Switzerland: La Chaux-de-Fonds

Buildings like this in La Chaux-de-Fonds served a dual purpose for housing and watch manufacturer.

The last stop on the way to Saint Jean de Losne from Vaduz Liechtenstein was at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Neuchâtel Canton of Switzerland. La Chaux-de-Fonds is near the French-Swiss border. As the names suggest, Neuchâtel and Jura are in a French-speaking region. It’s still Switzerland but at least we can read the signs.

Advertisements

Switzerland: Lucerne, Kapellbrücke

 

Kapellbrücke

It’s been over twenty-five years since I first visited Lucerne Switzerland. In the intervening time Lucerne’s signature landmark the Kapellbrücke or Chapel Bridge burnt down in 1993 and was rebuilt. Today the wooden bridge looks brand old. Unless you look closely it’s hard to tell that much of the structure is new.

Switzerland: Bürgenstock

The Bürgenstock Resort

Bürgenstock is a mountain that rises from the shores Lake Lucerne across the water from the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. That’s more than we knew 24 hours before we arrived there in May of 2018 to spend a night.

Switzerland: Stein am Rhein and the Swiss-German Border

Stein am Rhein

The Rhine River and its connected large lakes loosely define the border between Switzerland and Germany. The border here matters for trade. Unlike much of Europe, the countries of Switzerland and Liechtenstein are not part of the Eurozone. Though Switzerland is a signatory to the Schengen Agreement meaning travelers can pass freely across the border without immigration checks, goods don’t pass without import/export restrictions and tariffs.

Switzerland: Abbey of Saint Gall

Abbey of St. Gall

Returning from Vaduz Liechtenstein to Saint Jean de Losne France we made a minor detour to visit the city of St. Gallen Switzerland. The purpose of the visit was to see the Abbey of Saint Gall, a historically important religious complex that is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

Liechtenstein: Vaduz

The Vaduz Castle, the Prince of Liechtenstein’s principal residence

It’s good to be the Prince of Liechtenstein. Or at least that is what I imagine.

Switzerland: CERN

The Globe of Science and Innovation, a visitor center at CERN

Early in March of 2018 we braved the rainy cold and headed to Geneva Switzerland to visit CERN, the Centre Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire. CERN is home to Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider. This is where the existence of the Higgs Boson, the so-called “God Particle”, was confirmed. The LHC lies deep in a tunnel 27 kilometers (17 miles) in circumference crossing beneath the France–Switzerland border near Geneva. It is the largest machine ever built.

Switzerland: Bern

An interesting fact: Switzerland has no formal capitol. Instead the country has a federal city, the place where most of the federal governmental buildings (parliament, executive, administration) are located. That city is Bern.

Switzerland: Jungfraujoch

The Wengernalp railroad between Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg

The commune of Interlaken is located around 50 kilometers from the geographical center of Switzerland. As suggested by its name, Interlaken sits between two lakes, Brienz to the east and Thun to the west. It is a pretty place that has justifiably been a tourist destination since the start of the 19^th Century.