The farmer's market was small and not so exciting so we didn’t stay too long before we were on our way to the west side of Lake Geneva—the Switzerland side—to Lausanne and Montreux.
Our first stop was the Chillon Castle. It had some pretty amazing rooms. I’m just really glad that I live in the 21st Century.
As we walked past the sword room, Misha announced, “You can tell it is the sword room because of the way it is.” Well, yes, you can.
The latrines were an interesting piece of work. One was a double seater where Amy joked as she posed next to Kristen, “How’s thou's day?”
It was nice to be in the castle for most of the morning while it rained.
Leaving the castle, the girls were thrilled to learn of a Freddie Mercury statue along the lake front. We snapped pictures and posed as we could with other tourists/fans trying to do the same, fans who were also calling out Queen songs. Patience is a virtue when trying to take pictures without other tourists filling the shot.
We opted for a quick lunch at McDonald’s. Not cheap, but quick. Everything is spendy in Switzerland.
We also found and toured the Queen museum which is now housed in a casino. Forty years ago the casino with its great acoustics was the recording studio.
Lausanne was a little further down the road and our next stop. The city was set on a hillside, and our research suggested parking further up the hill. We arrived just after 5 pm and had to take a bus then the metro down to the main town. The rain continued throughout the day.
We walked around the Old Town of Lausanne, walked through the church of Lausanne, and passed by Swiss banks. We joked about setting up a Swiss bank account. We didn’t.
Lausanne is the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee. It was late in the day when we stopped by and the building was closing so we weren't able to tour it.
Our drive took us back to Evian. We got stopped at a train crossing. A semi coming from the other direction had stopped past the stop line and the crossing arm for the guard was stuck on top of his load. The train could not pass until the arm had been engaged in the down position. A passenger on the other side of the tracks got out to let the know the semi driver that his truck was keeping the arm up and guided him in backing up. The arm was released, but it took at least another five minutes for it to reset and finally lower in front of the semi. The train, whether it was electronically controlled or because of the train conductor, could not go until the arm was engaged in the down position. Even then, the train inched through the crossing. Finally, we were on our way.
We dined tonight at Le Robinsons, arriving early enough before they closed for lack of patrons. There were a few other people in the restaurant, so we were happy to join them. Our waiter/cook/owner took our order. All but Chris ordered pasta. He had pizza, which apparently the restaurant has won awards for. The owner did not speak any English, but we were still able to communicate fairly well. Misha’s French class has helped her know the basics of French. He commented that we had returned from being turned away the night before.
For dessert we enjoyed chocolate ice cream and panna cotta.