Three months later, we ventured outside Germany to explore southern Switzerland, fondly referred to by the towns there as the "Swiss Riviera". Though we stayed in Lausanne, renting a car allowed us to drive along Lake Geneva and visit Montreux and Vevey, passing through other towns too.
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We arrived by train via Basel and the ride could not have been more scenic. Green fields, sunflowers, mountains, lakes, hills of vineyards... and lots of sun. Upon arrival, we headed to our apartment, close to the city center. However, we didn't realize the massive hills made walking around a somewhat complicated adventure. I wish I'd learned early on that there are elevators to take you up and down the hills, making it a lot more fun to explore Lausanne on foot!
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Once we figured that out (after lugging ourselves straight up for about 1000 meters), we found an outpost of Holy Cow for a dinner of local burgers and fries, then dropped by the Coop grocery store for provisions for the week. I was happy to find Belgian liege waffles for my morning sugar rush, along with the usual Swiss provisions of Gruyere and Appenzeller cheese, yogurt, fresh bread, and chocolate (my favorite brand: Cailler).
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We spent the first day driving along Lake Geneva to Montreux. It's a beautiful jumping off point to Zermatt, Glacier 3000, Chateau Chillon, and a number of other tourist attractions - but is a great spot all on its own. The central train station is within 200 meters of the waterfront. We wandered along the Lake, famous for a jazz festival in July, and caught remnants of performances lingering into August. To escape the late afternoon heat, we headed out for a 2-hour cruise on Lake Geneva next, enjoying the brief stops to smaller lakeside towns. We were on Montreux during Swiss National Day, so though we didn't stay for a spectacular fireworks show on the lake, we caught the various colorful explosions along the drive to Lausanne, to celebrate the uniting of the Swiss territories into a single country. Like in most of Europe, many shops and restaurants were closed that day so it was helpful to check the calendar and stock up on provisions.
Day 2 was spent exploring Vevey - home of Nestle and retirement home of Charlie Chaplin. We parked along the Place du Marche, then walked along Quai Perdonnet to the Alimentarium. A food museum created by the Nestle Foundation, it offers an interesting mix of nutrition information, the history of Nestle and our relationship with food over the years, along with some interactive food exhibits. The Alstadt offers some shopping, and we had a tasty and quick lunch nearby along the Quai before heading back to Lausanne for the evening.
Finally, we spent the third day wandering Lausanne. The first stop was the Saturday morning farmer's market at Place de la Palud, then off for crepes with cidre followed by shopping for toys at La Marelle. The crepes were tasty, but since most of the toy shop's goodies were made in Germany, we just window-shopped before hopping on the metro to Ouchy, for another day along the waterfront. Once there, we walked towards the Olympic Museum (though there are several of these worldwide, this one is unique because Lausanne is home to the IOC), taking in the billboards from London 2012 Olympics. Though overpriced, we ate a nice dinner at Movenpick set off by a stunning waterfront sunset. Before heading home, we stopped by a Coop to load up on Cailler chocolate for the ride back home to Germany in the morning.
Though expensive to visit, the fresh air, stunning scenery, and excellent food near Lake Geneva make any of these towns a great holiday destination.
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We arrived by train via Basel and the ride could not have been more scenic. Green fields, sunflowers, mountains, lakes, hills of vineyards... and lots of sun. Upon arrival, we headed to our apartment, close to the city center. However, we didn't realize the massive hills made walking around a somewhat complicated adventure. I wish I'd learned early on that there are elevators to take you up and down the hills, making it a lot more fun to explore Lausanne on foot!.JPG)
Once we figured that out (after lugging ourselves straight up for about 1000 meters), we found an outpost of Holy Cow for a dinner of local burgers and fries, then dropped by the Coop grocery store for provisions for the week. I was happy to find Belgian liege waffles for my morning sugar rush, along with the usual Swiss provisions of Gruyere and Appenzeller cheese, yogurt, fresh bread, and chocolate (my favorite brand: Cailler).
.JPG)
We spent the first day driving along Lake Geneva to Montreux. It's a beautiful jumping off point to Zermatt, Glacier 3000, Chateau Chillon, and a number of other tourist attractions - but is a great spot all on its own. The central train station is within 200 meters of the waterfront. We wandered along the Lake, famous for a jazz festival in July, and caught remnants of performances lingering into August. To escape the late afternoon heat, we headed out for a 2-hour cruise on Lake Geneva next, enjoying the brief stops to smaller lakeside towns. We were on Montreux during Swiss National Day, so though we didn't stay for a spectacular fireworks show on the lake, we caught the various colorful explosions along the drive to Lausanne, to celebrate the uniting of the Swiss territories into a single country. Like in most of Europe, many shops and restaurants were closed that day so it was helpful to check the calendar and stock up on provisions.
Day 2 was spent exploring Vevey - home of Nestle and retirement home of Charlie Chaplin. We parked along the Place du Marche, then walked along Quai Perdonnet to the Alimentarium. A food museum created by the Nestle Foundation, it offers an interesting mix of nutrition information, the history of Nestle and our relationship with food over the years, along with some interactive food exhibits. The Alstadt offers some shopping, and we had a tasty and quick lunch nearby along the Quai before heading back to Lausanne for the evening.
Finally, we spent the third day wandering Lausanne. The first stop was the Saturday morning farmer's market at Place de la Palud, then off for crepes with cidre followed by shopping for toys at La Marelle. The crepes were tasty, but since most of the toy shop's goodies were made in Germany, we just window-shopped before hopping on the metro to Ouchy, for another day along the waterfront. Once there, we walked towards the Olympic Museum (though there are several of these worldwide, this one is unique because Lausanne is home to the IOC), taking in the billboards from London 2012 Olympics. Though overpriced, we ate a nice dinner at Movenpick set off by a stunning waterfront sunset. Before heading home, we stopped by a Coop to load up on Cailler chocolate for the ride back home to Germany in the morning.
Though expensive to visit, the fresh air, stunning scenery, and excellent food near Lake Geneva make any of these towns a great holiday destination.
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