Day 4 - Gstaad

First stop Chillon Chateaux. Chillon is a dual-purpose castle: the northern facade – pierced with arrowslits and later loopholes, and topped with machicolations – constituted the defensive section, which protected the Via Francigena road. On the south side, facing the lake, magnificent Gothic windows adorn the facade of the princely residence, looking out over the typical landscape of the Vaud Riviera, Lake Geneva and the mountains. In the centre, the keep and the treasure room are connected to the corps de logis by sentry walks. It is a short drive from Montreux, parking easy and free - really free this time. The Chateaux is no different from others you would have seen - just amazes us how well they last and how hard it must have been to build without our modern day tools.

Then we did our first bit of motorway driving (other than the first day - cough cough) - backtracked slightly to Lavaux and picked up the motorway and made our way to Fribourg where we went across the longest suspension bridge in Switzerland. Our route for the day is shown below in the map.

The Suspension Bridge photos

Now we re-join the Grand Tour with the back roads and boy oh boy it really is the scene of a lot of chocolate box pictures, I dont want to bore you with photos and we cannot stop every minute otherwise we would never get anywhere. It is just magical wherever you look. See the photos and the short video.

We stopped in the village of Moléson-sur-Gruyères in the Swiss Alps. The village is at a height of 1,132 metres above sea level. The village sits at the foot of the Moléson which can be reached by a funicular and a cable car Ride up the mountain to Moleson-sur-Gruyeres, which we did. First of all we had lunch of Rosti with Gruyere cheese and a meringue with Gruyere cream - deeee-licious!!! The funicular is the last water driven funicular in Europe - just boggles the mind how they do not come crashing down. Then you get a cable car up the last bit and the views are breathtaking! See for yourself in the short video below.

Then we drive to Gruyeres the village to do a hike and believe it or not, it was too hot. So off to Gstaad, our home for the evening. I am sure you have all heard of Gstaad, its soaring mountains and prestigious international boarding schools have long made it a holiday destination for royalty and celebrities. We are here for one night, our hotel room is on the top floor which sounds amazing when you have views to die for - however - you have seen the chalets in Switzerland, they have very sloping rooves and that means no head room. John practically has to kneel in the shower. We have had a stroll in Gstaad and it is full of expensive brands but has a lovely vibe.

One thing that I haven't mentioned in previous days but the pride the Swiss take in their gardens, roads, town centres etc. There are hanging baskets galore and they seem to have a thing about roundabout centres - they have all sorts of installations, just incredible. Here is a small selection of pictures.

The end.