Alpine Vacation Part 1: Swiss Cheese and Christmas Lights

I know that it's been a little while since my last post. You have probably all been sitting on pins and needles anxiously awaiting for a new blog entry, right? Well, you are in luck! See, for the last week, my husband (from here on out, referred to as Mr. Traveler) and I have been vacationing in Switzerland. The internet situation was a little sketchy (one place had a paid internet kiosk, which was actually a closet with a small window). So, for the next couple days, I'll be playing catch up and posting about our trip.

Last Wednesday, we flew to Geneva, Switzerland. We had previously considered getting a hotel room in the city for the night, but it turned out that there was a large conference going on and "there was no room in the inn". Our plan, then was to fly into the city and then drive to our next stop, Montreux. Our flight was scheduled to land in Geneva at about 3:30. However, a flight delay put us in the city an hour later. We headed straight to the car rental desk, where we were told that the car had actually been rented from the French side and pointed to the other end of the airport. (The airport sits on the border between Switzerland and France.) Once we reached the French Hertz desk, the lady working there told us that the man at the other desk had made a mistake and the reservation was for Switzerland. (I guess there was confusion with the phone and fax numbers on the reservation, as they belonged to opposite sides.) Back across the airport in Switzerland, we successfully obtained the car and headed on our way. Unfortunately, by this time, it was dark, so our drive to Montreux was not as picturesque as we had hoped.

In Montreux, we stayed at a cute hotel (Villa Toscane) near the lake. We were surprised to find that our room actually had two bathrooms, both with a sink, toilet, and shower. It also had an interesting punch card -like key.

Room Key

Once we were checked into the hotel, we ventured out to the Christmas market (Montreux Noel). Most of the non-food vendors were closed, but there were plenty of food and drink stands to light up the place. A large Ferris wheel also brought an air of festivity to the event.

Montreux Noel at Night

After taking a few pictures, we settled on a fondue restaurant in the center of the festival for dinner. The restaurant had a small menu consisting of cheese fondues and a couple other local dishes.

Full of cheese, we headed back outside. By this point, it had started to rain, so we hurried back to the hotel room and settled in for the night.

On Thursday morning, we grabbed breakfast at the partner hotel across the street. Right on Lake Geneva, the breakfast area had some amazing views.

Taken from the Breakfast Area

Reflection with Mr. Traveler

After breakfast, we took a long walk so that we could see the sites in the day light. The combination of the lake and mountains was absolutely breathtaking, as can be seen above.



Home of the Montreux Jazz Festival, the area had a garden dedicated to jazz legends. Here, Mr. Traveler was able to capture this amazing shot:

Jazz Garden

Pretty soon, it was time to head back to the hotel and check out. The plan was to head to Sion, where Mr. Traveler had a meeting for work the following day. We wanted to allow plenty of time to make the trip in the day light, but leafing through the tourist pamphlets at the checkout desk, I soon found one more stop I wanted to make, Chillon Castle. Luckily, it wasn't out of our way, and we were able to make a stop at the castle and still make it to Sion at a reasonable hour.

Chillon Castle

Next up, our adventures in Sion!