Tour of the French and Swiss Alps by Train, part 3

The Golden Pass Express and Interlaken

We left our luggage outside our room as requested on the next morning and went for breakfast, then after collecting our hand luggage we checked out and made for the station along with everyone else, to catch the same train to Montreux as on the previous day. I had taken the precaution of settling our extras bill the previous evening so that we could get away smoothly this morning. And so the centre-piece of this train tour was about to begin, the journey on the Golden Pass Express from Montreux to Interlaken.

The station at Montreux, which we had seen on previous days out, looked very much the part with potted palms on the platform, but the weather could have been drier. And sunnier. The train was waiting at the platform when we arrived from Lausanne, and our tour manager Richard had a group ticket and allocated our seats in a First Class carriage, which was spacious, comfortable and was equipped with panoramic windows, like the Glacier Express we have used before. This train was only about a year old, the new through service having begun the previous season.

Soon the train moved away, on time, from Montreux station and immediately began to climb away from the town and the lake shore. The railway line wound its way up the hillside until we found ourselves looking a long way down to the lake, first on one side and then on the other. We were scheduled to have a light meal of local foods on this journey, and sure enough, before much time had passed the table was set and the sommelier made his way through the carriage to pour the Champagne to accompany our snack. 

Soon the platters of local cheeses and cold meats arrived, with each pair of passengers having a little bag containing the napkin, cutlery and a bread roll. It was all jolly good, and sitting there sipping Champagne while enjoying the scenery and nibbling the local produce was just a wonderful element to our holiday. I'd recommend this to anyone: I have no idea whether it had been booked specially by Great Rail Journeys or whether it is standard fare for First Class ticket-holders, or whether anyone can pay for it as an optional extra, but however you do it, it made for a really great journey.

There were several intermediate stops along the way, and at Zweisimmen the train stopped for an extended period for a change of crew as we were handed over from one train company to another. At one time a change of train was necessary here as the two companies use different track gauges, but the new Golden Pass Express carriages have gauge-changing bogies and the same train can run through on the two different types of track. It is not necessary to leave the train during this process, but, of course, those interested in the technical aspects tore themselves away from the comfort of the carriage to note from the platform the changed bogies before rejoining the train for the rest of the journey to Interlaken!

The journey onward to Interlaken took us through Spiez and alongside a good part of Lake Thun. We had travelled from Spiez to Interlaken before but it was no less enjoyable this time around to look out across the lake and enjoy the last part of this scenic ride into the station at Interlaken West where our train terminated and our rail trip for the day came to an end. Our luggage having been taken separately we walked light to our hotel, the Metropole, in the centre of Interlaken. It had been described as the tallest building in the town, and it certainly dominated the skyline from the direction of West station. Tallest it was, but prettiest it wasn't, being a grey concrete edifice attractive only from the front, a view not seen while walking along the main street. We arrived before our luggage and just as check in had become possible and after a pause to receive our room keys and instructions we went to find our room for the rest of the holiday, high up in the tower overlooking the town's playing fields and across to the valley beyond with the great bulk of the Jungfrau mountain dominating the distant scene. We had paid a little more for a superior room and it was worth every penny: spacious, a balcony, a superb view, lots and lots of sockets for recharging our devices. 

While we awaited our luggage we went for a stroll into the town. I had heard from one of the other passengers on the trip that there was a good model shop in the town and that we had in fact passed it on our way from the railway station. I soon understood how we had come to pass it without seeing it: it was on an upstairs floor above another shop and was only visible from the main street the its "A" board was out during opening hours, but it had been closed for munch when we walked by. However, we went in, now joined by two others, and soon by yet another. I don't think I have ever before been on a Great Rail Journeys holiday where I have met other railway enthusiasts, even less people who are actually building Swiss model railways, but here there was quite a handful of us. I did not actually need a lot for my own layout, having bought almost all I need and simply needing the time to get it put together, but I did buy some little people and a Swiss station clock and Alison bought an Advent calendar which had a HO scale figure beg=hind each window, even blagging a price reduction because it was clearly old stock from last Advent ... so I look forward to the population explosion on my model railway this December!

Returning to the hotel we happened to meet a porter who had just received everyone's suitcases and was sorting through them, so we went to him and took away our own to take them to our room. The express lifts at this hotel were among the best we have ever encountered (I suppose, being a tower block it need good lifts because not many people would cope with the stairs).

Dinner that evening was in a very pleasant dining room on the first floor, where we had been informed breakfast would also be served the next morning. There was another restaurant high up on the top floor with wonderful views out across the town and the mountains, and some people booked their dinner there for the free evening which was to come in a couple of days' time. We left our dinner that evening to chance; we do like living on the edge (well, actually we just didn't want to be tied to coming here when we might find something else).

And so to bed. In a sense we had done very little, but we had enjoyed a spectacular train ride and had acquired some interesting models (how interesting was yet to be revealed in 25 instances!) and moved into a fabulous room. The weather could have been a bit better (it was not bad, just a bit murky at times and showery at times), but as it happened, we soon discovered that warm sunshine was to return the following day for a great day out. And for the day after that, too. This was becoming a really good summer holiday.