Chateau de Chillon

I was really glad we ended up taking the wrong train and ended up walking from Villenueve because we got to see beautiful views like this of the Chateau de Chillon. 

The first records where the castle is mentioned are dated 1005. From the mid-12th century, it was home to the Counts of Savoy. It was never taken by siege but changed hands many times throughout the centuries. In 1816, Lord Byron came here, carved his name on a pillar in the dungeon, and was so inspired by the story of the imprisoned Francois de Bonivard (a Genevois monk and politician who was held prisoner there from 1530-1536) that he wrote the famous poem, The Prisoner of Chillon. After Lord Byron's poem, the castle became popularized and now it is Switzerland's most visited historical monument.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful place:

A view from the bridge across the moat and out toward the lake.

A view of the moat from the bridge (looking the opposite direction than in the picture above).

This is the main courtyard. The castle was originally 100 independent buildings that were gradually connected  to become the structure as it stands today.

We headed into the dungeon and cellars and Sam had a blast climbing all over the rock that acts as the foundation for the castle.

Jump!

You can see "Byron" (Lord Byron) carved into the pillar above. 

This type of structural support is called a "groin vault." 

One prisoner drew this scene of Christ's crucifixion on the wall during his imprisonment.

An old water cart

A fountain with potable water.

Inside the main dining hall. They used to have enormous feasts here.

Notice how short the bed is? Yes, people were much shorter back in the 13th and 14th centuries but they also slept propped up on pillows. They believed that if you died lying down, your spirit would go straight to the devil. But, if you died while propped up, your spirit would go upwards to heaven. 

Also, with all the cold, damp weather, respiratory illnesses were a nearly constant complaint. Sleeping upright helped people breathe more easily. We've had nasty colds this week and I actually thought about doing this - for one second. I don't think I would sleep any better upright and unstuffy than I would lying down and stuffed up.

There was a tunnel from this room to the banquet hall that Sam thought was pretty exciting. He ran back and forth through it about 10 times before I convinced him to come with me and catch up with daddy. He is actually saying, "Please, mom, five more minutes? That make sense, mom? Please?" in the picture above. 

You can just see the line on the tower where the original tower ended and the new part of the tower was added on later.

Sam shares a passion for maps and knowing where we are all the time, just like his daddy. 

Walking around the ramparts

A few views looking down from the ramparts into the courtyards and out over the lake:

Views from the tower:

After a final look around the courtyard, we bid farewell to the beautiful Chateau and headed home. 

Rocher de Nayes

Just a few weeks after arriving, we rode the train to Montreux and took a train from there up to Rocher de Nayes, a ridge with lots of nice hiking trails with beautiful views in the Swiss Alps. The train ride from Lausanne to Montreux is absolutely beautiful with views of the Alps and Lake Geneva on one side and views of the terraced vineyards on the other. 

The weather was perfect. The sun was shining but there was a light fog on the lake that made everything dream-like.

We arrived in Montreux and got on the cogwheel train to head up the mountain. Sam called it a "zipper train" which we, the doting parents, thought was extremely clever.

Sam was really excited about the train ride. He has been asking to go on a mountain train ever since.

Here are some of the views on the way up to the Rocher de Nayes.

A castle we saw on the way up the mountain

It is kind of hard to see in any of my pictures (this is the best of them) but there are giant circular eddies in the water. They were really beautiful.

This is the Dent de Jaman, the tooth of Jaman. That is one big tooth. 

People got off the train at various stops to climb, mountain bike, or hike. Don and I jealously watched the guys with serious downhill gear take their bikes off the train. What an amazing place to ride!

One of my favorite views on the train ride up. All the fall grasses were rust and wine colored and the light was perfect. What a great day to be in the mountains.

And then we were at the top!

Sam was so excited to run around in the mild, sunny weather. 

There are yurts where you can stay. They were neat!

And so fancy inside! You can pay an obscene amount of money to stay here for Christmas and have Papa Noel eat dinner with you and even give your kids gifts on Christmas morning. 

Here are some fantastic views from the top:

See where we started below? It was a really nice hike and Sam climbed it all on his own. We were so proud of our little hiker.

You can see Lake Geneva stretching out behind us. We were on the east side of the lake and Geneva is on the west end.

From where we live, this ridge looks flat but it is like a big knife edge.

Sitting on the edge of the ledge looking down the cliff. Pretty impressive.

I sat on the ledge and had a peaceful meditation at the top while Don hiked down with Sam. I never thought I'd get a chance to sit quietly and thank Heavenly Father for his beautiful creations while surrounded with 360 degree views of the Swiss Alps. Amazing.

Sam loved this marmot observation house. We saw a couple marmots sleeping (and I still can't be sure they weren't stuffed dead ones they made to look like they were sleeping) but Sam thought it was pretty exciting.

The random rocking horse...

Sam and I decided to soak up all the warm fall sun we could, knowing cold, wet weather is the winter norm.

My favorite picture from the trip. 

And then, we took the train down the mountain with views like this.

Sam "napping" on the train ride down.

We walked around beautiful Montreux and got some lunch and then headed to train to Chateau de Chillon.

We accidentally jumped on the wrong train and ended up in Villenueve. We decided to walk along the lake to the Chateau, which ended up being really nice. We saw this tree (above) growing out in the middle of the lake.

And then, we saw this...

The Chateau de Chillon - the coolest castle I've ever seen. The setting is shockingly beautiful. It is the most photographed historical site in Switzerland and with good reason. I'll tell you more about the Chateau in my next post.