Scenic Saturday

I finally got round to visiting Vevey and Montreaux yesterday.

After hearing so many praises about these two places and how beautiful they are for the past few months, I finally made the trip down myself to see what the fuss was about. Nah lah, actually, I just don't wanna get stuck in my room all day since I have a rare break from my deadlines. So, it was off to Vevey and Montreaux we go.

From my friend, Vevey and Montreaux was all about the lake-side view. Both cities are very close to each other on the shores of one end of Lake Geneva. But, besides the view, it was also the annual Museum Night for most museums in Montreaux and Vevey after 5 pm. That was a definite reason for me to go since the entry to Chateaux de Chillon is at 10Chf on normal days. What to do? Poor student on a tight budget could only go to places for a very good reason...

There was this weekly saturday market going on at the big square of the village and it just so happened that they were also having a huge sale on second hand books. All books selling for an unbelievably low price! But there was one bad thing about it. All the book were in French... Ah well, but it was still very interesting to browse through the titles. I bought an Enid Blyton book (in French, of course) for 1 Chf only!!! Cheap right! My friend had bought another book, a huge thick book on the adventures in Switzerland. The organiser of the store could not find any price tag on the book, so after thinking a while, he sold the book to my friend for 1 Chf. I felt very cheated after that, but ah well, I got a French book that I could actually finish! LOL...

We then got to Place de Chaplin, a little park where a statue of Charlie Chaplin stands, gazing out into the waters that are speared by a gigantic fork.

Yes, you've read it right. A huge stainless steel fork.

I have got no idea what the fork was for, but for Chaplin, it seemed that he was stayed in Vevey at some point in his life and so they built a monument for him there. I wonder if I became famous, would they build a monument for me here in Rhodanie? haha...

I digress, so let me get back on track by posting some pictures of me in Vevey.

The Enid Blyton book that I bought.
A French version of Jane Eyre that I didn't buy...
Along the streets of Vevey
The Fork that almost speared me. Look how pretty the background is.
A rendezvous with Chaplin.

After Vevey, we went to Montreaux for the next leg of the trip.

Little known to some tourists, Montreaux also has an old town. My friend, who had visited Montreaux countless times before, had actually not been to the old town, and so, we went exploring. The old town of Montreaux is charming, but of a different charm than the other old towns that I had visited, like in Nice or Yvoire.
Lakeside view inMontreaux

Because Nice or Yvoire are popular tourist destinations, the place would have some people on the streets, walking around or just sitting at the cafes, sipping tea, coffee or wine. But in Montreaux, the streets were almost deserted bacause everyone was down at the lakeside, soaking in the sun and sight. I'm not complaining, because the absence of people and the presence of many open shops and traffic made the stroll much more pleasant. And there was this spot in the middle of the town that had a waterfall in the middle of a neighbourhood. Imagine the residents there! A waterfall in the backyard, the magnificent view of the lake in the front! All the more spectacular without the tourists crowding around.The Backyard, and...
the front yard!

Montreaux also had its own Saturday market going on, but it was an antiques and other what-nots rather than food and bread. Many interesting stuff, but some of the stuff were overpriced, in my opinion. Still, it was an interesting experience.

We then walked a long way to the Chateaux de Chillon. The chateaux is in a neighbouring town, not in Montreaux, and so was quite a walk. Once we got there, there was a pleasant surprise.

I'm not sure if it was a usual get up for the Museum, but the people in the castle were dressed as medieval people! We were greeted by ladies dressed in the medieval gowns and there were musicians and jugglers performing in the main square in the castle. There were also several story tellers in different parts of the castle recounting stories to any who stopped to listen. I sat through a story on how one oarticular person became the bear constellation and another on Paris and Helen of Troy. Didn't understand much of it, but it was an interesting experience listening to strange ladies in long cream gowns, with belt and crowns of leaves, recounting stories in French.

A performer playing some strange instument. His right hand rotates a gear while his left presses on keys. It is like a mechanical violin-piano thing.
This guy can even perform techno songs on it...

Storytellers who had the rapt attention of both adults and kids.

A campfire....

To roast hot dogs on wooden sticks!! (Why isn't this guy in medieval costume like everyone else?)

The castle had been a source of inspiration to many writers and poets. Lord Byron was so inspired by a prisoner's account of his days in the castle's dungeon that he wrote The Prisoner of Chillon. Other famous authors who were similarly inspired were Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo.
Some lady who decided to freak everyone out by sitting near the entrance of the cellar. She was playing the role of the unfortunate maiden who had to sigh in dismay at the rate of growth of the weeds. :-D
Outside, in another part of the castle, there was a roaring campfire where tourists could sit around to roast some sausages. At 4 Chf a piece, it was a tourist blackmail. But the performers were performing there as well, and so we stopped for a little while to enjoy the show before continuing the tour.

After the castle, it was starting to get a little late, and so we decided to head back to Vevey to check out another museum there. Originally, we wanted to go to the Museum of Swiss Games. However, it was really far, about the same distance as the chateau was from the train station, and so we went to a museum that was much nearer, the Museum of Food. It was interesting. I was just glad that I ate dinner before entering, otherwise I might be tempted to pinch the displays off. :-P

Looks good enough to eat eh?

Evening view of the lake in Vevey.