So we left Germany today and headed to Switzerland. Our first leg took us toward Basel and the border.
Getting to the border was a bit of an anti-climax. We knew we had to buy a “vignette” – a toll tag sticker for the car – and expected some sort of passport control. But all it took was handing over 40 swiss francs and the “border guard ?” asking whether I wanted the sticker at the top of the windscreen or the bottom then “auf wiedersehn” and we were on our way! Not even a glance at our passports !
Now in are Switzerland – on we went and headed for our first stop – Gruyere. It was a bit bizarre driving into Switzerland. From flat as a pancake German country side, past Basel we drove through a series of tunnels and then it’s as if you are “under” Germany – literally – as you look behind and there are huge mountains !
Adrienne in the streets of the old
town of Gruyere with castle behind
We arrived in Gruyere mid morning and headed to the castle. The old streets are full of cafes – in this part of Switzerland it is actually French influenced so it was a bit weird going from all german to french already.
The castle dates back to the 1400 and 1500’s and has a glorious position on top of the hill with magnificent views of the alps and countryside – probably worth a few bob these days !
At the back of the castle between the building and the ramparts was a beautiful patterned hedge garden with pockets of tulips flowering amongst the hedges and a fountain in the middle – so picturesque.
After the castle we headed down the hill to a cheese shop that also sold deli items so we could get some lunch – bad timing as it was full of a bus load of italian school kids going berzerk ! We finally managed to get a few overpriced sandwiches and drinks and escape to a nearby park. We also found half the swiss army here on manouveres !
We then headed for our next stop- Lake Geneva. We were heading to Montreux – the Riviera of Switzerland and by the look of the hotels on the lake I wouldn’t be surprised.
Walk along the waterfront at Montreux
Located along the waterfront is a statue of Freddie Mercury from the rock band Queen. Queen bought a recording studio there in 1978 and Freddie died in Montreux in 1991. He owned a chateux in the pricey end of town – in the background in the picture.
From a different era a bit further along out of town is Chateau de Chillon, a castle dating back to around 1100. This castle was added onto over the centuries and the poet Lord Byron visited here – we found his name carved in a column in one of the lower chambers of the castle.
Ice creams at Chateau de Chillon
After our tour around the castle we stopped for an ice cream and sat on a park bench looking out over Lake Geneva. Across the other side of the lake are the huge mountains of the French Alps – so not often you could sit eating ice cream with such a fabulous view – looking into another country !
From Montreux it was on to Interlaken. This was a bit of backtracking – if we had gone straight from Freiberg to Interlaken this morning it would only have taken a couple of hours so our travels today were a bit of a roundabout. Adrienne had found a scenic drive instead of heading back along the autobahn – the drive was called the Jaunpass which can often be closed due to snow but thankfully was open – the weather has been clear today and was even as hot as 16 degrees at Montreux.
Juanpass switchback road
It was a very winding round through classic Swiss Alp scenery and some sections are only wide enough for one car – you back up if you meet someone else ! Luckily there was not much traffic so we didn’t have to try that manouvere.
We arrived in Interlaken about 18:00 – Interlaken is also on a lake and also nestled amongst the Alps.
Moon over Interlaken
The very helpful owner of the hotel where we are staying directed us to a couple of nice restaurants – we decided to bypass the one with the drunk chef – although he is apparently okay if you get there early – and instead had italian. It must have something to do with being close to Italy as the food was just delicious – but very pricey – Switzerland seems much more expensive generally than Germany was.
And then back to our hotel where our day ended with a perfect clear sky and the moon rising over the mountains.