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Published: November 10th 2017
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Geo: 46.4313, 6.91061
We arrived in Montreux on Wednesday morning about 11:30 AM after an hour drive in the French Swiss countryside. It was supposed to be a sunny day, but it was overcast and very hazy. We checked in to our hotel. They have limited parking in their parking garage, 5 spaces. We parked acroos the street at first, unloaded our luggage and then headed over to the Chateau Chillon, which is an 11th century castle. This is the most visited and photographed site in all of Switzerland. It is an excellently preserved castle. We stayed there for about 2 hours. We then headed back to our hotel. The garage door was open and it took me 2 turns to get the car into the entrance. Then there is a steep ramp that you must immediately turn right at the bottom. Then you must turn the car 90 degrees to park it. That took about 4 turns to get it in.
We walked over to a Chinese Resturant at the end of the block that our Frommer's guide said was very good. Well this time they were right. We had a delicious meal and it didn't cost an arm and a
leg.
The next morning was cloudy and hazy again. We had breakfast and went to get the car. Getting out of the garage was just as challenging as getting in. I had to use Stacy as a guide, so I didn't hit any other cars or the walls. This Megane Coupe has terrible rearward vision.
We drove up the hills to the town of Bulle. It has a really nice castle and a very good museum. Then it was on to Gruyeres, which is a cool little village at the top of a hill, with a castle. We toured the castle and then went to look for a 17th century farmhouse that still makes cheese the old fashioned wat, by hand. On the way up, a woman in a Jeep flagged us down to stop just as a herd of cattle came around the corner in the street. They stopped to eat grass right by the road and some stood in the middle of the street. We couldn't get through! We waited about 5 minutes and then saw some herders coming down the road and they shooed the cows past us. I thought that some of them might brush up
against the car or chew the mirror off. We finally got up to the cheese making farm only to find out it was closed for the season. Oh well, back down to Gruyeres,to a modern cheese factory for a tour. Not quite the same. The cheese they make is very stinky. Smells like old, dirty socks!
After that we took the long way home through the countryside and it began to sprinkle. We finally got back to our hotel and the garage from hell. We then went over to the casino for dinner and a little gambling. What an odd place. Nothing like Las Vegas. Everybody was quiet and subdued. No yelling or cheering. I think everybody was losing. I put in my 20 francs and watched it float away just like in Tahoe or Vegas.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a nicer day, so we might tour around Montreaux and take a boat ride on Lake Geneva. Hopefully it will clear up so I can get some pics of the snow capped peaks just on the other side of the lake.
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