Swiss vineyards in Vaud

Near St. Saphorin, looking to Lake Geneva

Very little is known outside Switzerland about Swiss wines, especially about any varieties. Indeed, we have only learned about wine in Switzerland upon moving here. This site (in English) about Swiss wine gives a good overview. I posted earlier about how every Spring, "Caves Ouvertes" occur throughout the area (see "Caves Ouvertes"), providing locals and novices alike the chance to sample wine outdoors by the "caves." That is always a fun time! In the meantime, we have seen many vineyards on the northside of Lake Geneva, especially near Montreux - this is the Vaud region.

One sunny day recently, we decided to take a drive and look around. We parked near the lake, and took some photos lakeside (between Chexbres and St. Saphorin), and then made our way towards St. Saphorin, which is uphill away from the lake.

Vineyard in between Chexbres and St. Saphorin

Being on a Sunday, it was very tranquil, especially the further up we got up away from the lake. Despite the haziness, which made it hard to see the Alps across the lake, we still had fantastic views. 

Vineyard and Lake Geneva

In some cases, it seemed like the vineyard went right down to the lake.

There are many walled paths that criss-cross along the hillside. You can walk for hours and get yourself lost up there. Although, you do have to keep your wits about you, as you can quickly and unexpectedly come across a narrow road with traffic.

Walled paths, looking down at St.Saphorin. Ryan is seated on the bench

Looking towards Vevey and Montreux

Seems like land is highly valued around this area - any small piece of land was turned into a space to grow vines!

"Vineyard" and shed

Our friends Mark and Stacy visited us in the Spring, and recommended we take time to visit this area, and we are glad we took time to spend time there, after driving by many times. 

Thirsty, anyone?

Flags

I just saw an episode of "The Big Bang Theory" where Sheldon and Amy made a YouTube video (apparently the first of 52!) called Fun with Flags. Perhaps this is why I am posting these pictures!

There are lots of flags on display in and around Geneva, and here are some of the places where the Geneva canton flag, Swiss flag, and UN flags are on display. I find myself taking lots of photos with flags in them, actually.

Geneva canton and Swiss flags at Lac Leman, Geneva

This one was taken when the sun was setting one nice Saturday (the kind of weather where you just delight in having an icecream):

Swiss flag and Jet d'Eau, Geneva

 All around town, especially in Old Town, or Vieille Ville, you can see flags adorning the streets. This is one of the quiet streets where the flags demonstrate the street's narrow width.

Flags in Vieille Ville, Geneva

Flags at the UN

This was taken in nearby Yvoire, France:

My sister and mother

Here are some more from the back of boats:

The Swiss one...

...and the French one

And here is the Welsh flag on our couch cushions (thanks cousin Audra!), with Fred the model:

Gruyères

The Gruyères region in Switzerland has amazing mountainous scenery, and is where the Gruyère cheese is made. We were told by many non-Swiss people that it is a town that we must visit. The central part of town is medieval, with old buildings on both sides of the main street which is cobble-stoned. Essentially, it can be described by one word: quaint.

The town is pedestrian-only, which means buses and cars all park below, and tourists have a short walk in. We visited on a warm summer day, and although it was mid-week, it was pretty packed with tourists - not too much so you couldn't walk around easily, but it definitely made it hard to take photos (at that time, most of the tourists were Spanish actually).

One of the first things we did was go to the HRGiger Museum Bar. Right by the HR Giger Museum, it is a bar that is best described as "cavernous" and "skeletal" and is said to remind one of Jason and the Whale. All I kept thinking about were the Alien movies, however. It took 2 years to complete, and there are some great photos on the website: http://www.hrgiger.com
People are constantly walking in it just to take photos, so there is a sign saying that it is for patrons only to enter. We enjoyed a drink and a snack there, and it was a cool place to sit and get away from the sun for a bit.

I later learned that H.R. Giger is a Swiss artist who did award-winning design work for the Alien movie.His work is also in the museum, and just outside it too. One of the more impressive displays is the sculpture of the alien "bullets" in the gun.

Gun with alien bullets

Door handles

It is a small town, but there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, and the dishes of choice are fondue, raclette, and rösti; and for dessert, Gruyère cream with berries, meringues, or both! If you are lactose-intolerant, this is not the place for you to eat. I enjoyed cream with raspberries. I liked that they were separate, as I could choose the amount of cream to eat, but the waitress was surprised I didn't finish my cream. I wondered if I'd offended her.

Berries with cream

 We walked around the grounds of the château, which are flanked by the château walls and the stunning scenery. The chateau is from the 13th century, and marks the top of the town.

Going around the château grounds

View from the château grounds

Around the town is the remaining part of the fortified castlewalls, and it's fun to scramble around there on the old, worn steps.

We found a lovely hotel / resort, Hotel Cailler, in nearby Charmey, a town that is enjoyed by people who enjoy fresh mountain air (who doesn't?). We chose to stay there and experience the bains, or thermal baths, and spent a lovely and relaxing afternoon.
Charmey also boasts breathtaking views of the impressive mountains. We could only imagine the scenery in the wintertime.

Fresh bread

We both love fresh bread, but rarely get it just out of the oven.

The area where we lived when we first moved to Geneva, Grand Saconnex, has an organization called Four a Pain, ("bread oven") that held a Fete du Pain one Saturday.

We thought it would be worth a look to see what was being shown. Ryan really likes the Swiss bread called La Tresse au Beurre, or braided butter bread. It's available in the local supermarkets here. As a Swiss friend says, it's great, but you cannot slice it properly - you just have to grab it and tear off a piece.

The Fete was held in a courtyard of a school. It was a nice sunny morning, not too hot, and there weren't many people there. However, inside there was a small crowd, watching the bread coming out of the ovens:

A tray of the Tresse bread

I got the breakfast plate - so simple, and yet so tasty!

Seeing as it was breakfast, I opted to not have wine with my meal.
There were a few guys grilling out, so Ryan had the "'amburger" which was pretty good, he said.
A lively band played what I call local Swiss music, which got the people dancing.  It was getting pretty lively as we left!

Lakeside cinema

For about five weeks every summer, CineTransat shows films lakeside just after sunset. For free, you can bring blankets, chairs, food, drinks, umbrellas, whatever you like really, and enjoy a movie. We decided to go and see Blade Runner (director's cut) in August with some friends - there were 7 of us in total.

Comfy chairs for hire

The forecast wasn't looking too good, so we decided to wait and see what would happen. Ryan volunteered to go early and reserve a large space for us. Thankfully, he took our large umbrella, as the skies opened soon after he ventured out! The organizers, however, told the few people there that the forecase looked as if the rain would go away in time for the movie, and then they proceeded to play rain-themed songs - Here Comes the Rain by The Eurythmics, Purple Rain by Prince, etc.
Ryan gave me updates while the rest of us collected in the apartment, waiting for the rain to let up. By 8.30pm, about half an hour before sunset, we ventured out and found Ryan (Thank you, giant umbrella) had saved a great spot for us. We got chairs, and broke out the cooler for some refreshing beverages.

Before the movie. Notice the "paper" chairs and the robot DJ setup to the left

This was an impressive display and really built up anticipation to the movie!

Only 3 of us had actually seen the movie before. I'd heard good things about it from friends, and I love Harrison Ford and think highly of Ridley Scott's work, so I was looking forward to it. And it was a really good film! It's 30 years old, and it was funny to see the futurist LA (which is only 7 years from now); pouring with rain, and full of buildings so tall you couldn't see the ground; with constant noise and lights, yet it dim and grim.

During the movie, the following really enhanced the experience: the fireworks that went off across the lake and also to the right of us; the moon rising over the lake; and the lightning.

While we stood around discussing the film and the "ambience," Mother Nature decided to do what she had threatened for the entire evening - the rain started and suddenly we were all chased away by a massive storm! We couldn't have been more soaked!

What a great night we had! It is yet another reason why Geneva is such an amazing city in the summer.

Château de Chillon

My friend Tracy was here from the US, and we decided to go to Montreux and visit Château de Chillon while we were there. I love castles, so I was pretty excited to go and see it. It's on tons of postcards of Switzerland, with most pictures taken from the lake. We had expected to spend about half an hour at the Château, then most of the day at Montreux, but there was so much to see, we spent most of the afternoon wandering around the Château, exploring the castle and the grounds!

The weather was fantastic: warm, but not hot, and sunny. We took a pleasant train trip from Geneva to get to Montreux, then took a short bus ride to the Château.  On the way, a quick read through the guide books taught us that was "made famous" by Lord Byron, who wrote the poem The Prisoner of Chillon.  It has become a very popular tourist destination, It's in the very corner of Lake Geneva, and surrounded by tall mountains.

It is on what is now a very busy street, so it's hard to imagine how it was centuries ago. It must have felt like such a serene place to those who lived there.
Upon crossing a small bridge, you can see the natural moat.

The map given to us showed a suggested path to follow for a self-guided tour, which we chose to do. One of the first places we went to was the cellar, where we got to see the dungeons made infamous by the afore-mentioned poem. It's quite chilling to see pillars and posts where you can almost picture prisoners being shackled. I think if the lighting was any dimmer, it would be a very ominous place.

There are windows dotted around that show the stunning lake and mountains. Nowadays, a large ship full of tourists will sail by (very rapidly) or smaller boats.

The tour continued to 30 more different points of interest... it was full of narrow staircases leading to big halls or small private rooms.

There are many signs that this castle was built in stages, over centuries. There were three or four courtyards, for instance, and more than one private quarters.

We spent a good few hours exploring this lovely castle, with great views looking out and into the grounds. There were so many windows and scenic spots!

This excursion cut into our "Montreux time", but it was an afternoon well spent.

View of Château de Chillon from lakeside Montreux

The photo opportunities in this place are almost endless, and I thank Tracy for taking her wonderful camera and sharing her photos with me!

Basel

I just spent the weekend in Basel with my sister. Basel is the most northern city in Switzerland, and it is on the France/Germany/Switzerland border. As it's not far, I took  the train there, which was a really enjoyable trip, especially for the first part around Lake Geneva.

I knew Basel would be pretty, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how attractive it is. All around are old buildings, narrow streets, plazas and great spots to discover and enjoy! We did not have a plan for the weekend, except to walk around and explore...

The Offene Kirche Elisabethen, or Church of St. Elizabeth was the first stop on our self-guided walking tour of Basel. It's on a busy road, and it's in Neo-Gothic style. It's beautiful, and we were confused when we found that part of it was a cafe. Turns out (thank you internet) that it was up for demolition, and now it is now hired out for events.

 We then walked by the Tinguely fountain. Jean Tinguely has a museum in Basel that we didn't get to, so it was nice to see the fountain. This is a hot spot for teenagers later that night.
We meandered through the town and then headed to Münster Cathedral, going through the Münsterplatz to get to it. It's under construction but impressive nonetheless.

The Münsterplatz

Münster Cathedral, under construction

We then went around the back of the cathedral to see the river. The Rhein/Rhine is massive, and flows quite swiftly.

We then went through the narrow, winding streets to go to the Rathaus. We couldn't stop snapping pictures on the way!

The day had been cloudy and sunny, but when we got to the Rathaus, the sun came out and shone on the lovely building. There was a little market in front, that was closing up for the day.

Rathaus and market

We walked into the courtyard area to take a look.

The Marketplatz is a busy area, bustling with trams, traffic and tourists, with plenty of places to have a coffee, including a McDonalds (which we avoided, but great real estate!), so we sat and had a coffee in a spot across from the Rathaus.

Walking to the Spalentor, the city gates was a gradual uphill climb through more winding streets lined with narrow, attractive buildings with boutiques, shops and cafes. And periodically we'd find a nice fountain!

Fountain and Spalentor in background

 The Spalentor was built in the 14th century I believe, as one of 3 gates built to protect the city.

We then walked back to the train station or Bahnhof to get the bus back to the  hotel. Like Geneva and other cities, tourists get free city transport during their stay.

That night, we ventured back into the city to have some dinner and watch football. Then, we found the Imagine Festival, which we'd walked by earlier that day, was continuing.  We caught the last act, a Spanish group called Fuel Fandango, that really got the crowd going!

The next day, we went to the Kunstmuseum, a grand art museum containing contemporary and more classical art. We saw a fantastic Renoir exhibit, where pieces had been collected from around the world.
There were many more exhibits to see there, and our feet were aching after we finished exploring the museum!

After more walking around and lunch, we ended the weekend with a drink on the river, at a nice terrasse, where we had a good chat with Amanda's colleague.

Basel is the first place I've been to where Swiss-German is spoken. We muddled around with our very limited German, but of course people spoke English too. I was delighted to find Bretzel, soft pretzels served plain or as a sandwich. We had one with raclette and also one with olives. Both delicious!

This was a great weekend trip that passed by quickly.