5/24 - Les Avants Day trip

    To start the day the group and I got on a train and headed to Les Avants to take part in a hiking excursion on the Narcissist trail. The main attraction on the trail is the infamous narcissist flower which is a white flower that resembles a daffodil. During our time on the trail, we had a great time taking in the views and experiencing what it was like to hike in an area adjacent to the Swiss Alps. But before we went on our hike we spent time in a farmers market where we could experience some authentic Swiss culture. Vendors at the market sold objects like wooden planks that had engraved logos or sports teams on them. Other vendors were either selling food or little souvenirs that we could buy and take home with us. After we went on the trail, which lasted about 2 hours, we took the train to Montreux where we indulged in a waterside lunch where all of us got different types of Italian food. Most of us got either pasta or pizza. 

    After that, everyone in the group got ice cream except for me and because I didn't get it we got a refund for paying for 9 ice creams and we only got 8. I got to keep the change. After our waterside lunch, we took a self-guided tour of the famous Castle Chillon which is the most visited historical site in Switzerland. During our self-guided tour, we took a suggested path around the entire castle. We had the most fun in the catacombs of the castle where we took part in learning about the history of what makes the castle special. Inside the castle, they had people selling different foods that would have been popular during the time the castle was in use. None of us got anything but the crepes looked decent. We spent around an hour and a half at the castle for our tour which was a reasonable amount of time as we had been up since 8 am to make sure that we got to the hiking trail with good weather. In my opinion, I enjoyed the Tower of London tour more than the Castle Chillon tour mostly because we had a funny tour guide who had a lot of knowledge of the historical events that took place at the castle. Compare that to Castle Chillon where we read of posted placards which is less than ideal when trying to have an enjoyable time at a historical site. After that, the group and I went on our separate ways for dinner before meeting up later that night.