R and R in Montreux, Switzerland - Part 1

After watching Lyle put at least 150% into his job and, as a result, try to keep his eyes open when he came home from work (plus just feeling worn out), we agreed he needed a short get-away NOT connected to his work. We both love lakes and mountains, so Lake Geneva in Switzerland looked like a good place to explore. We decided to take the train, as Lyle is pretty sick of airports and airplanes, and trains can be very relaxing here. I spent a good part of my days on the computer researching fares, hotels, places to visit, and airfares.

On Saturday morning we took the metro to the train station and boarded the 8 a.m. fast train to Montreux. The weather was foggy, but as we headed towards the Swiss border, the scenery overwhelmed us anyway. Five hours later with a change of trains in Lausanne, we arrived in Montreux, a town of 23,000 on the opposite end of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman in Europe) from the city of Geneva. There was a little drizzle of rain but we were excited to be in this picturesque city on the lake with an elevation of about 1000 feet. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had very seen! Photographs from an amateur shutterbug like me can't even do it justice, but here are a few of the dozens of pictures we took.....

The Golf Hotel, one of the earlier hotels built on the lake over 100 years ago, was right on the water and we had a balcony with breathtaking views.......

This town has Roman and medieval history with even some vineyards on the southern slopes, but has been a tourist area since the 1800's. It is beautifully landscaped along the lake with a stunning walking path full of every kind of flower, shrub and tree you can imagine...including palm trees!

The sun actually came out later in the afternoon and we just relaxed along the water and on the hotel patio with a glass of wine. The climate here is strange....protected from cold winds because of where it lies at the foot of the mountains, you can almost feel you are on a Carribean island.....and yet skiing in the Alps is 3o minutes away!

That evening we found a Swiss restaurant, decided against the fondue, and enjoyed the famous beef from happy Swiss cows! We walked back to the hotel that evening as the sun set over the city. We were hoping that morning would bring a more clear day so we could see the Alps on a train ride.... Part 2 is coming......