The Wileys and I had gotten a fairly good night’s sleep in our separate rooms in Lyon, France and were up and ‘at ’em’ bright and early the morning of Wednesday, July 16, 2008. The hotel had been nothing to write home about, but the breakfast was once again outstanding. In fact, I became less impressed with the Disney breakfast after seeing virtually the same layout in the breakfast room of the tiny Campanile hotel. Lunchmeat, sausages, eggs, cheeses, breads, you name it. I was a little later at getting down to breakfast than the Wileys so I dined alone. I was so excited with the food that I left my water bottle at the hotel before I rushed out with my luggage to meet them in the lobby.
We were soon back at the Lyon Part Dieu train station (meaning the second station in Lyon) and on the train when I realized that I had also left all of my Euro change in the room. It only amounted to a few Euros, so I got over it pretty quickly. Our first train ride was close to two hours to Geneva, Switzerland. We had one of those very quick ten minute layovers at the train station and then we took off for Montreux, which was another hour.
The scenic Montreux train station nestled amidst the Swiss Alps
Me and some random Alp
We encountered our first obstacle of the day when the train station lockers only took Swiss Francs. Needing to check our luggage quickly before the next local train left for Veytaux-Chillon (which was only a three minute trip), we frantically tried to get some Euros converted to Francs. We did, but it was a little to late. We had to take the next train, which took us to the station after the one we wanted (although it did give us 30 minutes to wonder down to the streets of Montreux). Since we had gone one station too far, we had to hire a cab to take us to the destination that we were looking for in the first place: The Château de Chillon. It had been a small mess, but we eventually made it!
The Château de Chillon was a medieval castle that dated back to 1150. Located on Lake Geneva, the castle was originally the fortress home of the Counts of Savoy. The castle was made most famous when famous poet Lord Byron toured it in 1816 and was inspired to write the poem Prisoner of Chillon. During his visit he carved his name into a beam of the cellar prison, and a plaque was later placed there honoring the occasion.
The Château de Chillon, Alps, and Lake Geneva
Me and all of the above
Lord Byron’s name on the dungeon prison pillar
The castle was made up of over 100 separate buildings that were eventually connected. Arriving a little before 11:30am, it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to tour it. We were provided with iPods that gave a synopsis of each room as we toured it’s many levels and buildings. We certainly could have spent much longer there, but since we had lost some times with our Francs mishap, we wanted to make sure we made it back to the train station to catch our scheduled train.
Listening to the iPod narrative inside the castle
Chillon cannon…yeah baby!
We walked from the castle along the Lake to the tiny, charming station and got there quicker than we knew we would, so we had to wait about 45 minutes for the next train arriving at 1:26. We were back in Montreux at 1:30, retrieving our luggage and on to the next train.
I loved this little Veytaux-Chillon train station
Our next ultimate destination was quite a ways away, at the southernmost tip of Switzerland, but our ride to get there was an attraction in itself. We had a ‘Golden Pass’ for the first leg of our journey, which entitled us to sit in the glass-walled cabin of the train. This trip took us fro Montreux to Zweisimmen from 1:45 to 3:32. It was a very enjoyable and incredible scenic route through the Swiss Alps. By the way, the phrase “I Can’t Get Over the Alps” is a song from the Laurel and Hardy movie Swiss Miss – and there was no shortage of me saying or singing it along the way. Since we didn’t have lunch, Kris bought us a couple of sandwiches to split, a Coke, and a couple of Swiss dessert delicacies: Mandelfischli and Echte Appenzeller Bärli-Biber gefüllt fourré. Don’t ask; I have no idea.
Me and Jimmy in the glass-walled cabin
Swiss Miss Kris and the train delicacies
Me and the view from the dining car
I’ve seen the seven wonders of the world and yet….I Can’t Get Over the Alps!
From Zweisimmen, we took another 45 minute jaunt in a very nice two-story train to Spiez. Here we had reserved seats in a very luxurious car, but didn’t even use the reserved area since the train was nearly empty. We opted for the couch-like seats where we could stretch out briefly. But it was back to the crowded train for the 30 minute trip from Spiez to Visp.
The relaxing and comfortable train from Zweissimmen to Spiez
Visp was as far south in Switzerland as one could go by motorcar. The only route to Zermatt, our final destination of the day, was by rail. This cable car was not part of the Eurail system so we had to purchase round trip tickets right there on the train. It was about an hour up into the a very mountainous region of Switzerland. The train only ran eight times per day. The tiny town of Zermatt was at the base of the world-famous Matterhorn mountain. Just over the mountain range a few miles away was Italy. This was as close as we got. There was no way to cross into what would have been a ninth country of the trip for me – even if we had wanted to.
For months prior – and even well into our trip – Big Jimmy had been checking the webcam that is focussed on the Matterhorn and praying that we would catch it on a cloudless evening or day. We had one shot and one shot only as we would only be in Zermatt until the next morning. Fortunately, upon our arrival, it was certainly clear enough to get the photos that he wanted. We were snapping them before we even got into our hotel. Not knowing where our hotel was in relationship to the train station, we hired a taxi to take us there. The cab driver took us through the scenic route of the village, but we soon realized that our hotel was about a ten minute walk from the station, so we didn’t bother with a cab the next morning.
The gorgeous Matterhorn mountain
Again, we were plagued by lighting, much as we were at the Eiffel Tower. I was either too dark, or the mountain too washed out
Our room for the night was at the very charming and quaint Hotel Alfa, which was exactly the type of place you would expect to find in Switzerland. Jimmy and I stayed in a separate room from Big Jimmy and Kris. Both of our rooms had balconies with a view facing the Matterhorn, although our room had a bit better view without the obstruction of the nieghboring hotel. We spent about an hour just staring and taking pictures of the mountain. I’ll bet the Jimmys took at least 200 pictures between them.
The charming Hotel Alfa
The clearest shot of the full mountain. It’s rare to see it quite like this.
The clearest shot that Jimmy could get of me with the mountain. Looks almost fake…but it’s not.
Dinner that evening was interesting to say the least. We opted to eat at the next door hotel (owned by the same folks as the Alfa), the Hotel Metropol and Spa. Wanting to enjoy an authentic Swiss meal, I went all out with the full dinner, a 68 Franc spectacle (about $57). It consisted of a tortellini appetizer, soup, a visit to the salad bar (which of course contained many fine cheeses), Piccata Milanese over risotto pasta, and a dessert sampler. The meal was decidedly more Italian than French, which made sense since we were so close to Italy. The country of Switzerland is about half French speaking and half Italian speaking.
Although very good, even if not $57 good, the interesting thing about the meal was the waitress. Although polite as she served, she was the only person working the rather small room of diners. Therefore she was in no mood to answer questions about the menu and when she attempted to take our order the second time after being put off once, she simply walked away when it became apparent that we didn’t know how or what to order. And for the topper, she adamantly refused to take our photo as we dined, stating that she was ‘too busy.’ It was all too obvious that she wasn’t working for tips and we were sure not to leave any. Of course, the pitcher of water that she filled from the tap was about $8. Those darn Swiss!
The food was good, the view of the mountain was good, but the service sucked. Here’s me with the salad and appetizers. We couldn’t get a photo of all of us.
Our hotel was quite homey, with a restaurant and bar (which weren’t open) that looked like something right out of the 1960’s. I was excited that they had internet access, but unfortunately, it only worked for a few minutes before their computer froze up. Luckily, Jimmy was able to pick up the wireless access with his laptop. Jimmy fell asleep quickly that night as I played on the internet and same-timed Briana on Facebook (this was the first time I realized that you could do that on Facebook, so was quite surprised when a message popped up from her as I sat staring at the Matterhorn!). Our room had another one of those beds that could be lifted with one hand. But true to form, after I lifted this one, it wouldn’t come down properly and it took a while to get it level again! Always messing around…
The trip will continue…
Wow. No Smoke on the Water references? We all came down to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shorline? Nothing?
Did you at least bring and listen to the Pink Floyd Live in Montreux 1971 cd I let you copy? Man! You were unprepared. You couldn’t even climb over that little mountain and visit me.
Chris
December 1st, 2008