Montreux

Hello again.

Well making the most of the unseasonably warm-ish weather on Sunday, I headed to Montreux about 65kms away at the other end of Lake Geneva to see the Xmas market. It is a beautiful town/city with the lake right in front and with the Alps climbing into the clouds right in front of you on the other side of the water. Tucked around the corner is Château Chillon which is really interesting and so beautiful and has a couple of resident white Swans who glide serenely around looking very elegant and doing very nicely courtesy of the tourists.

The town itself has a Casino – very bijou by Vegas standards - but with all the usual bells and whistles one normally sees. There were lots of the usual folk in the slot machine rooms (Man! How much cash must this place take in every hour – the folks were pouring cash into those suckers).

The room with all the baccarat and roulette tables for the high rollers is closed off to keep the unmoneyed masses (like me!) out ha, ha! That room is for those with serious cash. I’ve heard corroborated stories in the press about Australia’s richest man and multi-billionaire Kerry Packer (a physical giant of a man who recently passed away at a fair old age from Kidney related problems) who would drop millions in Las Vegas in a night without blinking. To give you some idea of how much cash this guy can afford to play without worrying, there is one tale that recounts how he was gambling and a local U.S. millionaire (no offence to some of my favourite foreigners) who, instead of just moseying up to the tables and playing a few hands with the boys, was doing a lot of huffing and puffing about just how much money he had. Kerry eventually got fed up with this fellow and finally asked him how much he was worth. When he proudly told him the amount, Kerry then just said ‘Tell you what, how about one game of double or nothing?’ Just goes to show how much some people’s wealth goes into an altogether other dimension...

Anyway, I digress. There were lots of wooden log cabins set up along the promenade as stalls and selling Xmas and Swiss knick-knacks. A few CD’s playing in the background playing yodelling music which the local youth thinks is sooooo uncool – they’re all into hip-hop etc these days.

From the lakefront you can see around the corner and on most days can see the mighty Matterhorn and surrounding peaks. It is just such a beautiful place and really makes you feel relaxed and content like there is not a care in the world…Walking along the lakefront or just sitting on the flagstones and soaking in the scenery is the best balm to the soul I could prescribe anyone.

Here is a picture or two – but is just doesn’t do it justice…