A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Sunday 12 October 2014

Day 36: Vevey To Montreux

The villa 'Le Lac', designed by Le Corbusier. I was not impressed. It looked more like a prison or a dilapidated shack.

A paddle steamer . . .

. . . approaches the landing stage at Vevey. Eight steamers operate on the lake, all constructed early in the last century. It's the largest Belle Époque fleet in the world, and the boats have been classified as Historic Monuments of National Importance.

An ice cream parlour in Vevey. What can I say about Vevey? I can mention the usual collection of bizarre museums: the Museum of Cameras, the Museum of Games and the Museum of Food. I can also mention the many famous people who have lived or spent time here — Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, Charlie Chaplin, Graham Greene, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Gandhi, Freddie Mercury . . . 

We, however, had breakfast, and then moved on.

 As I've written before, I love quirky signs, and I was really amused by this one. 

From here to Montreux it's almost continuously built up. Old, rich people walk their fancy dogs along the lakeside promenade — which is pleasant enough, and festooned with exotic trees and gaudy flowers. There are many modern sculptures to be seen, such as the one above, which is a tribute to Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone. 

Moody sky over Lake Geneva.

7 comments:

George said...

Lakes, jazz, old paddle steamers, ice cream shops, mountains, literary history, and raconteurs like the Solitary Walker — what a fine place to be!

The Solitary Walker said...

So glad you are enjoying Solitary Walker World, George!

The Weaver of Grass said...

More photographs of Lake Geneva would be fine by me.

Anonymous said...

There was an interesting article on Le Corbusier in the Guardian a while ago. Did you see it?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/30/bricks-mortals-ten-great-buildings-tom-wilkinson-review

The Solitary Walker said...

No, but will take a look, Dominic.

Ruth said...

Nothing happened.

But when you get to look at all these views, something very good happens, quietly.

Love those low-slung steamers!

The Solitary Walker said...

Nothing happened but everything happened!