Montreux - Switzerland

We have arrived in Switzerland to a lovely place called Montreux. How on earth did you find this place? you may well ask - well the truth was we didnt! We had arranged to meet up with the Heatons, who are grandparents of lovely girls from our school, plus Doug (the grandfather) worked with Dave a while ago before he retired to the hills in Havelock. We thought we were meeting them either in Zurich or Intelaken, but a few emails later we organised to meet at this place (Montreux) their idea. Getting there was a mission of gigantic proportions! We left Munich at 8.45am, and had connections with other trains with about 5 min. inbetween each connection to catch the next train! all we needed was the train to be a minute late and we were in trouble. As it was the first connection, we made it on time, (bags up, in up on rack etc) then we hit a snag. I had a nana nap, then suddenly Dave's telling me quick, quick we have to get off the train - its going to Berlin (we were going to Bern!) I register that everyone was off the train, and the train is getting ready to leave1 Talk about move! Offthe train - where the hell are we? up to information desk, next train leaves for Bern in 2 mins. and we ran! bags and all! Dave said he would've loved a camera to catch me running dragging this bag! we get on it as the door is closing! hoped to god it was the right one - and collapse in a heap on the seats. (Thats train 2!) train 3 was another mad dash, to get on as doors close, then another one Train 4. Train 5 it was another frantic rush - but then we could relax because it was the last one. The scenery suddenly changed and we were in mountains, and peaks of snow, and chalet towns. fields of hay and cows in paddocks etc. It was just lovely! I spent an hour just gazing out the window in awe. Exactly what I pictured Switzerland to be. Montreux emerged from the mountains, a stunning town on the edge of Lake Geneva. Just stunning. (think Queenstown, more on the side of the cliffs tho). All I could say as the train came in was - oh my god! it was a lot bigger than I thought - i was thinking Wanaka - but you could walk this beautiful walking path around the lake front - which took you to the main area. Before I put the photos of the place on - does any of you know what Montreux is famous for? ........ you may get a clue from the photos.

Pick him out? Yes - Freddie Mercury (Queen) lived here, and died here. there is a special statue commemorating him by the lakeside. When he got Aids badly, he lived here in a lovely secluded mansion on the lake. The lake itself is huge, much bigger than Taupo, and we are at one end of it. Mountains surround the lake, so it must be gorgeous in Winter. There are some beautiful old hotels with balconies overlooking the lake, and we were lucky to get into one with a huge balcony that you sit and drink on, or have your tea on and just look out at the lake. The hillsides are steep, but they managed to get some old houses perched on the edge of no where, with little winding streets coming down. There is even a long, steep cog railway going up a side of a hill to a old hotel sitting way up at the top. We met up with the Heatons that night, and had a drink on the hotel balcony with them, then wandered along the lake path and found a place to eat. Extremely expensive - actually a shock going from 8 Euro for a main, to 28 Euro! Today we all met up and walked about 30 min along the lake path away from town to a castle perched on a rock in the lake. (just off shore, so you walk over a little bridge to get to it) Its called Chillon Castle. It was a castle for the Dukes of Savoy, but was famous for its prison (Lord Byron wrote a poem about a prisoner who was chained up to a wall in the dungeon for 6 years) and lots of torture and killing of witches. Did you know that Switzerland ( or the Alp region in general) had the highest number of witch burnings and witchhunts during the 16/17th century? Anyway there was a lot of information about it at the castle, cause there were numerous torture chambers and instruments on show - complete with paintings of the time. Enough to give you nightmares. One thing I discovered was that one method of torture the nazis used in Dachau ( tie hands behind your back, then hang you up on a hook by your hands behind you - your shoulders dislocate etc) was actually a lovely idea used by the Inquisition and advocated by the Pope of the time! and we thought the Nazis were bad. After our tour, we walked back along the lake front, discovered a yummy icecream place, and had a rest on deck chairs in the sun. Can you see the mountains and the castle in the distance? Anyway it was lovely to catch up with people you know, we met up again tonight for another lakeside beer and dinner. Nice way to end our stay in this gorgeous place.