spectacles and glasses manufacturing. There used to be one optician after another. I don't know whether that's still the case, but as it's a bit lost in the middle of nowhere, probably cheaper than opticians near the border that cater for the Swiss.

I'd say it's a little further into France than Les Rousses, Morez is still famous for glasses, at least driving through there are glasses everywhere.. Flowers in the shape of glasses on roundabouts.. Monuments, big statues of glasses .. Loads of little factories etc..

Wether there are good deals to be had i don't know .. But Morez is certainly still a little town dedicated to lunettes..

For bog standard lenses it’s probably cheaper to get glasses in France.
For anything more complex like varifocals etc there really isn’t much difference in price in my experience regardless of whether you are near the Swiss border or not.

Thank you. It was varifocals I'm after. This old age business isnt for cissies

Yes they made optical bombsights there in the war. The allies tried a number of times to bomb them, but failed due to the geography and proximity to the border.

Interesting info. Thanks!