Tales of an Amorphic Destiny

Montreux and Gruyères

July 8th, 2007 at 05:49pm James

We drove around Lake Geneva taking in the awesome scenery and finally came to rest in Villeneuve, just along the shore from Montreux. Montreux has been a haunt of the rich and famous for many years. It was a second home for Freddie Mercury of Queen and was immortalised by Deep Purple in "Smoke on the Water" when they sang of the night the Montreux Casino was burned to the ground by a fan letting off a flare gun at a Frank Zappa and the Mothers concert.

We’d inadvertedly arrived on the eve of the annual Montreux Jazz Festival and so we were lucky to get a place in the campground. But  after struggling with broken French to the old lady who ran the place we finally got in without a reservation and set up camp.

The next morning we drove to the nearby town of Gruyères for one of the most anticipated stops on our trip – the H.R. Giger museum and bar. Gruyères itself is a medieval walled town that has been the capital of the region for centuries. Located high on a hill, it has managed to retain much of it’s medieval charm and as such is a very popular destination for tourists.

Our first stop was the magnificent castle that sits at the top of the hill. Ownership of this medieval fortress has passed through the powerful rulers of the area for centuries and its architecture spans several centuries – from initial construction in the 13th century through major modifications in the 15th and 19th centuries. It cerainly felt every bit the medieval castle, both outside…

…and inside…

The castle also housed an unexpected pleasure in the form of a mini-exihibtion of fantasy artwork by UK fantasy artist Patrick Woodroffe. There were many beautiful pictures that we could’ve spent much longer looking at. It was only later that we discovered Patrick also sculpted the huge shields of Mars and Venus that hang either side of the castle’s front entrance.

However we had plenty more artwork to enjoy – that of H.R. Giger, creator of the otherworldy creatures in the hugely successful Alien movies. First we stopped for a beer in the Giger bar, elaborately designed by the man himself.

Anyone familiar with the Alien movies will recognise Giger’s handiwork in the bar’s distinctive decor.

Then it was on to the museum, where we saw all maner of amazing drawings, paintings, sculptures and other pieces bearing the distinctive Giger style. To say that the work there was stunning would be something of an understatement and it was very interesting to see the various stages of his work, his techniques evolving with time.

Some pieces of note included 4 huge panels of "The Spell", an original Alien head prop with sprung wiring to move teeth etc and a full-length scale model of a demonic train. To think of where Giger must have found his inspiration might be somewhat unsetling but the end results are absolutely mindblowing. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed, but there’s plenty of his work out there on the net.

We’d planned on heading off after seeing the Giger museum but Gruyères was such a beautiful town that we decided to hang around for lunch. After getting a taste for it in Geneva, we just couldn’t resist giving fondue another go!

On the way back to Montreux we stopped in at the cheese factory, one of the places where the delicious an distinctive Gruyere cheese is manufactured. Not much was happening, (must’ve been the workers’ day off) but we got some good insights into how the cheese is made and what makes it so damned tasty.

We arrived back at our campground and decided to take the long walk around the lake from Villeneuve to Montreux. When we finally arrived in town the place was jam-packed with people – the jazz festival certainly attracts a big crowd. The foreshore was lined with stalls selling clothes, jewellery, knick-knacks and souveniers as well as all manner of food and drink. We grabbed a couple of beers and strolled along, stopping for a photo at the famous statue of Freddy Mercury.

A couple more beers and we decided to call it a night, jumping on one of the free buses generously provided by the city of Montreaux for the duration of the festival.

The next morning we were still yet to explore Montreux’s most famous landmark – the castle of Chillon so we paid a visit. There has been a fortress on the site since before the 12th century and over the years several buildings have been interconnected and altered to create the rugged castle as it stands today.

Lord Byron wrote his Poem "The Prisoner of Chilon" about François de Bonivard, a monk that was imprisoned there in the 16th century. Byron’s signiature can still be seen, carved in a pillar in the very same room in which Francois was kept prisoner.

Chillon was huge and we spent a long time wandering through it’s many rooms and halls. The history evident in the place was humbling when reading of all those who had taken residence there over 800 or so years. Evetually though we found our way outside…

…and off we went, headed north. See more of our trip to Gruyères here and further shots of Montreux and the Château de Chillon here.

Entry Filed under: Europe