After our ski trip we decided to split ways with our little friend family and while the headed back to France, we decided to explore Switzerland. Our first stop was Montreux, which was just a short gondola/train ride away. We didn’t know anything about Montreux other than we had seen it as a stop on the way to Verbier and after putting out a Facebook request for Switzerland recommendations a friend of ours told us he had lived there and that it was great. Seemed like enough information for us to go on so we booked an apartment and set out to see more of Switzerland.
Let me tell you something, I fell IN LOVE with Montreux on first sight. Head over heels in love. Lake Geneva did it to me. With its gorgeous Alps and calming waters, lovely statues, and statuesque castle, I was charmed.
It didn’t hurt that we rented an apartment directly on Lake Geneva. It was a cute little place above a doctor’s office but the real selling point was the view!! I spent so much time standing at the window and listening to the water lap onto the shore.
Some of the highlights of our time in Montreux were:
Chillon Castle –
No European city is complete without its own castle and Chillon Castle is Montreux’s gem. Situated on its own little island on the banks of Lake Geneva, Chillon is a massive castle and they let you tour most of the grounds (often on castle tours, they will have a few rooms open here and there and that’s it), so be prepared to visit for quite a while. The only downside was that we were freezing in that old castle! It’s too bad none of the beautiful old fireplaces were actually functional.
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| Chillon Castle on the lake. |
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| Inside the castle – I swear Nora didn’t seem that unhappy. |
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| Would have killed for a fire in one of these fireplaces. |
Victoria Hotel –
We discovered this little gem overlooking Montreux completely by accident. After having bumbled around on various funiculars only to find ourselves not really where we were planning on going, we spotted this gorgeous old hotel and decided we could all use some snacks and drinks as pick-me-up. Well, we ended up falling in love with the stately, historic hotel. It was something straight out of a movie setting and we had a great time sitting in the lobby/bar enjoying drinks and snacks. The service was lovely and one day we will go back and actually stay at the hotel.
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| Worst picture ever of us enjoying Victoria Hotel. |
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| Backyard of Victoria Hotel. |
Rochers-de-Naye –
We took a cog train (don’t ask me to explain what that is, seemed like a normal train to me – well, a normal train that makes a super steep climb up to the top of a mountain) from Montreux to Rocheres-de-Naye, which is an impressively high mountain peak overlooking Lake Geneva. Once up top we had a nice little lunch and went outside to enjoy the views and have a pretty intense snowball fight. As we were out there, the clouds came rolling in quick and heavy. Before we knew it we were enveloped in the clouds and couldn’t see much of anything around us. It was actually a really cool experience.
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| Get him Nora! |
Lake Geneva –
Have I mentioned Lake Geneva yet? Well, once again, I have to tell you that it is just stunning. One of the best parts of staying in Montreux was morning runs and daily walks along the shore.
Cheese and Chocolate!
From Montreux – were able to cover two of my favorite things in one day: cheese and chocolate! First stop was La Maison de Gruyere – the Gruyere cheese factory. We took a little tour (given by Cherry the Cow) and watched as the actual cheese was made. I was doubtful that this was going to be something that kept Nora’s attention, but I have to admit, it was a great little tour, complete with tastings of the cheese (6, 8, 10 months – which Nora was pretty good at distinguishing).
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| La Maison de Gruyere |
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| Gruyere Cow |
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| How the cheese gets made. |
From there we walked about 10 minutes uphill to the actual town of Gruyere- very cute little picturesque town. We had lunch at a hotel (basically everything there was a hotel/restaurant) overlooking the town and the gorgeous Mountain Views. We wanted to stop at a bar dedicated to the movie Alien, or at least the maker of the movie but after one look inside, Nora was having none of it.
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| Gruyere |
From Gruyere, we went by train and bus on to Broc-Fabrique to the Callier chocolate factory. We barely made it for the last tour (didn’t really read the bus route correctly) but it was another great tour. The first part was an automated show about the history of chocolate. Nora is oddly sensitive to loud noises and “fake” shows so she kept her ears covered for that part, but the rest of the tour she really enjoyed. Especially all of the chocolate tasting. And there was a lot of chocolate tasting! This was one of our favorite days on the whole trip.
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| When your kid is scared of the chocolate tour… |
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| Callier – the whole thing in chocolate. |
We stayed in Montreux for just under a week, but in just that small time it started to feel like home. And let me confess something here and now: I am a warm weather loving beach bum. I normally can tolerate cold weather for about 7 days while sitting at a ski resort and then I’m over it, so for me to say I felt at home under the Swiss Alps in freezing temperatures in Montreux is really saying something.
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