Tuesday, June 30
We flew into Geneva from London and easily hopped on a train to Montreux at the Geneva airport. The train ride had nice views from Lake Geneva, but we were so tired, we all dozed through most of them.
After arriving at the Montreux train station, we oriented ourselves and then headed down to our hotel, the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace. Check-in was easy, and our room was just outside the elevator on the second floor. While not a lake view, the room was fantastic. It had a king bed in one room and a separate sitting room with a pull-out sofa that was already made up for LS. The bathroom was accessible via doors from either room.
We dropped off our bags, then headed down to check out the area around the hotel. The Montreux Jazz Festival was set to begin on Friday, our last day in Montreux, and preparations were well underway. This did mean that most of the lakeside promenade was crowded and busy with people setting up stages and stands, so not as peaceful as I imagine the area being during any other time of the year. We wandered down the walkway and decided upon a lakeside spot for dinner, where we shared a delicious pizza. I had been determined to use my rusty French on this trip, but was jet lagged and immediately defaulted to speaking English. We then grabbed some gelato (I managed to squeak out a few French words) and made our way back up to the hotel and to bed.
Wednesday, July 1
The next day I had planned for us to head over to Chateau de Chillon but it was calling for rain that afternoon, so I switched it up and we took a train to Lausanne instead to visit the Olympic Museum. While we were on the train, I remembered that I had actually wanted to take the ferry there because the dock is way closer to the museum, but c’est la vie. So, we walked the mile or so from the train station to the museum.
Since we had the Swiss Travel Pass (and Family Card for LS), entry to the museum was free. We visited many places that were included in the travel pass, so if you are calculating which train pass to get for your trip, make sure to account for that in your numbers. I may write a future post on how and why we landed on the STP over the half fare card, but I found the pass extremely convenient.
The museum had a lot of history of the modern Olympics, including past clothing and medals, which I found the most interesting. LS loved the mascots and models of the venues. Overall, it was a nice museum if you are into the Olympics and are in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it otherwise.
The rain came toward the end of our visit, so we hung out in lobby until it had mostly passed, then headed back out to explore the city. I had researched some places to eat ahead of time, and had noted La Chandeleur Creperie as a place to try, but I had not noted that we had to walk uphill and uphill and uphill to get there from the museum. Our group was a bit crabby and hangry by the time we arrived, but we were seated quickly. And when the crepes arrived, we all agreed it was well worth the climb!
After eating, we wandered around the city. Mr. Strange collects vinyl and was looking for a few particular records that he thought would be easier to find in Europe, so we went on the hunt for a record store. He had the address for one, but we circled the block several times, not finding it. He finally noticed the sign in a second floor window, so after some exploring we found stairs. We went up to the second floor to find a sign that they had moved! Mr. Strange was ready to give up after this, but I urged us on, and we eventually found the second address. LS and I sat on a nearby bench to rest while he dug through the shop.
After about an hour, he returned and we headed back to the train station. We got off at Vevey and walked down to the lakefront there because LS wanted to check out the Fork in the lake. Vevey was a cute town! If we hadn’t been staying in Montreux due to the jazz festival, I think it would make the perfect base for the area.
We headed back to Montreux and ate dinner at the Montreux Jazz Cafe in our hotel. I had a large, delicious burger. At the end of our meal, our server put some chocolates on our table that he said were from the chocolate shop in the hotel, Guillaume Bichet. It. Was. The. Best. Chocolate. Ever. I meant to stop by and buy some when they were open, but I never did, which was probably for the best with the heat wave we had rolling through our trip (remember this when we visit the Lindt factory in Zurich), but I fully plan on seeing if I can buy some online.