We reached Lake Geneva and stopped to visit the historic  Castle of Chillon.We were able to explore some of the rooms and tried to imagine living there in the 13th century. We continued along the shore of the beautiful deep blue lake to Montreux, home of the famous jazz festival.  We enjoyed strolling along the waterfront and enjoyed the Mediterranean feel of the area.  Our last stop of the day was the small Dore Des Cimes winery which was located high on a hillside overlooking the lake.  The owner hosted a wine tasting  and informed us about the little known, high quality Swiss wine industry.

     We checked into the hotel at the growing ski resort of Villars.  Unfortunately we were feeling a little under the weather so we didn't go on the tour to Bern the next day.One of the members of the tour told us about a free rail pass that was available at the hotel.  We picked up a couple  of passes and headed into town to find the train station.  It turned out the train didn't have a ramp,but a couple of mountain bikers helped lift Debi onto the train and we headed down the tracks to the village of Gyron.  We discovered that a cable car was running to a restaurant near the top of the ski resort.  Debi had to navigate a few steps, but we were able to get on the car and headed to the restaurant.  We enjoyed the ride up and imagined how good the skiing must be in the winter.  We exited the cable car and found a path that led us past uninterested cows to the restaurant.  We sat out on the deck in the sun and had ice cream for lunch.  We went back down to Gyron and explored some shops while we waited for the return train.  We had more help getting on the train and made it back to the hotel.  We both thought our unstructured day was one of the best of the trip.

     We felt better the next day and  took a trip to Geneva and had a nice stroll along the waterfront, where we viewed  the dramatic Jet d' Eau fountain rising out of the lake.  We enjoyed seeing the historic buildings where many of the world's leaders .have met.

    The next day we rode the bus up into the French  Alps to Chamonix.  We enjoyed watching hang gliders soar off the peaks near Mt. Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe.   We were impressed by the energy and activity of all the people preparing to head into the mountains. I had an interesting time trying to get the French speaking attendant to give us a key to an accessible restroom. We explored some shops and bought some souvenirs.  We headed back to Villars, where we enjoyed a nice dinner.