First Official Fathers Day

Although Steve was technically a father last year, we didn't really do much considering Emma had yet to actually be born... While we didn't do much more this year we were finally able to visit one place in Switzerland that Steve's been wanting to visit, Castle Chillon, which is situated beautifully just outside of the town of Montreaux on the edge of Lac Leman.

It ended up being a bit of a coincidence as we were trying to plan a time to do family photos/Emma's one year photos with a photographer that is based out of Lausanne, Switzerland (which is relatively close to the castle's location in Montreaux). Lausanne is about two hours away from Zurich but Steve travels there frequently for work so we figured it would be rather easy to tag it onto a week when he was already scheduled to work in the area. While it didn't work out that way at all and instead meant an extra trip down there for him on Father's Day we were able to make it into a quick fun weekend trip by also visiting the castle.

Daddy & Daughter exploring every part of the castle

Emma humoring her father and sitting on the latrines... yes those holes go straight down into the lake below!

Supposedly the castle consists of over 100 separate buildings that were built at different times and slowly connected.

While I have now visited the castle three times (once with my parents and once on my own when we came here two summers ago while considering a move to Switzerland) I was not hesitant to go one more time and I knew Steve would love it as he loves castles. The weather on Father's Day here was gorgeous (and hot!) but we thoroughly enjoyed visiting and exploring the castle for a few hours during the morning. Castle Chillon technically sits on its own island in the lake as there is a small moat that separates it from the mainland. Parts of the castle are thought to be close to 1,000 years old and it has served various purposes throughout various parts of history. Yet, it is probably most famous for one of its prisoners, Lord Byron.

Byron's name etched into the wall along with other prisoners

Having fun with mom too!

Cheesy Emma smile

The second half of the day was a bit more about Emma than it was dad, but I think all of us were simply happy to be spending it together. We spent a couple hours taking what turned out to be fabulous photos before hopping the train back to Zurich in the evening. Here are a few of our favorites...

All in all I think it was a great day spent as family and I was glad Steve finally got to do something he was looking forward to doing, especially because he is often in the area for work! Now can someone help me come up with a castle near St. Louis to visit for Father's Day next year?

 

Love for dad on the train ride home... let me feed you bread!