May 29, 2022

Montreux has held the famous annual Jazz Festival for the last 50 years. About 250,000 people attend the Festival in early July each year. Along the bank of Lake Geneva are many music-related art creations, famous musician sculptures, and even flower bed fences made with music notes. We missed this year’s Jazz Festival by over a month. If we thought yesterday’s Montreux was crowded due to weekend tourists, imagine what the streets would look like during the Jazz Festival. We got up early and went out to the lakeside before breakfast. Too early for most of the tourists; the street was tranquil. With the blue sky, beautiful lake, colorful flowers, and all the sculptures, it was so lovely to stroll around the promenade in the early morning. We had a few pictures to share here.

The weather continued to be in our favor, sunshine but not hot. We didn’t get the chance to see the inside of the Chillon Castle yesterday, so this morning after breakfast, the first thing to do was to take a short train ride from the hotel to the castle. The Chillon Castle is the most visited historical monument in Switzerland and is on an island on Lake Geneva. The oldest part of the castle was built more than 1000 years ago. The development of the current castle spans three periods: the Savoy Period, the Bernese Period, and the Vaudois Period, whose history we were not familiar with at all. Over the years, the castle was used as a summer house, prison, or munitions and weapons depot. Touring the castle, we learned a little bit history of Switzerland. We also learned from the Audio guide that the stone walls were not the original form. When they renovated the castle, they made the walls look old without being plastered. The original wall should be the stone walls with a plastered coating, like one of the white painted walls in the castle.

The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, stretching for miles along the northern shores of Lake Gevena, is a UNESCO site not too far away from Montreux. After visiting the castle, we jumped on a local train to Chexbres-Village train station for a short ride with a change at Vevey. As soon as we stepped out of the station, we were stunned by the panoramic view of the massive vineyard covering the lower slopes of the mountainside between the villages and the lake. Overlooking Lake Geneva, Chexbres is a wine-growing village offering many walks, blue, red, and green trails as illustrated on the tourist map. We let the trails take us running through the vineyard and down to the lake. Some of the vine terraces can be traced back 1000 years ago. We had never heard of Swiss wine in the states. We were told that the Swiss drank all the wine they produced, no export, as they joked about it. The walk through UNESCO’s wine yard was fantastic, but it was lunchtime, and we were hungry and looking for a place to eat. Unfortunately, most wine cellars and restaurants were closed on Sunday. Finally, we found Lavaux Vinorama near the lake was open for business. We ordered a wine taste set, beef tartars, cheese, and sausage. With the fantastic scenery of Lake Geneva and beautiful mountains in the back, we sipped wine and enjoyed swiss food. It was a delightful lunch break and just couldn’t get any better.

After lunch, we walked a short distance from the restaurant and boarded the train at Rivaz station to Lausanne. A hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lausanne is the home to the International Olympic Committee headquarters and the Olympic Museum and lakeshore Olympic Park. We first visited Olympic Museum and park and then headed to the old town to see the majestic Lausanne Cathedral. A walk around the hilly city felt like a workout. We walked through narrow alleys and stairs to Place De La Palud, the town square. Almost all shops were closed today, and there were few people in the area. Standing by the Fountain of Justice, we tried to figure out what to eat for dinner. After a few minutes of googling, we picked L’Eveche nearby. We ordered a salad, chicken, and pasta. The food was good, and it was time to return to Montreux.

On the way back to Montreux, we got off at Vevey to see the fork in the lake, a memorial sculpture for Charlie Chaplin.

 第九天：先去有千年历史的Chillon 古城堡里转了一大圈，然后去附近世界遗产名录的葡萄园，在那里品尝当地的白葡萄酒，生牛肉馅饼，香肠和奶酪。下午去了洛桑,参观奥运会博物馆和老街。在日内瓦湖上, 巧见一只大白＂俄＂追打＂乌＂鸭一幕，原本一群小鸭在湖上自由自在玩耍，突然间一只大天鹅🦢开始追赶其中一小鸭，真有点莫名其妙，就想起当今的俄乌之战，动物也和人一样。