Château de Chillon

Château de Chillon

Monday was a very windy and chilly day in St-Prex. I wanted to get out though, so we hopped on the train and headed for Veytaux (only an hour from our apartment) to see the Chateau de Chillon. Thanks to Wikipedia, I'm not going to go into details about the history - just go here.

The girls on our walk to the castle

Luckily for us, it wasn't windy at all at the Castle. We sat in one of the outside gardens and had some lunch while enjoying the beautiful views on Lake Geneva. We then started our tour. The map/guide that we got upon entering was fabulous, as were all the signs around the castle that showed us where to go. All the rooms were labeled with numbers, so I could read about what we were seeing without having to pay for and chase the girls around during an audio guide tour. It took us a little over 90 minutes to get through the whole castle. It was bigger than I thought!

One of the courtyards

One of my favorite sections was Bonivard's Prison. Lord Byron made this room famous through his poem The Prisoner of Chillon. The poem describes the prisoner's (Francois Bonivard) dark and solitary life.

The castle was full of gothic arched ceilings

(I took this picture in the prison)

Katherine looking out at the lake

In one of the bedrooms occupied by the House of Savoy

The end of the tour took us up what seemed like a million little skinny and steep stairs to the keep. The keep was the last line of defense and final refuge in case of a siege. Katherine was pretty nervous about going up the stairs. She was most nervous about the "cracks" between the stairs. I have to admit I was pretty nervous too, especially since I was carrying a heavy backpack and had Ellie in my arms. I was SO proud of Katherine for climbing all the way to the top. The views were well worth the climb.

Looking out at the French Alps from the keep

View of Montreaux from the keep

I'm not sure how we made it down the steep stairs without a nervous breakdown from Katherine, but we did. That was the grand finale of our tour. Oh, except for me filling up my water from a fountain. For some reason I just LOVE the "potable water" fountains in Switzerland.

One of the courtyards

It was yet another successful outing for the girls. The weather was sunny and warm, the girls got to run around outside, and ALL three of us liked the castle . . . except that tonight Ellie showed me the map of the castle and told me it was scary. So, maybe Ellie was a bit nervous about the cold dark interior. That's o.k. though, because she likely won't remember it anyway.