The Swiss Riviera: It Is Heaven

I am in Paradise...thats's what I felt when I was there in 2003.We lived in Bonivard,close by Monntreux. Bonivard is the name of the prisoner who lived in the famous Chateau de Chillon.

François Bonivard, a monk from Geneva, was kept prisoner in Chillon Castle from 1532 to 1536 for preaching the Reformation in the areas governed by the staunchly Roman Catholic House of Savoy

Touched by Bonivard’s experience, Lord Byron subsequently composed the romantic, 392-line poem The Prisoner of Chillon. Byron originally included “a fable” in the title, which was an honest thing to do as much of the events described are based on Byron’s imagination.

My balcony was just above the Lac Leman(the local name for Lake Geneva)...on the left was the chateau and on the right I could see Montreux...If I looked down, I could see the Vine train passing just in front of the apartment, vinyards sliding down and meeting the Chemin de Fleurs, which was the beautiful walking path beside the lake.

I used to stand there for hours and said to myself"This is the most beautiful street in the world".

(Later I saw The Avenue des Champs-Élysées  and though any comparison may seem funny, I still think that little street the most beautiful in the world).

I used to walk my whole way to Montreux on that beautiful road of flowers and never felt tired.