MONTREUX

Arriving at Geneva train station, we were naturally very nervous because of Anna's passport issues.  We thought we were in the clear as we walked down the ramp from the platform until we came to a customs area with a very serious looking policeman standing at the exit.  There was no where for us to go, we just had to walk through and hope for the best.  

Trying to look as normal as possible and not give off the impression that we were shitting ourselves, we walked down the corridor and to our delight, the policeman did not even bat an eyelid at us.  Safely through our third border since the Portugal debacle.

Another train ride to Montreux and then we had to get another train one stop to Terriet where our hostel was situated. 

Auberge de Jeunesse was a pretty good hostel apart from the 15 minute walking distance into Montreaux, but the fact that it was right on the waterfront of Lake Geneva made up for it.  The lake itself was simply breathtaking; the water was like glass, aside from the ripples created by the swans and ducks that paddled past and the snow capped mountains soared in the distance. The lawns lining the lake walkway were a luscious green and the many different forms of flowers and plants were manicured to perfection.  The whole place was like a fairy tale!!

At the time of booking a few nights in Montreux, we had no idea of its interesting history, especially with music.  In 1971, the band members of Deep Purple were attending a Frank Zappa concert in the Montreux casino when the building caught fire, casting a pall of smoke over Lake Geneva and inspiring them to pen their classic rock number 'smoke on the water'.

One of the most famous rock groups of all time, Queen, recorded an album in 1978 in Montreux.  Freddie Mercury was so taken with Montreux that he bought an apartment in Terriet (right near our hostel) and Queen proceeded to record their last albums in their Montreux studio, where they produced some of their all-time greatest hits.  Lake Geneva even appeared on the cover of their last album, 'Made in Heaven'.

Freddie was quoted as saying "if you want to find peace, go to Montreux", and he ended up living his last few months there before dying on November 24, 1991.  In 1996, a bronze statue was erected in his honour on the quays of Montreux.  

The statue was covered in flowers and "I love you Freddie" notes and amazingly, the next day there was a whole new set of flowers and notes and even one lady in a Queen t-shirt sitting on the steps crying.  He really made an impression on people!

After walking around for the lake for a while and paying homage to the great man, we wandered uphill towards the old town.  We both couldn't get the Queen song "this could be heaven" out of our heads, and it would remain there for a few days to come haha!

Up in the hills behind Montreux is the old-town.  In contrast to the ritzy, glamorous feeling of the lake promenade, the old-town is small, sleepy and in areas almost impoverished.  Nevertheless, it had real charm and some great views for those who made the effort to walk high enough.

We always like eating in the old-town part of each city we go to as generally the food is better, prices are cheaper, there are less tourists and therefore it is more of a local experience.  Unfortunately we were beginning to find out that there is no such thing as cheap prices in Switzerland, everything is ridiculously expensive!!!

We managed to find a really cool local hangout and met some locals who gave us some great tips on how to spend a day in this beautiful place.  We had a few drinks and a pretty fulfilling plate of different tapas style food and then slowly made our way back home.

The next morning we were both up early to get some much needed exercise in.  Anna went for a long run along the lake, whilst I went for a slow jog and then snuck in a solid 20 minute workout of lunges, squats and sit-ups.

We missed breakfast at the hostel and with not a lot of nearby options, we decided to stick it out until lunch and headed off to visit the Chateau de Chillon.

Visible from the Montreux promenade, the Chillon Castle in Terriet was only about 20 minutes walk from our hostel. The walk there, past charming villas, blooming flowers and gliding swans was absolutely beautiful.

The castle itself is a fairytale-like monument built just offshore on a small island that was both a natural protection and a strategic location to control the passage between northern and southern Europe.

The earliest written documentation mentioning the castle dates from 1150, however its current state is the result of several centuries of constant building, adaptations, renovations and restorations.

the castle is also immortalised in Lord Byron's poem "The prisoner of Chillon"

Anna was playing Guida (tour guide) for the day

The castle is so much bigger than it seems from the outside.  Full of big halls, underground rooms (some which go below the water!), passageways, courtyards, bedrooms, chapels, towers and defences, it is a real labyrinth of places to explore.

underground, some parts of it are below the water level, which supposedly played havoc with the prisoners minds

Back in medieval times, Chillon Castle had a luxury that few other castles could boast of - access to a running supply of fresh water from the lake!  Most medieval castles would have been disgusting pits of disease and stench, but being able to take a dump right into the water has its advantages!

shitter

The layout of the castle is interesting as it effectively has two facades.  The side which faces the mainland is primed for defence; it's peppered with arrow-holes, battlements and fortifications, in preparation for any approaching enemy.  By contrast, the lake side of the castle is dressed as a palace, naturally protected from the enemy, the graceful facade doesn't have any defensive walls or fortified features.

It was a pretty great place and easy to see why it is Switzerland's most visited tourist attraction.  Walking around the ramparts and the courtyards, you felt like you were on the set of a medieval Hollywood movie, it really was pretty cool.

We were both starving after walking around the castle for two hours, so we didn't care about getting ripped off at the small kiosk outside.  Anna was pretty stuffed after her run that morning and decided to pull out of the walk/hike that we had planned for that afternoon.  I was still pretty keen to do it, so after more food at a great little cafe in Terriet, Anna went off shopping for the arvo and I set off for what I was anticipating be a relatively easy walk.

The entrance to the "Gorges du Chauderon" was just up behind the old town of Montreux and as I neared the entry point, I could smell the fresh rainforesty air and hear the sound of running water.

The walk took me right through the middle of the Gorge, criss-crossing my way up the ravine with the water running right beside me, it was magical, however the whole thing was uphill and was pretty tough going.

My target town was Les Avants where I could hop on a train back into Montreux.  After about an hour of walking I came to a really tricky intersection where I had to make a 50/50 call on what direction to take as the arrow with Les Avants on it was pointing right down the middle of two different tracks.  If I picked the wrong route, I could have been on a track heading towards Les Cases which was 5 hours away!

Luckily I picked the right away and about 15 minutes later I came to another sign that pointed my in the right direction.  The sign above it that said the incline was increasing to 20% was not as welcoming!

Although the walk was a lot more physically demanding than I had expected, the surroundings were pretty amazing, so I couldn't complain.  I stopped off for a drink out of the chilly running water and then continued on, not having any idea how much further I had.

had to put the camera on self-timer to get this shot!

at times the walking track was less than ideal

The trees started to disperse as I neared the top and as the sun started to sneak in, I knew I must have been close.  

About 1.5-2 hours after I left Montreux, I reached the beautiful little town of Les Avants.  It was full of really cute gingerbread like houses and other larger chalet style houses that gave the place a real ski-village feel.

With Montreux sitting pretty at about 390m above sea level, I had climbed almost 600m to reach Les Avants, nothing really to get too excited about, but still a pretty decent slog.

I had a short stroll around town, but there wasn't really a whole lot to see, so I caught the 6pm train back into Montreux, which was a pretty spectacular sight coming back down the hill with an amazing view over Lake Geneva.

looking east from Lake Geneva across Montreux, you can clearly see the shadowed ravine of the Gorges du Chaudron and the small town of Les Avants high up on the left (photo pinched from google!)

One thing that anyone will notice on their first visit to Switzerland is the amount of souvenir shops that are present around town.  They range from smaller ones at the train station, to larger ones in the main streets, but there are a couple of things in common.......everything has the Swiss flag on it and pretty much every store has some sort of selection of Swiss army knives!
    

                                    

                                              the mother of all swiss army knives

I have a bit of an obsession with the Swiss flag after my last trip to Switzerland where I bought a Swiss flag visa and wallet and I was certain that at some stage in the next two weeks, I would be buying something again.
This came sooner than I expected as I found a sweet pair of slippers!!

After an absolute monster of a day, I was spent and could hardly muster up the energy to go out for dinner.  We went into town quite late, around 9:30pm and settled on an Asian joint that looked good enough not to give us food poisoning the next day.....just.

The nest morning we had to be up earlyish, not only to checkout, but also to catch our train.  The temperature had dropped a few degrees from the day before and there was a lot of fog around which casted an eerie grey colour over the lake.  So much so that it felt like you were looking at a giant grey screen, you couldn't tell where the water stopped and the horizon began, and if it wasn't for the odd swan swimming past you'd swear there was no water there at all!

looking from our hostel under the train tracks to the Lake

I was as excited as one can get about getting the famous golden pass train from Montreux to Interlaken as I had been to Interlaken before and considered it one of the best experiences of my last trip.  I had really talked it up to Anna, so I was crossing my fingers that it would live up to the hype I had placed on it!