“The Prisoner of Chillon …?”

I took my swim at Villeneuve this morning … beautifully curated pebbly beach with a sensational backdrop. I had been walking for only an hour; passed Chillon Castle, but knew I had not the time for a visit - if I did, it would be over an hour and the heat of the day was building. Jumped in to the lake in my walking shorts and did a lap, the water clear and warm. A woman started talking to me; she was local; her English was very good; I had to keep moving, but it was nice to talk to someone.
At the time Byron visited Chillon Castle, it was a prison, so he did not stay, obviously. While on a tour of the lake, a storm forced him to take shelter at Montreux and he was told the story of Bonivars, a Protestant clergyman imprisoned by the Catholic count, not unusual behaviour for a Catholic those days. Thus, he wrote a poem in 1816 about this man, a prisoner of the Count of Savoy:
“My hair is white, but not with years,
nor grew it white in a single night, … “

The Savoys had built the castle and prospered taking a toll from anyone who passed by (and there was nowhere else to pass by) and became fat and happy, comfortable in the strategic advantage of having a castle on an island controlling a narrow valley. In the meantime, the Berenese had acquired a thing called a canon and liked the business model of having such a castle. The defenders hopped in the kayaks and fled to the other side of the lake where the cheese was good. End Count of Savoy story. Now, if he had nuclear submarines, the Bernese would still be yodeling in the hills far away.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this writer’s knee was sore and the heat was hot and there was not much shade and aircon is not a thing in Switzerland.
… but is beautiful and the food is delicious. Tonight’s degustation attached; washed down with local Chasselas wine.
The other pain is the AUD is as useful as the Zim dollar.Read more