We drove down towards Montreux to visit the Château de Chillon. It was built right on lac Léman and it was really neat to see the water lapping at the side of the castle. We picked up our ticket and with the description in our guidebook and the guide they gave us, started making our way around the castle. There were 42 or so stops in their guide so it took us a good while to make our way around. We started off on the lower level; parts of it have been used as a cellar, food storage, and a prison. Lord Byron wrote about the prisoner in his narrative poem "The prisoner of Chillon" and carved his name in one of the pillars.

On the next floor we went in to some amazing rooms which were used for dining and hosting large groups. The views out from the rooms over the lake were quite incredible. I could picture curling up in the corner while reading a book, but the stone seat would probably have been uncomfortable after a while! Some of the rooms had amazing furniture; some of the pieces had been restored and others were replicas done by people who had studied with the creators of the originals. It was quite something to think that before, all the furnishings for the castles were packed up in trunks to be taken to the next one when the kings or princes went around visiting their subjects. As time moved on, furnishings were left permanently in the castles so the furniture evolved into new styles.

On the top floors we could see all the bedrooms with their antechambers; some had their own private bathroom while others had to share. The bedrooms were all built on the side of the castle looking over the water while the other side was where the men defending the castle were stationed and all the fortifications were located. We continued walking up to the top of the keep which was fairly high up; some of the stairs were quite low and narrow, but you got a great view over the castle and lake from above.

After we had explored the castle we decided that we would skip Lausanne for the time being. I had caught my usual September cold (despite not having 24 small children around me!) and didn't fancy hiking up and down through the town. We decided instead to head back to France and spend a day or two relaxing in camp and hopefully getting rid of my cold before meeting up with Dad & Tan. We drove all the way to Aigueblanche to a tiny little town south east of Albertville. We figured from there it would be a quick drive to meet up with Dad & Tan once they let us know which day they would be arriving at our meeting spot. We pulled up to the campsite and Carole, the owner was super helpful in suggesting where we set up. She told us which way the winds usually blew so that we didn’t have it blowing through our camper and looked around for the flattest spots.