Day 12: Chillon, Montreaux and La Tour de Peilz

We are staying in Vevey for two nights, so we did not have to pack and move on this morning, so Day 12 was very relaxing. After breakfast, we took a boat across Lake Geneva. Beautiful. I can understand why this region is called the Montreaux-Vevey Riviera.
On Lake Geneva

We took the boat to Castle Chillon, the most visited tourist site in Switzerland. It is a thousand year old castle that dominated the region througout the 14th - 16th centuries.
Castle Chillon

This was a great tour. You can walk throughout the entire castle, including recently excavated basement portions. Famous literary figures, including Bryon, have been inspired by this castle and its past as a prison and center of power.

Basement of Castle Chillon

One of the many interesting rooms.

Original 13th century oak pillar.
Relaxing in the castle lord's reception room.

After a few hours at the castle, we caught a train back to our hotel and planned for the afternoon. We were planning to go to Lavaux for wine tasting, but the tourist office folks told us that wine tasting is usually done after 5 pm, once the wineries have finished their work for the day.

So, we took a bus to Montreaux to see the Jazz Festival. What a great experience!

We sat down in the free music park and luckily encountered a great jazz band from Florida. A group of teenagers, ages 13 - 18, were playing! They are called Jazz Juvenocracy (jazzjuvenocracy.com). They were amazing. The singer/trumpeter is a 13 year old girl, and she can belt it out. They were all soooo talented.

Montreaux Jazz Festival

After the performance, Owen was able to speak with the bassist, and Garrett was able to speak with the drummer -- who gave Garrett the sticks he had just used in the performance. They were gracious young adults who spent a lot of time with the boys.

Jazz Juvenocracy

We had packed our swimming gear for after the concert. We took a bus to La Tour de Peilz, in between Montreaux and Vevey, because the hostel staff recommended this swimming spot on Lake Geneva. It was very relaxed and we were able to cool off in a beautiful place.

Yes, sit ups are needed...

Notice how April avoided the camera.

After a full day, we returned to the hostel, had dinner and relaxed. This was a great day. Tomorrow we move to a hotel in Lausanne and plan to spend some time there and in Geneva. Some possible stops include the U.N. Headquarters and the Olympic Museum.