Searching For Heidi Part 2

The ferry ride was great and was certainly closer to a ship than a ferry. It was 2 decks high with 1st and 2nd class lounges, bars and a restaurant.



The houses that we passed on the lakes edge were nothing short of mini castles with their turreted boathouses and luxury launches and yachts tethered below them. We reached Luzern and were picked up by minibus and transported to the Palace Luzern.



Once again we were all given very nice junior suites with lake and city views. We had a bit of time to ourselves before our tour of the property with the Managing Director Mr. Andrea Jorger. Once again it was a true hotel of the grand palace era with huge chandelliers and massive marmotte pillars through the main lobby and lounges. We had canapes and very good pinot grigio in the lounge before heading to Jaspers restaurant which holds 16 gualt millau points. Classic but contemporary in its distinctive design, the Jasper embraces the finest furnishings and flavours.

"Their young chef Françoise Wicki (GaultMillau “Swiss Discovery of the Year 2001”) has already won critical acclaim for her culinary expertise. She possesses an intuitive feel for refined product combinations."

We had a 3 course meal interspersed with wonderful home made breads and olive oil for dipping. The entree was sauteed scallops with glazed celery and a herb pesto. The main was a Double veal rib chop (deboned)with rosemary potatoes, kenya beans and boletus and for desert an elder creme brulee with granita and pastry. Her remarkable use of herbs and spices create dishes that simply sparkled with surprise. The wines were also very good and we had a 2003 Sauvignon Blanc by Rosenauer from Luzern and a 2002 Blauburgunder also from Rosenauer. We then retired to the lobby bar with its classical English ambience for a snifter or 3 of Swiss William Pear schnapps and some more calvados. As it was Saturday night my colleague Adrian and I then took a long leisurely stroll through the old city of Luzern, through its winding cobbled lanes with its bars and clubs and hyper youths. An excellent little outing. Headed back to the Luzern casino to its night club for a quick beer before retiring at around 2.00am for a few hours sleep before the Sunday outing.

After a mammoth buffet breakfast we left our luggage with the concierge to be forwarded to Arth Goldau rail station where we would meet our train to Berne later in the day. We strolled around the lake with our courtesy hotel backpacks filled with picnic lunch to the ferry terminal and then sailed to Vitznau where we took the funicular Rigi train to the top of Mt Rigi. It was about 35 minutes to the top but the views to all points of the compass were sensational. We sat on the grass with our picnic lunches and took in the breath taking panorama. Nice lunch with sandwiches, fruit, chocolate, cheeses and salad.



We then took a different train line back down the mountain to Arth Goldau via Klösterli. There we took a regional express to Berne before changing trains again and heading back to Frankfurt via Mannheim. All in all a delightful 3 days but I have to say that it was a fairly strenuous and demanding little jaunt, probably due in the main to a complete over indulgence both gastronomical and visual.