The mountain-fed water of Lake Geneva is clear and clean. In fact, the famous French village of Evian is on the southern coast, where they have bottled fresh mountain spring water since 1789. The lake is surrounded by picturesque mountains and hills. We took a train to the eastern tip of the lake on our second day and were surprised to see many vineyards terraced on the hills near the lake. There is a micro-climate near the lake that is much more temperate than one would expect. In fact on the east side we saw palm trees growing and lots of flowers along the lakeside.
Our destination was the Château de Chillon near the resort town of Montreux. The castle was built in the 13th century on a little island near the coast where it could control the road between Italy in the south and France and Germany to the north. It was an ideal spot to collect tolls and exert power.
The Château de Chillon had a prison in its lower level, which was made famous by Lord Byron’s poem The Prisoner of Chillon. Byron was inspired to write it after visiting the castle in 1816. The prison room was near the water and very chilly – definitely not a place one would like to find oneself chained to a pillar.
The castle was one of many in the Savoy lands between the 11th and 14th centuries, To maintain control of their lands, royalty and their entire entourage moved from one castle to another throughout the year. They did not keep furnishings at each castle, and instead brought everything with them – furniture, decorations, kitchen equipment, and much, much more. Hundreds of people were involved in moving and setting everything up. They had an exhibition at this castle that showed some of the huge chests they used to transport all this stuff from one castle to the next. It was an incredible bit of logistics!
The views from the upper levels of the castle were stunning, with the lake and mountains in the background. The castle worked very well until the advent of guns, which allowed enemies to sit on the hills above the castle and pick off the guards.
After visiting the castle we walked along the lake to Montreux, which was about 2 miles away. We couldn’t help but keep looking back at the views of the castle and the mountains behind it. There were pretty flowers and blooming trees along the path the whole way. We saw one of the many historic passenger paddle boats go by. The paddle wheels are in middle of the boat, and they move very fast connecting several towns around the lake.
The nearby towns of Montreux and Vevey are luxurious resort towns with belle époque buildings, a Mediterranean climate, and incredible waterfronts. Two famous celebrities fell in love with them: Charlie Chaplin (who exiled to Vevey after he was accused of communist sympathies during the red scare), and Freddie Mercury, who recorded his last Queen album, Made in Heaven, in Montreux.
Leave a Reply