Return to Chillon

For some reason, my younger visitors - without fail - are enthralled by medieval castles and this year's summer guests were no exception.  For the most part, Chillon receives the highest marks, so off we headed one Saturday early in July as an intermediate stop to our real destination.  Our real destination was nearby Montreux, where we planned to enjoy the free musical events on offer during the annual internationally-reknowned Montreux Jazz Festival.    But the girls could not resist the lure of a castle begun in the 12th century, on a site that has been inhabited since the Bronze Age.

The first stop, and one of the principal attractions, is always the dungeon with its vaulted ceilings

and long hall where prisoners who could not see outside - what windows exist there were deliberately placed way out of reach - could constantly hear the lapping of the waves of Lake Geneva enough to realize how close, yet how far away, their freedom was.

From the dungeons, we moved into more pleasant areas,

although there was a still a fascination with sitting in shadowy window alcoves to gaze out at the lake - this time visible from the windows.

They loved the painted standards on the walls,

various corner displays,

and walking on the cobblestones from one area to another.

The contrast of the 12th century with the 21st is striking, especially juxtaposed as they are in this setting.

Here one can see Montreux in the distance. 

Unfortunately, I was not destined to visit Montreux that afternoon.  As we discovered when trying to return along the lake road, the Swiss police were not letting cars through unless they were only going to drop people off.  All parking garages in Montreux were full by then.  So, I persuaded a kind young officer to let me drop the girls off in mid-city near the quai, where they had a wonderful time.  They didn't make it home again until 2 a.m.