Les Rochers de Naye

Hello again from Lausanne!
I've now been here for over two weeks and things just keep on getting better! I'm getting a feeling of how great it can really be to be an exchange student-- opportunities presenting themselves all around me, meeting a begillion new people every day, and generally just having an excellent time! Sitting down to study isn't too hard either because somehow all this new-ness is really motivating!

Today's blog mission though, is to show you a bit of how beautiful the area of Vaud really is, here at the eastern end of the Lac Leman, mountains shooting into the air just off its shores, it's just something really really different to what I'm used to with the general flatness of Belgium!

I was studying yesterday when I had the urge to check facebook (as one does when studying :P ). I there discovered that one of my fellow Erasmus medical student had suggested for people to join him and some other people for a hike in the mountains above Montreux, about 20 mins by train from Lausanne. I knew there was really no question to be asked to get me to go along, Saturday being very rainy and me having had a very long day.... what excitement!

So without further ado, off we went this morning, meeting at the station at 10am, and got on a train to Montreux. From there we took a much smaller mountain train upward to the small village of "Caux" which is really just in a vertical line UP from Montreux. How they ever decided to build a RAILWAY up there goes beyond me... but just the view from the train is worth sharing with you...

Rising up in the slopes above Montreux...

Very nice view of the beautiful Lac <3 

The trainride took about 20 minutes, and the line actually had several stops along the way where there were farms or little groups of houses. It was clear we also had locals onboard in addition to the vast majority of tourists, as they chatted with the conductor and driver. Cool to think people actually live up there! We made it up to Caux, and got off (unlike the majority of the people-- the train actually goes all the way to the top, so many choose to stay on and then walk back down), because we, of course, are hardcore, and have chosen to walk up the 8 km trail leading us to the peak.

 
 The station at Caux..

That's the mountain we're climbing!-- seems far...

All along the path there were breathtaking panoramic views of the lake and the mountains surrounding us. Clouds formed in the hills below us, and we came across challenges like a herd of "mountain-cows" grazing in the middle of our path. We took several breaks on the way up-- the first couple of kilometers were easy enough, the path sloped upward but not steeply, and was large and cleverly constructed through the winding wooden landscape. As we got closer to the summit the path got trickier though, and much steeper, so progress was slowed significantly. We made it, however, in a little over 3 hours!! I guess I'll just let some more of these pictures speak for themselves...

And last but not least, what does one have to drink at the summit of a Swiss peak?? Rivella of course!! Yum. (My photo looks like an add.. maybe I could sell it to them.. :D )

Hope everyone's had a really good weekend! Please give me a tip if you know any other great hikes to take in Vaud, I think I want more of this!