Down the Swiss Alps into the Rhone Valley and Montreux

Once we were done in Chamonix we decided to head to Montreux (on the lake Geneva shoreline). Montreux is at the eastern end of the lake, while Geneva is on the western side. We did not realize that to get to Montreux we would go through some of the Swiss alps and down into the Rhone valley. This took us through many winding roads and switchbacks, where we went through several small villages and got some great views of the Rhone valley.

We stopped at a Swiss village, took some pictures and bought some chocolate.

Here is where I was doing the type of driving I was expecting when we planned this trip (mostly I had been on highways). Tight roads, steep hills, lots of switchbacks, sharp turns around steep hillsides (sometimes with no guard rails). The speed limit was 55 mph but I was lucky to do 25.

We pulled off at a switchback to get some views of the Rhone Valley.

Continuing down into the valley. More vineyards.

As we descended down towards the valley, I was coasting most of the time (manual trans), often having to break. As we got to the bottom, in the town of Martigny, Patti said “something smells like burning clutch ”. I said “it can’t be us, I have been coasting”. Then we saw smoke coming from the front wheels! We pulled over and popped the hood. We realized the emergency brake was partly on! Oops! Good thing it was a rental!

Waiting for the wheels to cool down.

Luckily after we let the brakes cool a bit we could continue on our way. There didn’t seem to be any problem with the brakes, except for the smell of burnt brake linings for the rest of the day.

Back to Lake Geneva, heading toward Montreux, we stopped in the town of Villeneuve.

The old section of the town (historic district).

I asked Patti why she was taking a picture of this church (below). "It not a nice looking church" I said. "That's what makes it awesome". Artists....................

Now we are in Montreux.

So we are looking for someone to take our picture that knows how to use a "real" camera. We see this young couple with a fancy camera, and hear them speaking English. Score! They were very nice, from Los Angeles, and we took their picture and they took ours!

There was this castle right on the lake. Closed for tours this late, unfortunately.

However we snuck around the locked gate (along with our american friends) to the front of the castle for these shots.

Getting near sunset.

We had some dinner in Montreux (nothing special - just pizza) and headed back to Crozet. Some adventures along the way, as the entrance to A9 was blocked and we were of course relying on the GPS. But we eventually found our way back to the highway. Patti really wanted a beer, but there was nowhere to buy any (and we didn't have away to keep it cool anyway). Luckily we stumbled upon Charly's Pub, I think in Divonne les Bains, France. On the tables they had a card that said:

For English service:
1. Got to the bar and order your drink. Pay as you go.
2. Sit anywhere you like.
3. Repeat step 1 as often as desired.

One day left in Europe!