We took a train from Berne to French speaking Montreux and then took a bus to see the beautiful Chateau Chillon.  This castle is perched on the side of the lake, with mountains behind.  We did an audio tour through the large castle – this was really interesting and gave us lots of information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Chateau we went on to Geneva, where we saw the famous Jet d’Eau, the floral clock, and visited St Peter’s, the church where John Calvin preached.  Geneva felt quite different to German-speaking Switzerland, and we really enjoyed our visit to this beautiful city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our last day in Berne we finally explored the city! We went by tram into the old town, and saw the cathedral (known as the Munster), the clock, the bear pit and garden (sadly the bears were in hibernation, so we didn’t see them) and a rather disquieting statue of a giant eating children. (As you do?!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, Reuben and I bought a new camera, as our old one had been damaged and the repair costs were massive – so from here on, the blog photos should be clearer! Mum and I went to the Paul Klee museum, where we went to an exhibit on the influence of Paul Klee on Asian art. Interesting, but we were disappointed that the regular collection was closed as it looked much better!

 

 

That night, Reuben and I cooked an Indian feast and Irina’s mother came and joined us, which was lots of fun.  We said a sad goodbye to Irina that night – it was so wonderful seeing her again and enjoying her delightful enthusiasm for life. She and her family thoroughly spoiled us and we had an awesome time.  The next day we said another sad goodbye to Mum Julie and spent the night in Zurich with our friends Benjamin and Jasmin, who we met in South America – it was great to see them again.