Travels in Switzerland - 1

Lausanne – Day 2 – Chillon Castle Christie Stewart really wanted us to experience the Montreux Riviera from the water aboard one of Lac Leman’s classic paddle-wheelers. Unfortunately, we had tarried a bit too long in the fascinating digestive tract of the Alimentarium. By the time we had evacuated the museum’s bowels, we could see the tour boat leaving the dock. Despite being pooped (OK, that’s the last of my scatalogical PUNishment), we still had time to catch a commuter train that would bring us close to our last major tour of the day: Château de Chillon. From the train stop, we strolled along a lakeside path with lovely views of Lac Leman. The château resembles a castle out of a fairy tale.  A splendid medieval fortress, it is built on a rocky islet at the lakeshore. With its strategic position at the eastern end of the lake, there has been some form of fortification here since Roman times. The oldest parts of the castle date back to around 1...

Lausanne –Day 2 - Vevey Continued A couple of stops from our “Vevey Gare” destination, a pretty young woman boarded our bus. She looked up the aisle, noticed us, flashed a huge smile, and walked right up. We must have appeared astonished when she said, “David and Suzanne…?” The woman continued, “I’m Julia Tames, from Montreux-Vevey Tourism.” Ah…the light dawned: Julia was hosting us for lunch. She was supposed to be meeting us at the Vevey Gare bus stop, but happened to get on the same bus that we had taken from Chaplin’s World. Of course, I couldn’t help but have a sneaking suspicion that someone had told the tourism board to make sure they found us before we got lost…again. The Brasserie La Coupole is a very nice restaurant.  It is set on the main floor of the elegant Astra Hotel, and dates back to 1912.  It was another warm day, and I eyed the salads on the menu. At Julia’s recommendation, I too ordered the Salade Gourmande, which featured smok...

Lausanne – Day 2 – Vevey  After supper at the Brasserie de Montbenon, we were feeling a bit more confident about finding our way around Lausanne, and decided to walk the two kilometres back to our hotel. We knew that the next day’s agenda was ambitious, and a leisurely stroll would ensure a good night’s sleep. We must have been zonked. We vaguely remembered hearing thunder and heavy rain during the night, but we both slept very well, and awoke to clear skies. At breakfast,  I looked over the day’s itinerary. Our schedule had been planned to the minute with almost military precision. We were glad we could depend upon all the Swiss Rail trains and public buses to be on time,  because we needed first to travel east to Vevey; then almost to the eastern end of Lac Leman to the Château de Chillon; and then back to Lausanne via Montreux. Christie Stewart joining us on our tour gave us added reassurance that we wouldn’t get lost. Christie met u...