A View From the Top

Went to Rochers-de-Naye (RDN) in the morning, as it was supposed to rain in the afternoon. RDN is a mountain peak behind Montreux, at a height of 2042m. You can hike up which takes about 5hrs. While we did contemplate it (laugh), we decided to take a cog train up to the top. A cog train is needed, as a regular train can’t handle the inclines up the mountain. It took just under 1 hour, with great views all along the way. Once at the top, we walked along some mountain paths. We stopped at one place called the “Jardin Alpin”. It has alpine flowers and plants from all over the world. Each one has a little sign indicating what it is and where it is from. Then over to the other peak, which is the highest viewpoint in the region at 2042m. Wow! What a view. In between, we came across a herd of cows that we believe encompassed the original “more cowbell” skit. Each time one of them shook their head, there was more noise. They also have yurts at the top that you can rent. They had one open for people to view. It smelled like farm animals.

(L) Greetings from the top (C) Looking away from Montreux (R) A yurt

Look at all that sky!

A view of Montreux and Vevey from the top

For lunch, we ate a local place. We shared a meat and cheese plate to start. I had a Rosti Vaudoise. Rosti is a traditional Swiss dish of shredded roasted potatoes. Vaud is the canton (province?) we are in. Vaudoise means with bacon and the local cheese on top. Jennifer had a salad of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Can you say meat sweats?

Melted cheese!

Afternoon was at Chateau de Chillon, Switzerland’s most famous castle. It started being built in 1000AD, but had major upgrades in the 13^th, 14^thand 16^th centuries. Along with the regular tour, they also had an exhibition on the witch hunts in the region. Switzerland had more executions of witches than any other country in Europe. Quite stupid really. The castle was incredible to see. One of the rooms was called ‘latrines’. Don’t need to say anything else about that, although it was worked into the castle’s defenses. Bought a cool retro poster for hanging and some other souvenirs. Walked back to Montreux (~45 minutes) and had dinner (nothing to blog about). Tomorrow…the cheese and chocolate tour. Can’t wait. I also hope to have my first fondue of the trip for dinner.