Adventures in Switzerland!
From the Alps to the Riviera!
A Letter to The Island Hoppers originally written 25th of June, 2024.
Hello Darlings,
This morning I write to you from my balcony overlooking Lake Geneva, or as the French say Lac Léman. After numerous Swiss adventures with my husband Donald we are ending our trip at one of my favorite hotels in the world, the Grand Hôtel du Lac in Vevey, Switzerland. Donald and I first found this hotel about 7 or 8 years ago while we were traveling up from Lucca to Lake Como and through Switzerland. I absolutely fell in love with both Vevey and the hotel. I had no idea at the time that there was something called “The Swiss Riviera” and now that I have found it, I want to be here more. Vevey is an absolute treasure. It lies along a huge freshwater lake which marries Switzerland and France. Docks of well-loved boats and glamorous hotels befitting Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn are found along the shoreline. Local families are everywhere and I have yet to find a high-end boutique attracting tourists. It is a throwback, with modern influences. Residents and visitors from around the world give it a quiet and chic international flair. The hotel we visit is part of our favorite hotel chain called Relais & Chateaux.
Yesterday, after a long walk up and down the lake, we had dinner at the sushi restaurant next to the pool. A woman in her 70s with a large low brunette bun walked in dressed to the nine’s. She had a sleeveless black dress, 3-inch stilettos, a big beige bag with a scarf on the handle, and a blazer over her shoulder. The part which was most intriguing was her headscarf and sunglasses, which she kept on all through the evening.
Disclaimer: I am not a travel agent, nor do I play one on television. I am just a woman sitting in a fluffy hotel robe on a balcony of lavender petunias overlooking a gorgeous Swiss Lake dreading the thought of leaving. For real information, check with your travel agent.
Here is the link for the website.
Favorite Hotel on the Swiss Riviera
WHILE IN THE ALPS….
We arrived in Vevey and this stunning hotel from a big Swiss adventure. Our previous hotel will remain nameless due to the nature of the story I am going to share. That said, it was fabulous, and if you really want to know just let me know and I will happily share it.
When traveling Donald and I have finally figured out the best way to keep everyone happy: we take turns picking places. We have found that this method works great for two youngest children who are both laid back and also don’t want to be bossed around. On this trip, we started with a double-secret location I was scouting for future trips and then went on to our fun travel plans.
After a fabulous stay in Bern, we headed into the Alps with my outdoorsy, adventuresome husband at the helm. He found us a magnificent Relais & Chateaux hotel way off the beaten path in the mountains.
When arriving at this somewhat remote spot I became aware that there was a spa in the building. I NEVER ever sign up for spa treatments while on vacation but two days ago I decided after traveling for four weeks a massage might be the absolute perfect cure all for any imaginary aches and pains I was all of a sudden feeling. Did I mention this hotel was in the German part of Switzerland and very few people at the hotel spoke any English or enough for actual factual exchanges? It was decided that my massage would be that afternoon and that I would be receiving the Edelweiss Detox Massage. Sounds perfect, right?! I mean what could be more perfect than a detox massage with beautiful Swiss serums of everyone’s favorite flower?
I set off for the basement of this remote mountain hotel full of hope for my future detoxed self. I was quickly led into a room that looked like something out of a James Bond movie….half old-fashioned spa/half mysterious surgical destination. My masseuse spoke only German and I spoke none. Although it was apparent I did not understand one word, she continued to speak to me in German the whole time… while acting out everything that was going to happen in this frightening room. The table had a sunken middle, not unlike a pool table in a single bed size. It was covered with two layers of plastic…
My lovely new German-speaking friend handed me two very small packages. One contained a plastic shower cap and one contained a paper G-string. Yup. I was to put on the paper G-string and shower cap and sit on the edge of the plastic-covered pool table and wait for her. And I did it!! While wondering why on earth I was doing it!
In walked my lady with a big jar of some kind of magic potion. She did a dramatic presentation to let me know that she had two sets of gloves and was going to do something to me. The first set was like dry brushing, where she scrubbed the hell out of me and took off two layers of skin. Surely the next part would be magical edelweiss elixir. She began scrubbing me, like scrubbing the hell out of me again with some sort of large salt crystals mixed with oil. This went on for a very long time. The minute she started I knew there was something very familiar happening. It took me a minute of lying on plastic in my paper g-string getting scrubbed in German. That smell…. I knew that smell…. that overwhelming smell… from my childhood. Oh my God, Karma was here. She had come for me. In the James Bond evil hospital pool table covered in plastic, I was facing the crimes of my childhood. I was being punished for stealing from my older sister. Jean Nate had come for me!!
As the youngest child by many years, I loved nothing more than snooping in my older brother and sister’s rooms. While Henry’s rooms had Jethro Tull albums and pot plants growing on the windowsill, my sister Puddy’s rooms had all the fun stuff. Our rooms were connected by a Jack and Jill bathroom so I could get in and out of there without ever going through the hall… stealth investigation was rather easy for this small girl. One day I discovered a bottle of Jean Nate bath salts, a recent gift, which I knew was exactly what I needed to… feed my dolls! I began with a tiny amount to see if I was noticed. A scoop of Jean Nate mixed in little bowls with water made the most perfect doll meal. Clearly undetected, I went back for more. For months I would go into the teenage domain and take scoops of Jean Nate bath salts and make doll food concoctions. I was a doll hoarder so there were a lot of mouths to feed! I had not smelled this smell since about 1973 and here I was COVERED in Jean Nate bath salts. Crossing the international, linguistic divide I said to my German masseuse “Jean Nate???” and she responded “Jean Nate!!” with a big smile.
For the record, this is far from a Swiss flower detox. I was basted like a Thanksgiving turkey in a concoction made up of a very strong-smelling bath salt from the 1970s, olive oil, and cooking herbs. To add insult to injury I was then POACHED!! The two layers of plastic were wrapped around me and I was lowered on the pool table-like contraption into a pot of warm water….wearing only a paper g-string and a shower cap. The lights were turned off and I was left to marinate in DOLL FOOD!!
I literally laid there laughing hysterically.
xx Tricia
I also re-encountered Jean Nate recently. Memories of my mother! BTW Beautiful photos.