Travels
Date: 28-3-2007
Chateau de Chillon ~ my passage through time Part 1
Writen by: Paul le Roux
As we pulled out of
Cornavin Station in
Geneva,
Switzerland, I tried to imagine the experience of living in medieval times as I purchased a "
Kronenbourg 1664" on the train to
Montreaux. Sipping away in the smoking section of the car,
Lac Leman in full view, I lifted my gaze through the window beyond into France as I let the motion and sounds of the train mesmerize me as though staring into an early-evening fire. After quite some time an eerie mist began to rise almost out of nowhere. Struggling to see, I wiped the condensation of my breath on the glass as I leered toward the other end of the lake, Chillon slowly entering my view. Disembarking the train at
Montreaux Station I eagerly aimed in the general direction of "downwards, left-ish" toward the lake. Sure, one can get there directly if you get off a station later, at Veytaux-Chillon (300 meters from the castle), but then you'd have missed seeing the Statue of Freddie Mercury! Besides, walking next to that lake the last stretch of the way, spotting a few swans silently shimmering the waters, in one of the cleanest countries on the planet helps to set the mood for what lies ahead. Taking the boat there is also a very worthwhile experience, and using your same ticket you could even split your journey between boat and train as desired. Paid my entrance fee (currently twelve Swiss Franks per person for a self-guided tour) and after crossing the bridge over the moat (replaced the ancient drawbridge in the 18th century, moat widened in 13th century), I looked back over my shoulder at the last of current civilization.
Heading straight, you'll see the entrance to the toilets on the right. Why I mention this at this point is that to explore this entire castle properly can take a good few hours. Did I say I'd left the last of civilization behind at the gate? Why, yes indeed I did - not to worry, the WC's are as modern and clean as you could possibly wish for.
Weaving between a few guided tours, I started off opposite on my own on some southern side of the castle with a contemplative visit to the
13th century crypt, trying to capture the feel of this somehow mystical place, and catapult my mind to a time when I would've had to have made use the old latrines upstairs where the lake below is its only flushing mechanism. The underground chapel with its
Carolingian altar had me wondering what they'd done for ventilation should somebody have let off a really bad one.
Warding off the temptation to venture off into some isolated interdit area to take an undisturbed nap, I moved on toward the old prison and gallows. It gave me an eerie feeling to imagine somebody being hanged down here in this small cold place. The movies always have more interesting settings to be hanged in. Resisting the urge to brave the postern for escape by the lake as I turned, I pressed on through the dungeons toward the fifth pillar, where the
Prior of St. Victor's had once remained chained for four years for being in favour of the independence of Geneva. Pondering what
Monsieur Bonivard had done to pass the time, perhaps having counted and double-checked the number of links in his chains over and over and over again before eventually being freed by the Swiss on the 29th of March 1536, I made my way back past the third pillar, noticed "Byron was here!" signed on the third pillar amidst various graffiti on pillars and walls, as I double-backed into the cobbled
First Courtyard, noticing signs of the ancient constructions below.
Authour: Paul le Roux is a frequent traveller. He has travelled intensively to many countries around the world like Germany, England and Switzerland. He is also the administrator of
WebWobot Search Engine.
Part 2:
Switzerland - Chateau de Chillon (Part 2)
Part 3:
Switzerland - Chateau de Chillon (Part 3)
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