Just Ice and Whiskey: Switzerland: Day 1 - Chillon and the Olympics

August 28th

Dan and I had our 4th Annual Wedding Remembrance Day (aka Anniversary) on the 27th.
We decided to celebrate by going to Switzerland for the weekend.

We arrived in Geneva late on the 28th (after the Solfatara adventure) and pretty much just made it to our hotel and passed out. Adventures would begin in the morning.

August 29th

Most of the internet told me that Geneva isn't that exciting as far as tourism goes, so we decided to explore some of the towns around Lake Geneva instead.

To the train station!

I don't know what these guys were doing, but I found them amusing.

Views from the train along the lake:

Dan enjoying the scenery. Or not....

There was some confusion as to whether or not the train we were on would get us to our destination. Luckily we figured out in time that it would not.

Changing trains at Luasanne.

More views from the train of the lake:

Also this funny train car thingie.

We arrived in Veytaux!

We had lunch and then headed off to explore Château de Chillon (She-yon....not like Chillin').

Chillon is on a rock island just off the coast line.

Like...the width of the natural moat off the coast line.

Chillon started as an outpost in the days of the Romans. Parts of the château have yet to be dated, but the earliest known parts are from around 1000. Chillon developed over several centuries of different ownership. The most important were the Savoy Era (1100's to 1536), the Bernese Era (1536 to 1798), and the Vaudois Era (1798 to present). Above is the 18th century bridge crossing the moat.

A small garden and snack area.

It's only a model. Shhh!

Chillon was built upon a rock outcropping just off the shore which creates the natural moat.

This is the first courtyard.

Behind me are what used to be the stables and other service areas of the château.

Neat woodwork joining type thing.

Down into the cellars!

The cellars probably date back to the early 11th century.

This room was predominantly used as a storeroom in the 13th century.

You can see the natural rock coming up through the ground on the left.

In the 17th and 18th centuries this room was used as an arsenal.

Religious mural on the wall of what was believed to be a holding cell.

This portion of the cellars was also a storeroom until 1290 when it was turned into a prison.

The third column in from the left is important. Remember it.

Some interesting graffiti on the columns. Note the top right, Lord Byron.

The cellars were made famous by Lord Byron and his poem The Prisoner of Chillon (written 1816 after visiting Chillon and learning about Bonivard).

It was the home of Francois Bonivard who spent five years chained to the fifth column (that column you were supposed to remember from earlier).

Look how worn these wooden steps are!

Back into the first courtyard. We entered the cellars under that roof on the right and traveled along the lakeside wall pf the château and back and then under the courtyard.

This is the passageway between the 1st and 2nd courtyards.

It was enlarged in 1836 to allow cannons to pass through.

The keep, the wall to the right, is the oldest building still visible today.

This is the Constable's Dinning Room. The oak columns in the middle (you can sort of see one behind Dan) are original to the 13th century, and the ceiling dates back to the 15th century.

The rest of the room is 20th century reproduction.

This room has been a residence, a dinning room, and a kitchen and sitting room.

Not a bad view for a residence/dinning room/sitting room.

Neat old oak door.

The fireplace. I can see why it would have made a good kitchen.

This room is the Aula Nova. It was restored during the 20th century with assistance by archeologist Albert Naef. It was probably a ceremonial hall.

Now it houses a collection of chests from around the château.

Chests come in all shapes and sizes.

Some served as wardrobes/storage while others served as luggage.

A lock with a dragon as a guardian.

Look! I was there!

This was a bedroom used during the Middle Ages and into the Bernese Era.

The bed looks short, but remember, people were shorter and they slept partially propped up.

These wall decorations are typical of the Bernese Era.

These particular decorations are from the early 17th century.

This is the aptly named Coat-of-Arms Hall.

As you can kind of see, and will see, the walls are painted with the coats-of-arms of nobles from the Middle Ages.

This lady and her family would not get out of the way. The family finally left and she continued to stand and stare at her paper. So now she's a part of my blog. Hello random lady!

ANYWAY, this was the Lord's Bedroom. It was the residence of the Counts and Dukes of Savoy. Pretty much anything that could be painted was painted in this room.

That black thing in the middle is an interactive video display about the room.

This room was most likely used to accommodate the women of the House of Savoy.

Not a bad view for the ladies. That's Montreux to the right. There were also views of vineyards back in the day (Savoy Era). Chillon produces it's own wine Clos de Chillon.

Roof line view from above the Pelium.

This area, below the roofs, now an open courtyard, used to be a covered heated courtyard most likely used as a workshop.

This is the painted ceiling of the Clerks' Room.

This room housed the administration of the Chillon castellany and the bailiwick of Chablais.

There's a lot of words in that statement I don't understand, so here's some clarification:

A castellany is the office of the castellan who deals with the jurisdiction appertaining to a castle, or in this case a château.
A bailiwick is a sphere of operations or particular area of interest.
Chablais was a province of the Duchy of Savoy but is now split between Switzerland and France. Chablais is not to be confused with Chablis, which is a region in Burgandy, France that produces some very nice chardonnay grapes and Chablis wines.

Back to our tour.

Dan standing with a very ornate stove.

This would be used to heat the room in the colder months.

The 4th courtyard. This courtyard's sole purpose is to defend and control the old road.

Don't worry, you didn't miss the 3rd courtyard if you were keeping track.

I didn't have any photos I liked of it, so omitted them.

Looking along the watchman's walk.

The exterior of the château is to the right and the exterior defensive walls are to the left.

This room was used for many things over the centuries. Between the 13th and 15th centuries the Savoy princes and constables dispensed justice here. It was briefly a kitchen at the end of the 15th century. In the 16th century it was a command post. In the 17th century it was a blacksmith's workshop. And in the 18th century it was used as artillery storage.

This is the mechanism for the clock on the clock tower.

Views from a look out in the sentry's gallery.

This is the sentry's gallery.

Entering the keep! The keep is the oldest building still on Chillon dating to the early 11th century.

Of course we climbed it.

The first level has been turned into a small arms museum.

Crossbow, bolt heads, and windlass.

One of these is a Swiss matchlock carbine and one is a hunting carbine. Both are percussion systems.

Swiss matchlock hackbut and hackbut fork rest.

Hackbut.

A second floor displays all the types of pointy things on sticks.

Finally, views from the top:

We climbed down the keep and returned to the mainland. We grabbed a bottle of water and sat for a few minutes in the previously displayed garden (way back at the beginning of the château tour).

We saw some giant tree fungus.

And old cauldrons used as planters.

And hey, there's the clock!

This concludes our tour of Château de Chillon.

We wandered off and found a geocache. This sort of made us miss the train we were going to take to Luasanne. The next one wasn't for half an hour, so we, or I, decided it would be fun to walk to Montreux to catch the train there.

This puppy was saying hello to all who walked by.

Looking back at Chillon. It's that sort of beige block roughly in the middle.

We found a random statue of Freddie Mercury.

Turns out he spent a bit of time in Montreux and recorded his last songs at Mountain Studios located there. Also his birth name is Farrokh Bulsara. Now you know.

Graffiti!

The Montreux train platform.

It was a 30 minute train ride from Montreux to Luasanne. We then walked downhill about 15 minutes to the Olympic Museum. Turns out the International Olympic Committee headquarters are in Luasanne. We did not go to them.

The museum started with a bit of history about the Olympic games.

The first Olympic games are said to have started in 776 BC.

A model of a Greek Olympic village (above) and labels (below).

The original events were running, long jump, javelin throw, shot put, boxing, pankration (sort of a mixed martial arts type thing), and equestrian events.

The Olympic Games were celebrated until 339 AD when Emperor Theodosius put an end to them for being pagan games. The games were not reinstated until 1896 by Pierre de Coubertin.

The first modern games were held in Athens, Greece.

Turns out sometimes you didn't just get a medal for winning an Olympic event. Sometimes you got fantastical trophies. This one is for winning the Decathalon in the Swedish games of 1912. It was donated by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The results were highly contested.

Check out Jim Thorpe for more.

And now, the room of Olympic torches!