My New Favorite Place

Lucerne, Switzerland
We definitely saved the best for last! The last city we visited in Switzerland was pretty far from where we were staying so we needed some extra time to make the trek. Fortunately we had someone to let out the pups for us that day so we decided to make the drive. I had read so much about how great this city is and we wanted to check it out for ourselves. I must say, it did not disappoint!
The city of Lucerne sits at the edge of the Reuss River where it drains Lake Lucerne. The city is responsible for the water levels in the lake and you can see the dam from the bridges that link the old part of the city to the new.

Looking into the Chapel Bridge. Above the historical paintings are visible.

The most famous bridge being the Chapel Bridge, built in the 1300's is completely made of wood and over 600 feet long. The bridge is especially unique because it contains paintings of the city's history dating back to the 17th century. A fire in the early 90's ruined some of the paintings and now boats are restricted from the bridge and smoking is not allowed anywhere near it. The bridge runs by a stone tower that sits in the middle of the river and predates the bridge by about 100 years.

A view of the "old city" and the Chapel Bridge with stone tower

One unfortunate aspect of our trip to Lucerne was that by this time in our adventure we were quite travel weary. Although we were very tired and worn out, we still had the opportunity to see many of the most famous sights of this area. We immediately looked for St. Peter's Church (per Rick Steves) and rushed to the edge of the old part of the city to a beautiful church on a hill with twin towers. We soon realized that this church was not exactly the one that we were looking for, but we liked it so much we stayed and explored it a while anyway. We fell in love with this church and while Jeff and the girls explored the extensive cemetery portion of the church, I sat soaking in the sun by the water fountain out front. I really enjoyed this because not only was the sun warming, but the view of the city streets was laid out below me and two men stood at the fountain chatting in the sun while filling their watering cans. A cat played on the steps and wandered in and out of the legs of an older lady who stood in the sun on the steps as well. It was a picturesque moment in time and I really could have stayed there all day watching everything happen in the streets and listening to the men chat in French.

Two men chatting by the fountain

Alas, we had to move on. The next thing we went to see was the famous Lion Monument. This is a statuesque lion carved into a cliff at the upper edge of the old part of the city built a bit above a reflecting pool. The monument commemorates the Swiss guards who were killed during the French Revolution. The monument was a quiet, reflective location and we enjoyed sitting here taking in the sight and staring up into the intricate carving of the lion. We had a little bit of a strange experience here. After we had sat for a while taking in the monument a large tourist group came by. After photographing the lion and the group themselves, they started in on Natalie. Many of the people wanted to take pictures with her and I didn't really realize what was happening until I looked at the focus of their commotion, which was my daughter! After that, I got the strange feeling that they were trying to photograph us as well as they posed conspicuously in front of us. It was indeed a strange experience!

The famous family in front of the Lion Monument

We circled the upper portion of the city and walked along the old town walls left over from the Middle Ages, inspecting the watchtowers that hover above the city. From the top of the hill we took in the Reuss as it snaked through the city and the stunning snow-capped mountain backdrops behind the city. This place is truly picturesque! If I could have done this again, I would have started with this city instead of ending with it because we were genuinely way too tired and worn out to enjoy this area properly! We were travel weary and could not possibly take in any more.
The best thing about the day was the weather. It was a pristine day with temps in the 50's and the sun shining. It was the perfect day and the vibes here very much reminded me of Paris with people shopping along the riverfront and sunning themselves on benches and sipping espresso or wine at riverfront cafes. Tables were hard to come by!

You can see from the picture that people were enjoying the riverfront in droves. They placed pieces of faux fur on the chairs and blankets on benches so people can enjoy the cafe tables in comfort. It was the most beautiful day and Jeff and I dreamed of ditching the kids to enjoy a glass bottle of wine by the river! Instead we wandered through some shops in our travel weary fog and walked the bridge across the river back to the train station where we had parked that morning. We dragged our bodies into the car and headed home.
On the way back, we passed through a small city called Murten that we had stopped at earlier in the week. The city was quaint and mostly closed that previous day due to the fact that we went on a Sunday so we decided to stop there for dinner. While most restaurants were once again closed, we did find a small Italian restaurant where we were the only people dining! The waitress loved Natalie (our PR rep for the trip) and so we got lots of attention and some really delicious Italian food.
The day in Lucerne was amazing and someday I hope to return to that gorgeous city on the river. Please enjoy some of my favorite pictures of this place.