Rhine Connoisseur
Arrived in Geneva 5/24 and Tauck representative was at airport and drove me to Montreux, arrived at Fairmont Palace hotel before noon and my room was ready so I went up changed to walking shoes, went for a walk to find the place were I was meeting my tour guide tomorrow only to find out (lucky me) that it was the 24th not the 25th. I had booked a Freddy Mercury tour with Viator (that was one of the Tauck offerings for the first day but I chose Glacier 3000. The tour was over 3 hours and I got to see a lot of Montreux that day.
The Fairmont room was lovely and that night I ate at their Jazz Cafe restaurant, excellent food, had perch which was beautifully prepared.
5/25 - While walking around Lake Geneva the day before I had noticed that they had river cruises, so that morning after breakfast I walked to the pier and booked a 3 hour river cruise of Lake Geneva and also found several people from the tour that had the same idea, met two ladies (sisters in law) a couple and 2 sisters which turned out to be lovely companions during the rest of the tour and cruise. We enjoyed amazing views during the river cruise. after the cruise we went for a walk around the Lake and had lunch at 1820 an Italian restaurant, great food.
We had our welcome dinner at the Petit Palais which is part of the Fairmont Palace usually a restaurant but only open during the summer. From the comments I heard the food was ok but not spectacular. I don't eat red meat so can't comment about it myself. Weather in Montreux was a lot warmer than the weather I had researched.
5/26 - Went for a very long hike through the Lanaux vineyards which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (some people went by a small train) and ended with a wine tasting, I love wine but didn't care much for what they offered. From there we went to Vivey and visited the Charlie Chaplin Museum which is actually the house where he lived, very well done, I was a bit exhausted so just had dinner at the hotel.
5/27 - Today we drove to Glacier 3000 (which was the reason I took this cruise) which is in the Diablerets Massif of the Bernese Alps, we took 2 gondolas to the Glacier viewpoint which you could not see because it was covered with snow and visibility was awful but I climbed over 130 steps to walk across the only suspension bridge in the world between 2 peaks the Scex Rouge and the Glacier 3000 viewpoint, the bridge has a glass floor well fortified but again visibility was very poor, we had lunch at the top in Botta restaurant (fondue) and fish. Came back to hotel and had dinner at Le Safran restaurant in the hotel Mona.
Just to note that with the exception of the welcome dinner we were on our own.
5/28 - We visited Chateau Chillon on the shores of Lake Geneva, it was used as a fortress and a prison by the Bernese, the Chateau was worth the visit. Continued to the town of Murten where we had lunch on our own and after fighting a lot of traffic we arrived at Basel and boarded Ms Inspire, due to the traffic we arrived after 5 so no one changed for dinner that night.
5/29 - Due to the delay with the traffic and multiple locks, arrived in Strasbourg after 3 PM, I had breakfast and lunch at Arthur's and spent most of the time on the upper deck, went on a walking tour of Strasbourg, beautiful Cathedral and buildings and stopped for a glass of wine and flat bread flambee on Tauck, returned to ship, had a lovely dinner (all the food aboard the Inspire was well prepared, plentiful and delicious)
5/30 - After cruising through the Middle Rhine River Valley with all the castles and churches we went on a Scavenger hunt in Koblenz (on our own), which was a unique idea to see the town, the Basilica of St. Castor was lovely and our last find was the Deutches Eck which is where the Moselle and Rhine meet, impressive statute of Wilhelm.
5/31 - We went on a tour on Dusseldorf, very quaint, did a bit of window shopping, returned to ship for lunch and in the afternoon went on a tour of Castle Benrath (a first with Tauck as they wanted to see if it was a tour to incorporate in future cruises) The garden had amazing statutes of Bacchus, Athena and the inside of the castle was worth the visit. Tonight we had chocolate extravaganza for dessert in the lounge and Rock and Roll music.
6/1 - In the afternoon went on a walking tour of Gorinchem a city in the Netherlands, went to what used to be a hidden catholic church now a Lutheran church and were treated to an organ concert, went by what used to be an orphanage, the Gorcum Museum, Spare Parts Guest Gate and walked to the Worenmullen Du Hoop windmill, came back to the ship and got ready for dinner at Schloss Loevertein built in 1538 now a museum but in 1619 it became a prison and eminent lawyer, poet and politician Hugo Grotius often known as the father of modern international law was held there until his escape. We were treated to a play about how Hugo was imprisioned and escaped in a trunk full of books, taken off the island the castle was built on.
6/2 - Arrived in Antwerp and went for a walking tour, Het Steen Castle now a visitor center, the Guild House of Butchers which is being turned into a music conservatory and the Cathedral of Our Lady. After lunch we went to Kmska Museum where we found many or Reuben's paintings and some modern time artists. we returned to the ship and how our 1920's night which was a lot of fun and entertainment by the Diamond Baritones (3) which were incredible.
6/3 - Last day, we arrived in Brussels and went for a walking tour of the city, the Galleria (always a hit for those that shop) City Hall and the Grand Plaza, walked to the Maneken Pis fountain, came back to ship and went for a walk, packed, attended a chocolate presentation by Concept Chocolates all hand made, went to dinner with the companions I met on the trip, had a last after dinner drink in the lounge and went to bed, departing at 5 AM.
As I don't eat red meat (can't wait to see what they think of me in Ireland 😁) I can't tell you firsthand about the welcome dinner or the dinner in the Scholss except for others saying they were ok. But the meals aboard the ship for me and those I had dinner with were excellent.
I had been to a lot of the places we went but not to Montreux and you always see things differently the second or third time around.
Comments
Gladys, don't worry about Ireland. I ate a ton of excellent seafood there. The trick is avoiding lamb/mutton.
Gladys, how fantastic you have energy to do all the extras!
Claudia thank you, I keep thinking a meat and potatoes country and I would be happy with the potatoes
British - It's now or never, one never knows what the future would bring, I was worried about the knee even though it was a simple 1/2 procedure it did not react as it should but I was able to climb lots of stairs, hike on the vineyards which was a lot of up and down, so I was happy.
BTW British I registered for coffee with Jennifer, received 2 coffee cups yesterday but was never sent a link and I believe it started at 11 AM?
Oh, I never got the link either! Our coffee cups arrived at 2-30am in the middle of the night, one had the handle broken in three pieces and the other was chipped!