Living Swiss: August 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Sunday we took the train to Montreux (home of the Jazz festival) to see the Chillon Castle. We didn’t have time to explore Montreux as it took 45 min to walk along the lake to the castle.
Here are some pics and video of our train ride to Montreux…

We arrived in Montreux and Jade has his head in a bottle already!

Swiss palm tree

To get to the castle you walk for 15 min to along the flower trail (says the guide book) A ha! It takes 45 min to get there! Swiss, grrrrrr

The Chillon Castle

The Chillon Castle was used as a fortress, arsenal and prison.

Prison became famous from the poem by Lord Byron who told the story of the captivity of Francois Bonivard (1493-1570) who was kept in the underground cellar.

Swiss made!

Old Clock Motor

Clock of the Tower

New Clock Motor

Swiss build and carve these amazing chests

View from the Tower

View to Montreux

Picnic!

Crazy swiss picnic eggs

Ride home through the Vineyards of Vaud

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Saturday

It was a nice Saturday, after going to the gym we made a lovely lunch..

Then went to one of my favorite café the Demi Lune for Wine and a portion de frites and then to Mr. Pickwick’s pub for a pint of London Pride.

Pickwick's pub

Friday, August 22, 2008

Phew!!!

Since we do not have a car we rely on the very punctual Swiss bus system. It costs $3.oo for an hour or $2.00 for 3 stops. I typically will get the 3 stop pass and ride it for 4 stops on occasion to get downtown. To ride the bus you enter in any door and do not have to show a pass or ticket. A few people that we have met here never get a pass and ride for free because they have never been checked. Well yesterday the bus police got on my bus! It was like a blitz; they had vests, army pants, guns and stormed through the bus speaking really fast French. Luckily I had to take in my recycling so I got on a stop further down so my 3 stop pass was exactly what I needed. This had to be the scariest Swiss experience yet and thanks to recycling I didn’t get caught!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Gruyeres...not just a cheese!

We headed out of Geneva on Saturday for a 2 hour train ride to the town of Gruyeres. You might know it for its cheese but it is also the home to HR Giger the creator of the Alien in the movie series Alien and a Castle. The great thing about these old towns is that they are not car accessible which helps to maintain it prestige. We have a lot of photos but we will start with the view from the train to Gruyeres…..

As I mentioned it is a 2 hour ride and as you ride along the lake you cross through farm land and then there is a stunning view of the wine country.

We transferred onto the cheese train to Gruyeres

Train Station

After an hour we arrived…

Gruyeres!

The View from the Castle (altitude:830m)

You can see Lake Geneva

Castle of Gruyeres

19 counts are accounted for in the period between the 11th and 16th centuries,the last was 1554. The castle has been open to the public since 1993. It was constructed between 1270-1282

An interesting story about the castle is that there was a war between Gruyeres and Bern (capital of Switzerland) in the medieval ages. The Castle was stormed by Bern and two knights defended the castle successfully. However, the truth is that the women of Gruyeres gathered the Goats and attached torches to their horns and sent them down to defend the castle. When the Bernese saw this army of flaming demons charging their camp, they fled incontinently, and the town was saved.

Corot's Room

Tapestries Room

Knights' Room

Music Room

The Castle is also used as a gallery

Hunting Room

Kitchen

Bailiffs' Room

The Room of the Counts

Ramparts and French Style Garden

Hans Ruedi Giger is the Academy Award winning Swiss artist that is best known for his design work on the film Alien. You are not allowed to take pictures in the Gallery but I snuck a photo for my brother.