We spent three days based in Basel and one of those was spent traveling to Colmar France. Basel has much to offer so we did not begin to scratch the surface. The Rhine is a large and beautiful river that divides the city. It has suburbs in France and Germany and we ventured into both of those countries. And while Lausanne felt French with its language driving that opinion (we stayed in the Ouchy area for instance), Basel might as well have been in Germany. There are many museums which could help fill most of a week. And like the rest of Switzerland so far, it is very expensive.

I was expecting Colmar to be more beautiful than it was as I had seen it compared to Strasbourg France where I have been twice. On that scale it failed but it is still lovely and a pleasant place to visit.

Here’s a little of Basel and we are now off to Lucerne.

We came to Basel Switzerland to learn about the cultural influence on a Swiss City that lies right between France and Germany. What occurred to me after arriving was that perhaps I could pass through all three countries in one run. Did it the morning of September 26 and with only a six mile jaunt thanks to the Three Countries bridge over the Rhine between France and Germany.

On Saturday we ventured further east on the north shore of Lake Geneva to Montreux, its immediate neighbor to the east, Veytaux, and Vevey to its west. Montreux is the second home of Freddie Mercury and Veytaux is home to the Château de Chillon, a castle with origins to the 11th century that was built for the Dukes of Savoy. Vevey is home to Nestlé (where milk chocolate was invented) and its Alimentarium which is an interesting food museum sponsored by Nestlé. Vevey was also where Charlie Chaplin spent the last quarter century of his life and is home to a museum of his work.

We wrapped up our time in beautiful Lausanne with a celebration of our days here and watching the activity on Lake Geneva.

The Lausanne Botanical Garden has an entire exhibit dedicated to carnivorous plants. Who knew? In any case, they are beautiful plants so I thought that I would share a few.

On our second day in Switzerland, and the first with some sleep, we roamed the streets of beautiful Lausanne. Lausanne is about 150,000 people on the shore of Lake Geneva in the French speaking part of Switzerland, although English speakers are plentiful. It has a fabulous 12th century cathedral, the International Olympic Headquarters, is hilly and, as usual in Europe, our favorite of a medieval town center with plenty of shops and dining.

We arrived the morning of September 20 2023 in Geneva for a two week stay in Switzerland. Our first destination is Lausanne but on the way we stopped in the lovely town of Nyon that sits on the shore of Lake Geneva. The town founded by the Romans, dates to 30 CE, is surrounded by vineyards and is home to a 12th century Romanesque castle. Quite lovely of course.

There are two places in Barcelona that would be very easy to miss because they are not as famous as Gaudí’s buildings. But they are just as spectacular if not more so. They are the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau. We think these are absolute “don’t miss” destinations if you get to Barcelona.

Barcelona is a beautiful city. Wide streets as well as a wonderful Old Town area. It has many beautiful buildings, the work of Gaudí is everywhere, great restaurants, art, shops, the La Rambla and a wonderful public market with amazing colors on display. We were there in March of 2023 as well as in 2015. We would not hesitate to return.

Another city in Provence worth a look is Nîmes. It has been called the most Roman city outside of Italy and dates to the days of the Roman Empire. Its Maison Carrée is considered the world’s best preserved Roman Temple and dates to the first century. It, like Arles, has a 2,000 years old amphitheater that is still used for concerts and bullfights. A short distance from Nîmes is the Pont du Gard, an aqueduct begun around 19 BCE, that stands as the tallest of all Roman aqueducts at 158 feet. Individual stones weighed as much as six tons.