Road trips, mountain walks and holidays

Spring in Switzerland, where we arrived from France with a car rented at Baden-Baden airport, was in full swing. Geneva lake Lake Geneva is the English name of the lake, which we mostly use. In French, the lake is called Lac Léman, but in order not to make life boring, the lake also has a German name – Genfersee. The lake is one of the largest in Europe, about 60% of which belongs to Switzerland, and the remaining 40% to France. I was surprised to learn that one of France’s largest rivers, the Rhône, which begins high in the Alps, flows into Lake Geneva at its eastern end and flows out of it near Geneva to continue its journey to the Mediterranean. To maintain a constant water level in the lake, a dam (Seujet Dam) was completed in 1985. The dam provides that the area around the lake is protected against floods and fish paths have been created around it so that they can reach the lake upstream. Spring in Switzerland – Montreux One of the most important activities in this region, of cour...

Swiss chocolate This post is related to our trip to Switzerland in early spring. Who hasn’t dreamed of being in a chocolate factory? The Swiss chocolate industry is similar to fashion houses in Italy or champagne houses in France – there are chocolate houses in Switzerland. Our Swiss chocolate tour was booked at Cailler Chocolate House (Maison Cailler). This brand has been owned by the Nestle Group for a while now, however, it has managed to preserve its historical values and traditions. Like many interesting sights, the chocolate factory is a bit off the main road. The Cailler factory, which produces Swiss chocolate (one of many), is in a town called Broc. During the visit, it was possible to get acquainted with the history of making chocolate, which, as it turns out, is not so old, as well as to taste a variety of Swiss chocolate. Just to note that, although you can eat chocolate in huge quantities, it is not recommended to eat chocolate too for the benefit of your health. The exact...

This was our first-ever European trip. During summer, we began preparation; it was necessary to get visas for Germany and Switzerland. We decided to share all travel-related expenses with our friends – another family couple and studied all available road maps. There were no widely available GPS applications at that time and mobile phones looked like pieces of brick in 1997. All that made this trip unique and to be remembered forever. Other interesting details – all photographs were taken using the 35-millimetre film camera but videos were filmed using a Super VHS mini camera; we borrowed one from friends because it was a rare piece of equipment at that time. One of our goals was to visit Switzerland cities. Arrival to Switzerland At that time we lived in Latvia and our trip started about 60 kilometres to the south of Latvian capital Riga late in the evening. Driving almost non-stop the whole night and day (in total about 1800 kilometres; we were two drivers), shortly before midnight we...

Autumn trip to Switzerland This is one of the parts dedicated to our trip to Switzerland in early November. Almost immediately after crossing the German border towards Switzerland, we recognised the first mountains. It was while ago when we went to this trip and we enjoyed this beautiful landscape for the first time in our lives – that was so amazing! However, we still had a way to go and the next short stop was near Geneva Lake. It was even more impressive – a huge lake on one side and mountains all around. The Autumn colours of trees made this landscape even more beautiful and enjoyable. During the next few days there were planned two different trips – one to the capital of Switzerland Bern, and another trip to the mountains (3000 metres above sea level!) to get an even more extreme experience. As we had accommodation in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, it was interesting to visit Bern as it is located in the German-speaking part. The Old Town of Bern has been listed as a U...