August 26

This morning, everyone got to sleep in a bit before a ten minute trip in the bus to Chillon castle, formerly one of the summer castles of the royal family of Savoy. Our guide gave us a rousing and biased version of Swiss history along with the tour. He was great.

Chillon - say shee-yon

The view from the dungeon/cellar.

After the castle, we herded the group down to the pier where we caught a ferry to Vevey, Switzerland, just a half-hour away. Our boat was steam-powered! You wouldn’t believe the speed with which that thing could take off from the dock.

The bow of our steamship.

After the bus picked us all back up, we drove back north and into France, stopping in Colmar. Our hotel was a short walk from the city center, so after we dropped off our belongings, the four of us walked into the old town. Colmar is a pretty town with a few nice squares, lots of shopping and restaurants, and a beautiful cathedral. As chance would have it, the cathedral had a Mass at 6:00 in the evening, so we were able to make Mass. We thought that we would miss for the weekend but were pleasantly surprised. It was a beautiful service in a beautiful church, and we were quite pleased.

St. Matthieu in Colmar

Click the picture for a better view.

After Mass, we met Dr. Rust and Séverine for dinner at one of the cafés in the same square as the cathedral. Erik and I both had choucroute garnie, a regional specialty. Séverine says that it wasn’t as good as her mom’s!

Colmar street scene