Welcome to Montreux! Here our vacation begins.
We first heard of Montreux from my aunt who currently lives in Geneva. It was one of the places on her list of must-visit cities. Upon further research, we discovered that Montreux is well-known for hosting a variety of music festivals particularly the world renown Montreux Jazz Festival happening every July as well as being the city where Freddy Mercury made his home.
My husband did most of the research for this trip (he loves to plan our vacation), so I knew little about Montreux at first other than the tidbits about its location and famous jazz festival. I didn't expect much as this was a last minute trip, and I'm just hoping to have some R&R time. Plus, I'm a museum-type tourist, and so far, I have not heard of any must-see museums or landmark attractions.
We drove for two hours through rolling greens of agricultural pastures to arrive at the beautiful, quaint city. Gorgeous terraced hills punctuated with red Spanish tile roofs resting on white washed walls and surrounded by miles and miles of luscious, verdant vineyards carpeted this city.
This part of Switzerland, as I later learned, is referred to as the Swiss Rivieria. Being here feels like we're vacationing in a different country. Everything is different...language, landscape, weather. I was loving it. I can read the signs. I can order food. I can ask for directions. It's very empowering.
Walking along the lake front in Montreux and neighboring Vevey is like visiting an outdoor museum of who's who that ever lived and visited these cities. Musicians, artists, writers, and diplomats adorned the promenade either in statue form or commemorative plate on benches. Freddy Mercury is the most famous and well "advertised" artists of the bunch with his very own statute in the heart of Montreux. Queen had a studio here at one time and recorded a couple of their greatest albums in this very city. Charlie Chaplin, Victor Hugo, and Fyodor Dostoevsky are just a few of the other widely known artists that paint this region's walk of fame. Some of the names vaguely linked itself to these cities, but hey, isn't that the beauty of marketing and tourism.
The weather on the day of our arrival was cool, windy, and intermittently wet. We walked along the lake front and I remembered feeling cold and the walk not so enjoyable. The boys, however, had a blast tempting Fate. They would stand on these massive rocks, watch for the biggest waves, run to the nearest rocks where they anticipate the waves will crash and wait to be sprayed with lake water. They were only mildly successful (thank goodness).
Fortunately, mother nature's temperament improved significantly over the next few days, and we were endowed with gorgeous sun the rest of our vacation. Off course, we took full advantage of the nice weather on day 2. Rather than riding the bus to Chateau de Chillon, we opted for a short walk. As it turned out, the walk is really an hour hike (never believe a biker's estimate of proximity). Walking rewarded us with gorgeous vistas of a city on the lake front, and we can take our time and soak in the beauty and contemplate our retirement (just kidding, maybe) . We explored the nooks and crannies that existed a few steps below the promenade. At one "nook", we were rewarded with inviting wooden lounge chairs for all visitors who wished to soak in the beautiful Montreux and Chateau de Chillon.
Along the way, we discovered fountains, playground, mansions surrounded by rolling vineyards. My boys were tired by the time we reached Chateau de Chillon, but they didn't realize it was just the beginning.
The castle upclose is as magnificient as we envisioned through glimpse of it during our hike. I think Chateau de Chillon deserves its own posting.