Journal posts for Switzerland can be found here. As for our itinerary, here’s a map of our route through Switzerland and onward to Luxembourg:

Map of our voyage through Switzerland. We took quite a few train trips to Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, and Chateau d'Oex. Our home base was Trélex, a little town on the outskirts of Nyon.

Here are a few pics from our stay. The weather didn’t cooperate so much, so the selection’s a little thin.

View of Lac Léman from the hills above Lausanne.

Beautiful Old Hotel in Montreux.

Robin feeding the Swiss cows in the hills bordering the lake.

This is Timea, Pierre M.'s daughter. She's not really drinking a beer, but we made it look like she was! We forgot plastic cups when we went out on Pierre M.'s boat, so Pierre D. had to drink a beer quickly, rinse out the bottle, and use it as a beverage container for Timea.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Everything is incredibly expensive in Switzerland. It’s on par with Norway in terms of cost of living, so you can’t visit and expect to live on a reasonable budget. If you know someone there, beg them for a place to stay (spare bedroom, sofa, cot, or cardboard box in the yard).
• The train system is one of the best in Europe, and it’s designed to be incredibly efficient: The class of service is indicated on the station signs so that you can line up in the appropriate section before the train arrives!  Contrast this with Italy where you have to guess where your car (or class of car) will be. You can also get a free iPhone app that’ll let you buy train tickets anytime you have WiFi (or a data connection on your phone). Search for SBB Mobile in the iTunes Store and read this little post.
• Go wine tasting in the hills above Lausanne and Nyon. If you like whites, this is the place for them!
• There’s a Ladurée shop in the Bongenie store in Geneva. Go there.
• The legal drinking age for wine and beer is 16, so don’t be surprised if there are some really young-looking people in a bar.