Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
Intro
A couple of weeks ago I received a Facebook message from my friend Monika Groetsch asking me if I was living in Paris. Monika and I met on a trip in 2015 where we travelled to Greece together with the Chadwicks and the Kalozdis (another New Orleans family). Excited to hear from her, I quickly replied telling her I was in Paris for 6 months and doing a bit of traveling. After a series of back and forth messages, we decided that I would come visit her in Lucerne, Switzerland in early August before I started cooking school.
Day 1
On an early Friday morning, I took the train from Paris to Lucerne and arrived midday to a slightly cooler (but still really hot) Switzerland. Monika was nice enough to pick me up at the Lucerne train station and we drove to her home, which is located on Lake Lucerne. Monika’s home is absolutely beautiful. It is situated on the water and has uninterrupted views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Within the first 10 minutes of being at her house, I was already taking a dip in the refreshingly cool water. For the remainder of the afternoon we enjoyed a nice salad outside, some magnum ice cream bars, and I took a little nap on a lounge chair. It was the perfect lazy summer afternoon.
For dinner, one of Monika’s lifelong friends came over and we had a wonderful meal in her backyard. Monika prepared several light salads and we enjoyed some fresh fruits and bread paired with a couple bottles of champagne.
I must mention that Monika is a sommelier and has worked for Riedel for many years selling glassware and plateware to hotels and restaurants. As such, she always has the best wine. So let's just say I was pretty spoiled all weekend in the wine department.
Day 2
On Saturday, I got up and went on an early morning swim in the lake. I have been desperate to go swimming all summer and with Paris having almost no places to swim, I took full advantage of being at a lake for the weekend. After my swim, we had a lovely breakfast outside and decided to take the ferry to Lucerne and do some touristy things.
Lucerne is situated in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and is a town of about 80,000 people. The city has a rich history and can trace its roots back to the Germanic Allemanic people who inhabited the area in the early 6th century. Officially, the city of Lucerne was founded in 1178 and during this time period it gained importance because of its critical location on the Gotthard trade route. The Gotthard trade route was a mountain pass that linked North and South Europe through the Swiss Alps.
In town, we visited the Saturday morning farmers’ market and Monika showed me some of her favorite restaurants and shops. We then met up with her son, Sebastian, and his girlfriend, Nadia, for a drink. After drinks we parted ways and Monika and I headed to Bucherer, a famous luxury watch and jewelry store. While it would have been cool to say I bought a Swiss watch at Bucherer, they were a tad bit out of my price range, so instead I just took some mental notes of what Swiss watches I liked in case someone were to buy me one in the future (Mom & Dad hint hint). After doing some window shopping, we went to lunch. For me, “lunch” was an ice cream sundae with melted Swiss chocolate on top and Monika enjoyed a frozen coffee. The rest of the afternoon consisted of some more swimming and sunbathing at Lake Lucerne.
For dinner, we headed back into town to meet Monika’s other son, Emanuel, who was traveling from Zurich to meet us. We enjoyed a nice aperitif at Suite, a rooftop bar, and then had a wonderful steak dinner. It was a great, relaxing day.
Day 3
On Sunday morning, Monika, Emanuel, and I got up early and went hiking on Mount Rigi (aka Queen of the Mountains). About a 30 minute drive from her house, Mount Rigi’s summit reaches 5,897 feet and she is surrounded by three bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug, and Lake Lauerz. It took us about 1.5 hours to climb the fairly steep trail up to the top where we enjoyed magnificent views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. With a picture of jumping in a cold lake floating around in my mind, we made a quick descent back to our car and headed back to Lake Lucerne.
That afternoon, Monika had a small bbq with her two sons and some of their friends. We enjoyed an afternoon of swimming, playing the game “Kubb” (which I will be buying when I get back to the States), and cooking some steaks and sausages. It was the perfect afternoon, capping off the perfect weekend.
Needless to say, I absolutely loved Switzerland. My mom and I are planning on taking a trip to Bulle in late October so I might need to alter our plans and add a few more cities in Switzerland to our itinerary. If only I could figure out a way to live in Switzerland permanently….
