Neuchâtel -- October 21, 2006

After our leisurely morning, we hopped back on the train and headed to the far side of Lake Neuchâtel to the namesake city. We had had several recommendations to see it, a town with a ton of character, both new and old.

With a lake much smaller than Lake Geneva, the water tends to warm up to higher surface temperatures making Neuchâtel an ideal summer resort town (we've been reading a ridiculous amount on lake temperatures lately). The rest of the year it is a University town, meaning that behind the tourist services there are tons of youth-geared bars, restaurants, art galleries, etc... , and is topped out with an seven century old "Old Town" (who are we kidding, every city town in village in Europe has some sort of "Old Town") with narrow cobblestone roads, statues aplenty and buildings older than our country that have been retrofitted for modern convenience.

The first thing we encountered getting off the train was the Maison la Poste (Post Office), a building that encapsulated Neuchâtel's unique architectural quirk, the yellow-ish sandstone facades on a majority of the public buildings, driving one famous writer whose name I forget to comment that the city looks like it was carved out of butter.



I couldn't help but be ceaselessly entertained by this building, for a couple of reasons. First, just comparing this building to the post offices in similarly sized towns back home floored me. Against the small, utilitarian structures back home, this was absolutely a lakeside palace.


Second, encircling the top of the building were carvings of country names that were apparently important at the time of construction (in French). Present were the usual suspects (France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Norway, Greece, Czech), a smattering of the eastern empires (Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey, Russia, Croatia), and what were at the time a smattering of spots on the globe (Japan, China, US, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Chili -- as it was spelled -- and South Africa). I made Jaren stand in front of that post office for 20 minutes while I tried to process what was the logic in selecting these countries, not able to come up with a damn thing.

Ok, enough about the post office (honestly, who devoted a couple hundred words to a post office). We headed to old town for a walk through the ancient streets, ducking down back alleys and trying to peer into courtyards that were hidden from the street. It was Saturday, so the shops and markets on the main streets were bustling with the locals out for the day.



We made the trek up an intentionally steep street into the true old heart of town - the castle/ church/ fort/ prison tower complex where the center of cantonal authority once sat. And it did not disappoint, looking like it was straight off a medieval movie set. Furthermore, it provided spectacular views of the city and lake.





On our way back down, we hit up a coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up, and then made our way down to the shore. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for watching sailboats, and this was the perfect day to just plop down and watch.





A bit early for dinner, we decided to hit up a little wine cave for an aperitif.



One very good Swiss red later, we were off to dinner. On the menu tonight was going to be something local, eschewing the abundance of Italian restaurants in favor of something more Swiss. We settled in at Le Jura alongside a bunch of locals straight out of central casting -- everybody looking like a quintessential French farmer. Oh, and one major difference with the US is that it is perfectly acceptable to bring dogs of any size into a restaurant, tie them to the table and go about your business. There were a good three or four during our stay, just hanging out.

We played cards and had a beer until the kitchen opened, enjoyed a fabulous meal of mussels and fondue (click for more), and soaked up the experience.

After dinner, we made our way to the train station to head home. Having 20 minutes to kill, we grabbed a couple of .75CHF beers from the convenience store, played card a bit longer, then made our way home.





Overall, I would have to say Neuchâtel was one of my favorite European experiences - a perfect balance of old and new, tucked in between the mountains and the lake. Highly recommended for anyone traveling through.