Chateau de Chillon, Switzerland

Along Lake Geneva sits a little gem outcropping near the lakeshore, 20 miles east of Lausanne: Chateau de Chillon (shee-yohn).

Seriously...how about that Chateau.  The aristocratic Savoy family enlarged Chateau de Chillon to this size in the 13th century.  It was the Savoy's fortress and residence, visited by many Romantics such as Lord Byron and Victor Hugo.

I think this was right after I said to Jordan, " I like it can we buy it?!" and he said...NO...ehhhh okay. On the bright side, we can at least go inside and explore!

Welcome to the dank prison.  It's called Bonivard's Prison, because the renegade Bonivard was tortured here for five years.  When the Romantic poet Lord Byron came to visit Bonivard's story inspired him to write: The Prisoner of Chillon.  It's a dark story...not to happy.

                           Of all the castles we've seen, this kitchen is the least impressive...

Lots of Swiss-style furniture:

Our favorite feature of the Chateau was definitely the impractically large lake-view windows.  In the Savoy time, because of their powerful navy, they did not need to be protected on the lake side which let them have large windows to take advantage of the great view.

  I think it's a great place to curl up on the windowsill and enjoy the lake.

We enjoyed the beautiful views, but sadly nothing lasts forever.  Onto more fun!