May 1952

THE SWISS TOUR The School tour this year started according to the usual routine— the departure in the small hours, the bus across a deserted early morning London, the very English breakfast of a popular restaurant, the comfortable, pleasant journey to Dover. The Channel crossing was forecast by "The Times" as "rough", but turned out to be good after all, especially as we travelled in a one-class ship. The journey from Ostend to Basle, by night, lingers in the memory for the hardness of the seats and the frequency of the irruptions of officials in uniforms blue, uniforms brown, uniforms grey, and even no uniforms at all.

However, the boys met them all with the formula "billet collectif". while the "chef du groupe" had rarely to do more than wave a document at them. A further break in the monotony occurred when our coach began to emit clouds of steam, and whether it was for that, or for some other mechanical trouble, we were all tipped out into a foot of snow somewhere in Alsace, and left to find seats elsewhere.

A party of Italian miners being repatriated was in like case, but somehow seats were found for most, and padded ones at that. As a consequence, we were late at Basle. Here, however, the S.T.S. representative was waiting for us, and he proved to have everything admirably under control, negotiating customs and passport officials, French and Swiss alike, with such speed that the tail of the party had difficulty in keeping up. Nor was that all, for when we found our coach on the train for Montreux to be at the back, he had the train pulled up to us instead of our having to walk the length of the platform. The remainder of the journey, through the limestone region of the northern Jura, with caves, gorges and overhanging cliffs, and then along the shores in turn of Lakes Bienne, Neuchatel, and Geneva, was sheer delight. We now first met the wonderfully sunny weather which was to be with us for the remainder of the holiday, and nothing could have given us a more favourable welcome to Switzerland.

We reached Montreux in mid-morning, and went up to the Hotel Montbrillant by bus. The hotel advertises itself as being set in mountain meadows and as being connected with the town by a tramway. The former statement is an exaggeration, though perhaps a pardonable one, while the latter is in essence true, but the tram service proved infrequent and expensive, and few of us used it after the first day. The advantages of the hotel lie, in fact, in its delightful situation, for most of the rooms have balconies commanding views of the Rockers de Naye, Dents du Midi, and Dent d'Oche, and in the pleasant friendliness of its atmosphere. We enjoyed the food, and found Madame always most willing to meet our requests.

On the day after our arrival we walked to Chillon, using the high road, which commands views over Montreux and the Lake. It was a 40