We started our morning with a last amazing buffet at the Bristol Hotel and headed north in time to see the sun rising over Lake Geneva. Even though Nav wanted to take us the faster way (on the freeway), we detoured at Nyon, making our way to the coast and the small highway that led through villages and vineyards along the shore.
This piece of country is stunning, with dozens of castles, terraced vineyards and vines that are hundreds of years old. The drive along the coast offered views that made the longer drive completely worth it.
We tried to at least drive into the Olypmic Meseum in Lausanne but the gate was closed so we kept moving along north and arund the lake.
Our first stop was Chateau de Chillon, the most well preserved castle in Switzerland. It was continusously occupied so never fell into disrepair like a lot of the castles in the country. Built entirely upon the rock, it has hosted many prisoners, lines of Savoy families and even Lord Byron who not only tagged the dungeon but penned a poem about it as well.
Describing the castle is difficult as it was huge and has many rooms, courtyards and moats. The castle grew over time and while it has been restored in some areas, there are clearly others that need help. That said it was impressive to walk through a building that has housed lords and ladies for over 800 years. We roamed the ramparts and navigated stairwells with steps about half the size of Grady's 11.5 sized foot. It truly was preserved well and was a great stop.
When we learned that Freddie Mercury and Queen bought a recording studio in Montreux and called it home for a while, we knew we needed to spend some time there. Montreux hosts a world reknown jazz festival every year and with its location on the shores of Lake Geneva, its easy to see why this has become a major draw for musicians.
Thanks for lunch set up by Justin at the Jazz Cafe, we were able to soak in some of the ambience of not only the festival but the grand palace hotel (Four Seasons now). This giant old grand damme of the city overlooks the music hall and a park with busts of famous musicians from the festival. The food was great, the server gracious to speak English and the atmosphere full of class and memororabilia. Colby even ordered the chicken "a la Quincy Jones."
After dropping off the car, we loaded the train for the Golden Rail trip to Interlaken. Making a connection in Sweisiman we were seated in reserved seats with larger windows to enjoy the view. The train took us up into the mountains where we saw the houses change from stone chateaus to wooden Bavarian houses. The countryside also changed, steepening to nearly vertical cliffs and the occasional valley floor below. Steve enjoyed not having to drive for the journey and being able to watch the scenary below. We made our connection but boy they dont leave you even 5 minutes to use the restroom. Itsoff one train and onto the next one.
We arrived at Interlaken Ost around 7 pm and walked about 1/2 mile to our hotel, the Royal St George. When we arrived I was nervous to note several dozen people milling around with large suitcases outside the hotel. Thankfully their travel representative was working with one agent and we had another one immediately able to check us in. We elected to carry our luggage up 4 flights of stairs as it was clear we were not going to get the elevator anytime soon.
We have a royal suite which includes a lovely sitting room while the boys are across a private hallway with a regular room. After having our first true Fondue of the trio across the street at a restaurant called Taverne, we settled in for the night.
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