Yatzecks Abroad: Lausanne Cathedral and Chillon Castle

We woke up this morning in our hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland with this view of the cathedral.

The hotel had a free breakfast which was excellent.

Katie with fruit, granola, and an assortment of local cheeses.

Mary with a hard boiled egg. It was a gorgeous morning so we ate outside on the balcony on the top floor of the building - amazing views!

My croissant with egg, cheese, and tomato.

After breakfast we walked towards the cathedral. There were lots of steep hills and cobblestone streets, which made pushing the stroller a little difficult, but we made it!

Joey at the base of the cathedral. We're going to the top!

Inside there was an open door, so I went in and found this and took a picture. I came out and told the kids they should come and check it out, but then someone ran over and said something to me in French that seemed like it meant, "No, you can't go in there!" and shut the door. Oh well.

After walking around inside, we decided to climb to the top of the bell tower. Joey was really excited about it. Mary was not in a great mood and did not want to climb it, so she waited at the bottom for us with Siraj and the strollers.

Lily found this cubby on the way up the stairs.

Joey at the top of the tower, mountains in the background.

The bell! Katie is not happy - she was actually a little sick today, poor thing. Also, some other tourist had just grabbed onto the bell knocker and swung it, and it made a tremendously loud noise which Katie didn't like at all.

I have so many more photos of Lily than of anyone else it seems, but that's because she's the most willing to smile and look adorable for the camera. :)

More views from the top.

Here is a link to a video of Joey and Lily at the top of the bell tower. Totally worth the 200+ steps!

After that we took a train to Montreux to visit Chateau de Chillon (Chillon Castle), an island castle on Lake Geneva.

Riding the train together!

Some photos and a video from the shores of Lake Geneva at Montreux.

We ate lunch, and then waited for a bus to take us to the castle.

When we finally got to the castle, we didn't have much time before we had to catch a train back to Zurich, but it was still worth doing. So many interesting things to see and learn about! I'm too tired to write a lot of details, but here is a whole bunch of photos from Castle Chillon.