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Wednesday 17 April 2013

Byron Was Here......

 
 
My trip to Geneva was a lovely combination of endless gossiping and a little bit of tourism.
Last Wednesday afternoon we drove round the lake to the lovely Chateau Chillon.
It's been a tourist destination for a couple of hundred years - even Lord Byron called in and scratched his name on one of the columns in the dungeon..
 
 
The castle is built on a bit of bedrock.  The almost 'cathedral-like' lower rooms
are wrapped around bare rock, while the light reflects off the lake water.
It's very beautiful...

 
In many of the rooms you can see the remains medieval wall painting.
This is a corner of the chapel.  Again the quality of light makes everything crystal clear.

 
This is the view from the top of the keep, looking south towards France.
In one of my previous visits my friends drove me all the way round the Lake.
It's interesting to see the differences between the French and Swiss towns.
I adore France but it's definitely a bit less 'tidy'...

 
Here's the view in the other direction - looking towards Montreux
and my friend's part of the Lake.

 
We've got a terrible storm blowing here as I write this post.
Mark and I went for a brief walk after dinner, but it's definitely blowing harder
since we got back in.  Some of the smaller branches have been
broken off my Magnolia.  I hope it doesn't do too much other damage...

14 comments:

  1. What an amazing place the castle looks and those view are beautiful, I think I'd like to visit Geneva now!

    It's really stormy here too. I hate windy weather, when will it stop being so windy?!

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  2. It does look stunningly beautiful. Very windy here too! x

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  3. What a fabulous place - it looks both beautiful and interesting. Love the medieval wall painting. We have the strong winds and rain here as well - wish we could have a few days of sunshine and blue skies!

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  4. The weather has been beastly this spring--in fact, it's hard to tell it's even spring. Nothing is green yet!

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  5. Beautiful! I hope your magnolia survived - it has been wild here, I'm just heading off to check for damage. I love those medieval paintings.

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  6. Hope the magnolia is surviving. It's very windy here, too. The newly-opened daffodils are taking a bruising and the plastic tent-like construction that I bought for my husband to house some of his pot plants has had to be tied down.
    Your stay in Geneva and the visit to the Chateau Chillon must have been a lovely experience. We always used to stop and rest in Geneva if we took the French/Swiss route by car on our way to Italy. It's such a clean environment as well as beautiful.

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  7. It looks fabulous. I stayed in a hotel overlooking the lake when I visted Montreux, a freeby trip with work with a gala dinner. The wind is awful here today, hope your Magnolia is still standing.

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  8. Looks stunning Jan. Glad you enjoyed it.
    The winds seem to have been severe all over the country.I struggled to walk to my car from where I work today.

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  9. Fabulous - what a great place.

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  10. What a wonderful place to visit. Thanks for sharing with us. Is that the bedrock on the left side of the columns?

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  11. What a beautiful chateau. I love the vaulted ceiling and wall paintings inside. The lake looks crystal clear and everywhere looks so clean and tidy. The weather here is very windy too Wednesday night was dreadful with things blown all over the garden. I hope your magnolia will be ok:)

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  12. Thanks for the pictures. Such a beautiful place. Magnolia's are so pretty and so delicate to wind and frost--I'd wait all winter for the buds to appear and sometimes, no blooms because they'd get nipped by frost, or, just as it was in it's full glory, a wind storm would tear the blooms away.

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  13. How interesting and i loved the pictures of the lake. It's sometime since i went to Switzerland but I think you're right about the tidiness! I'm glad that you are having a good time. Enjoy!! Joan

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  14. What beautiful photos... man I need to go on vacation! lol

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