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Monday, March 25, 2013

Vevey, Switzerland

I’ve just got back from a wonderful weekend in Vevey, Switzerland.  I caught the train from Geneva airport (about an hour – 62 CHF return), a very pretty journey along the lakeshore.

Vevey is a lovely town situated on Lake Geneva.   The Alps loom up in the distance.   It is the home of Nestle.  Charlie Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life here and there is a monument dedicated to him that stands on the lakeshore. 

We stayed at a small guesthouse called Le Charlot (www.lecharlot.com).  The rooms are located above a cafĂ©/boulangerie.  The rooms are spacious and modern and some have a lake view.  Just around the corner was the Yatus tapas bar where we sampled some Swiss wine!  Great tapas and lovely white wine – the Torpa is especially good!  

On Saturday we walked from Vevey to Montreux.  It was a pleasant walk, mostly along the shores of Lake Geneva (about 7 kms).  At the Brasserie Bavaria we ate the local speciality of Rosti – tasty and extremely filling.  Now all we needed was a hike in the mountains, but instead we visited Chateau de Chillon (http://www.chillon.ch) about 1 km beyond Montreux.  There is plenty to see at Chateau de Chillon and the location is stunning so well worth a visit (CHF 12).  We caught a train back, which was free with the Montreux Riviera Tourist card.  The card entitles visitors to free local transport and up to 50% off the entrance fee at museums/places of interest in Vevey, Montreux and Lavaux.  On Sunday we visited the Vevey Alimentarium (CHF 12) in the old Nestle headquarters.  The building is in amazing location, but the museum itself was a bit disappointing, especially as I was hoping for free chocolate samples and my husband was hoping for free Nespresso coffee – we got neither!  It is about human nutrition and has various bits of equipment for interaction - I think children would enjoy it.  A quick coffee and baguette at Le Charlot then it was time to take the train back to Geneva airport.  

All in all a very nice stay, but next time we’ll bring our walking boots and head up into the mountains.  

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