“Freedom, the eternal spirit that cannot be bound by chains!” The largest lake in the Alps where you can enjoy romance[전승훈 기자의 아트로드]

Swiss Lake Leman Travels

There are many lakes in Switzerland. Because the mountains are high, there is a lot of water. Water from melting glaciers in the Alps flows into rivers and creates lakes here and there. The largest lake among them is Lake Leman, located near the border with France in southwestern Switzerland. Switzerland, surrounded by the Alps, is a landlocked country without a sea, but thanks to Lake Leman, which exudes a Mediterranean atmosphere, it attracts travelers who enjoy the open view and romance.

Montreux loved by Freddie Mercury

The water of Lake Leman, where the glaciers of the Alps flowed, is very clean and clear. If you get close to the emerald-colored lake, where the sun’s rays sparkle, you can clearly see not only the fish but also the bottom of the lake. With a length of 72 km and a width of 14 km, the crescent-shaped Lake Leman is the largest lake in the Alps. It takes 8 hours to cycle the entire circumference (195km) by bicycle. The Swiss enjoy swimming in Lake Leman. Because it is such a huge lake, it looks like the sea. The water that flows out of Lake Leman flows through the south of France and becomes the Rhone River. While Geneva, at the western end of Lake Leman, is a financial city with many international organizations, Montreux, at the eastern end, is an international resort city comparable to Nice or Cannes in France.

A famous landmark that can be seen from anywhere in Geneva is the Great Fountain of Geneva (Le Jet d’eau de Genève), which is about 140 meters above Lake Leman and spews out water 24/7. The Great Fountain of Geneva spews out 500 liters of water per second at a speed of 200 km/h through a nozzle that is only 10 cm long.

Meanwhile, the place in Montreux that attracts the most people is the statue of Freddie Mercury, the legendary vocalist of the British rock group Queen. The day the reporter visited happened to be the first weekend in September, which was Freddie Mercury’s birthday (September 5th). The statue of Freddie, holding a cane in his left hand and raising his right hand, was decorated with colorful flowers brought by fans from all over the world. Next to the statue, people imitated Mercury’s pose and took pictures, and at the Place de la Marche, fans gathered and danced to Queen’s songs.

Montreux Casino is a 5-minute walk from Place Marche. Inside the casino building is the studio where Freddie Mercury recorded his albums. Montreux, a small city with a population of 25,000, has been famous for its jazz festival held every summer since 1967. But thanks to this studio, Montreux became the ‘City of Queens.’

It is said that the members of Queen visited Montreux Studio to record the ‘Jazz’ album in 1978 and fell in love with the beautiful lakeside scenery and state-of-the-art recording facilities. It was the best place for Queen members, who achieved sophisticated sound through repeated recordings, as seen in the movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The following year, when the studio came up for sale, Queen bought it.

Not only Queen’s albums from the 1980s and 1990s, but also the members’ solo albums were recorded here. The jacket photo of Queen’s last album ‘Made in Heaven’, made after Mercury’s death, also has the statue of Mercury erected in Montreux in the background.

Mercury said, “Montreux is my second home. It is said that he loved this city so much that he said, “If you want peace of your soul, come to Montreux.” His favorite restaurants and places where he enjoyed eating, walking, and composing songs during his lifetime are still popular as a tour course, referred to as the ‘Freddie Mercury Tour.’

Currently, this studio has become ‘Queen Museum (Queen: The Studio Experience)’, where the costumes Mercury wore during performances and the instruments used by Queen members are displayed. The paper on which Mercury wrote his last lyrics before his death in 1991 is also on display.

The entrance was filled with letters and postcards left by fans, and there was even a male fan who came wearing his trademark white singlet and mustache to celebrate Freddie’s birthday.

The museum includes the Shure SM-85 microphone that Freddie Mercury used in his last recording, the Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer that was played live during Queen’s performance, the ‘Red Special’ electric guitar handmade and played by guitarist Brian May, and bassist John May. Instruments enjoyed by members, such as Deacon’s ‘Music Man STINGRAY’ bass and drummer Roger Taylor’s ‘Ludwig Crome drum’, are also on display.

Chillon Castle and Lavaux Vineyards

Most castles in Korea are fortresses. In Europe, China, and Japan, there are mainly castles with high walls and deep moats built on flat land. However, in Montreux, Lake Leman, Switzerland, there is Château de Chillon floating like a picture on the lakeside. It is such a romantic scenery that it was the motif of the castle where Prince Eric, the princess’s lover, lives in the Disney animation ‘The Little Mermaid’.

Chillon Castle on Lake Leman. Provided by Switzerland Tourism

Chillon Castle was first built in the 9th century and was a gateway to collect tolls from ships and merchant ships traveling on the river. It was also used as a residence, armory, and prison for the Savoy royal family for four centuries from the 12th century to the 16th century. Because it is a castle built on the lakeside, there is no need to dig a separate moat, and the water of Lake Leman acts as a natural moat. Pamphlets in Korean are also distributed at the ticket office. This is a pamphlet with detailed explanations in Korean so that you can tour each space of the castle in order by engraving numbers on it.

When you enter the entrance, you will see a small yard, and in front is a path leading to an underground cave. It was used as an armory and prison. This was the prison where Reformation activist François Bonivard was imprisoned chained to a pillar for six years from 1530 to 1536. He wrote the epic poem ‘The Prisoner of Chillon Castle’ based on the life of Byron (1778-1824), an English romantic poet. “Freedom, the eternal spirit that cannot be bound by chains! With the poem, “You shine brightly even in the dungeon,” Chiong Castle became more widely known to people around the world as a mecca of literature.

Under Chill Castle, there is an underground cave where François Bonivard, whom Byron sang in poetry, was imprisoned. The cave ceiling has Gothic arches and pillars.

It felt even more pitiful when I thought about the prisoners trapped in the darkness watching the emerald waves of the Leman Lake reflected through the bars and the sparkling Yunseul reflected on the ceiling of the cave. In the underground cave, the bedrock on which Xiongseong Fortress was built is still exposed, and there is also a noose on the ceiling where prisoners were executed.

There are also about 40 oak barrels storing wine in the underground cave. This is because Chillon Castle produces wine with its own label ‘Clos de Chillon’. Chillon Castle owns a vineyard in Lavaux, on the hill of Lake Leman, producing white wine (Chasla variety) and red wine (Pinot Noir, Gamay).

Labo Vineyard is a tourist attraction designated as a ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ in September 2007. The total area of ​​the terraced vineyards, which stretch for about 30 km along the northern shore of Lake Leman, extending from Montreux to Lausanne, is about 830 hectares. 800 years ago, monks created terraced fields and began planting grapes, and it is now the center of Swiss wine production.

The vineyards in the Lavaux district are so famous for trekking that they are one of the 13 hiking courses recommended by the Swiss Tourism Office. If you trek the vineyard for about 3 to 4 hours from Lutri in the east of the vineyard to Saint-Saporin in the west, you can enjoy the spectacular view of the vineyard with Lake Leman in the background.

Swiss wine is considered a world-class luxury wine produced using an eco-friendly method of natural fermentation of grapes grown without pesticides in the clean environment of the Alps. However, because the land is small and the production of wine is very small, most of it is consumed within Switzerland and not exported to foreign countries, so it is less known than French, Italian, and Spanish wine.

Swiss wine is made from about 250 types of grapes, more than 40 of which are indigenous and rare grapes that are difficult to find in other countries. So, when traveling to Switzerland, Swiss wine is a must-try.

While walking through the vineyards of the Lavaux district, I stopped by wineries such as Domaine Bovy and Vinorama to taste Swiss wine. Labo District is famous for its white wine. I liked the red wine of the ‘Plant Robert’ variety, which is grown only in Switzerland, as it was clear and transparent like high-end Burgundy wine, but had a heavy body and aroma.

Take a cruise from Lausanne to Evian

Switzerland has many international organizations. In Geneva, the United Nations Geneva Office, the World Trade Organization (WHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are located in Geneva. There are numerous international organizations.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is located in Lausanne, a 40-minute drive from Geneva. The Olympic Museum, built on a hill overlooking Lake Leman, is also worth a visit. It is said that there are artifacts on display that provide a vivid understanding of the history of the Olympic Games from ancient times to modern times, and it is said that an Olympic memorabilia collection team was also dispatched to the 2024 Paris Olympics held in July and August of this year.

Finding traces of Korea at the Lausanne Olympic Museum is also a great pleasure. The names of Jeong Seon-man, Kim Won-tak, and Son Mi-jeong, who were the final runners in the torch relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, are engraved on the stairs leading up from the entrance, and Kim Yu-na’s name is clearly visible on the stairs engraved with the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Also on display are T-shirts with the Saekdong mark and Olympic rings from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and uniforms for the unified North and South Korean women’s hockey team from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The Lausanne Olympic Museum is a spot where you can overlook the wonderful view of Lake Leman at a glance, so it is a popular place for locals to take wedding photos. In the front yard of the museum, located on a hillside by the lake, various sculptures themed after the Olympic Games are on display.

Among them, the most notable work is ‘Les Footballers’ by French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle. Nikki de Saint Phalle, a female sculptor who creates sculptures using primary-color paint on voluptuous bodies, is famous for her moving sculpture fountain in front of the Pompidou Center in Paris, France.

The outdoor tables at Tom Cafe, located on the top floor of the Olympic Museum, are a hot spot among locals and considered the most beautiful terrace seats in all of Lausanne. Because you can dine while looking at the gorgeous scenery of Lake Leman and the Alps, competition for reservations is always fierce. Tom’s Café, which you can enter without a museum ticket, is crowded with people wanting to enjoy brunch.

You can also enjoy the lake by taking a cruise on Lake Leman and visiting various cities. Because the lake is part of Switzerland on the north side and part of France on the south side, cruise ships with a 140-year tradition often cross the border.

A course that takes you to Evian, France in 30 minutes by taking a cruise ship (CGN) from Lausanne’s Ouchy dock is also popular. If you take a cruise ship, you can see the beautiful scenery at a glance, including the clear water and swans of Lake Leman, the vineyards of the Lavaux district, and even the ice caps of the Alps in the distance.

If you get off at the Evian dock and walk for about 10 minutes, you can find the ‘source’ where Evian mineral water flows. ‘Cachat Spring’, decorated with pink tiles, is said to be named after Gabriel Cachat, who owned a garden here in the late 18th century.

It is said that in 1790, a nobleman who came from Auvergne to escape the French Revolution stayed at Gabriel Casha’s house for two years and drank water from this spring every day. He had suffered from kidney stones for several years, and it is said that when he drank water from this spring, his illness was quickly cured. Doctors believed that this water was effective in treating diseases of the kidneys and bladder, and when they prescribed this spring water as medicine, word spread and people flocked to the place like a cloud. Cassel established a hydrotherapy center at the spring site in 1826, and later, investors from Geneva and Paris created a company and commercialized spring water into Evian mineral water.

The building that Gabriel Casha built as a hydrotherapy facility and hotel is currently used as the Evian Memorial Hall. Here, you can buy Evian bottled water with your name engraved on the bottle label as a souvenir (2 euros). I also engraved my dog’s name (Borii). Even though I couldn’t bring my dog ​​to Switzerland, I remembered being with Bori by taking pictures with bottles of water throughout my trip to the Alps and Lake Leman.

Switzerland, the country of chocolate

Switzerland is the country of chocolate. Switzerland’s annual chocolate consumption per capita (as of 2021) is 11.6 kg, ranking first in the world. The gap with 2nd place USA (9 kg) is quite large. In Europe, Belgium and Switzerland are famous for chocolate. While Belgian chocolate is mainly ‘dark chocolate’ with a high cocoa content, Swiss chocolate is famous for ‘milk chocolate’.

In Broc, next to Gruyere, famous for its cheese, you can visit ‘La Maison Cailler,’ which made the first milk chocolate in Switzerland. Through the museum tour, I learned that it was the Spanish conquistadors who first brought cocoa to Europe. Cahiers developed milk chocolate in 1875 by combining milk and chocolate for the first time in the world.

There have been previous attempts to create a smooth taste by mixing bitter chocolate with milk, but it is said that solving the problem of mold caused by moisture in milk was not easy with the technology at the time. However, with the combination of Nestle’s technology, which developed the world’s first powdered milk powder, milk chocolate was able to be developed. It is said that 80% of the chocolate consumed in Switzerland is milk chocolate.

It is said that freshly squeezed milk from the vast meadows of the Alps makes Swiss chocolate soft and creamy. At La Maison Cahiers, you can participate in a workshop to make your own chocolate and sample chocolate to your heart’s content.

2024-09-28 20:58:46