An evening in Montreux

28 July 2018

After a week of hiking in the mountains of Zermatt, we travelled by Swiss Rail (SBB) trains to Montreux via Visp. The Swiss trains are known for their punctuality and we arrived at Montreux’s main station shortly after noon, as per schedule.

Montreux’s Lakeside Promenade Fleuri with views of Lake Geneva and distant mountains.

Montreux is located by the shores of Lake Geneva. This lake is also known as Lac Leman in French. Montreux would be our base to explore the Swiss Riviera which stretches from Lausanne to Montreux and encompasses the beautiful Lavaux vineyards perched on steep hills by the lake.

We had booked ourselves a 2-bedroom apartment located in the Tour de Ivoire, probably the tallest building within Montreux. Our apartment in the “Ivory Tower” offers panoramic views of the lake and Montreux. It is conveniently located in the town centre, near the train station and within a short walk to the lakeside promenade. It would be our “home” for the next 4 days.

Montreux is in the French speaking region of Switzerland where buildings and street names are French-sounding and menus in restaurants are in French. Lac Leman itself forms the border between France and Switzerland where we could see French cities across Lac Leman from the balcony of our high-rise apartment. Lake steamers ply the routes linking the lake-side towns and bear the flags of both countries.

In addition to being a resort town due to its mild climate, Montreux is also associated with music. The Montreux Jazz Festival is held in July annually and one cannot visit Montreux without learning about the British rock band Queen and Freddie Mercury.

The Queen Experience Studio, located inside the Casino Barrière Montreux, was worth a visit. Entry is free of charge and the casino was located just across from our apartment. The studio was formerly the Montreux Mountain Studios where the band created a major portion of their most successful albums.

The Montreux Casino as viewed from the lakeside promenade. The top of the Tour de Ivoire, the high-rise apartment block where we stayed, could be seen behind it.

View of the casino from the entrance to the Queen Experience Studio. We need not enter the gaming area to get to the Studio.

I am not really a fan of Queen although I had heard about Queen and songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, We are the Champions and We will Rock You. At the Queen Experience Studio, we could listen to some of Queen’s other songs via headphones, look at memorabilia, costumes and watch an interesting video about Freddie Mercury and the production of Queen’s last album, Made in Heaven.

The Queen Experience Studio, located inside the Casino Barrière Montreux.

Cover of Freddie’s last album with Queen “Made in Heaven”, showing Lake Geneva.

After visiting the studio, we headed to the famous lakeside promenade that is lined with colourful flowers. A walk along the promenade is one of the “must-do” activities in Montreux. It is a perfect place for that romantic stroll or a place for relaxing with loved ones and family.

Montreux’s Lakeside Promenade Fleuri with views of Lake Geneva and distant mountains.

Some of the largest Hibiscus flowers I ever seen.

One of the many sculptures along the promenade.

Grand Hôtel Suisse Majestic – this building reminded me of palaces I saw in Paris.

Stalls selling all sorts of food and stuff along the promenade. It reminded me of the street markets in Asia, a melting pot of cultures.

Bronze statue of Freddie Mercury along the Montreux lakeside promenade. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of Freddie's death, 25 November 1996.

Our visit coincided with the Montreux Trail Festival. We saw participants getting ready to be flagged off for their cross-mountain trail running from the Market Square in Montreux. Linked to the event was a concert by the Queen Legend, a Queen tribute band from Italy.

The Montreux Trail Festival which was from 27th to 29th July.

Performance by Queen Legend, a Queen tribute band at Montreux.

A cantilevered round platform over Lake Geneva.

We sat on a bench in a round platform cantilevered over Lake Geneva. This was the perfect place to enjoy the music of Queen Legend, do people watching and simply enjoy the atmosphere. We lingered till the sun set over the lake.

Bliss.

Sun set over Lake Geneva.

Local boys having fun jumping into Lake Geneva. One boy could not even swim and had to be “rescued” by his friends.

View of Lake Geneva and Montreux from our apartment.