Glion picnic

There we two dozen of us for yesterday morning's Sung Eucharist. Clare sang in the choir again. We welcomed worshippers from New Zealand, South Korea, Australia and the USA, as well as British and Swiss people. It's typical of St John's, so it's always worth asking someone unfamiliar where they come from.

After the service, Ann treated us to lunch at 'Le Contretemps' in Territet Port, then we went for a walk to the Chateau de Chillon, where she and Clare regretted not having brought their swimming costumes, but went for a paddle anyway. In the heavy rain began, and we woke up to the prospect of a day of heavy showers.

We rode up to Glion on the funicular railway behind the house for a picnic lunch. Fortunately the rain held off while we were there and the sun shone. We took Ann into the marvellous garden of the Hotel de Rigi Vaudois, overlooking the lake, and were surprised to find a ground floor restaurant open. Last summer, the place was shuttered, and had been for ages, due to bankruptcy. There's some external scaffolding, indicating that renovation work is in progress, but little accessible information on the web to say if the whole of this magnificent building is to re-open as a hotel.

We walked down to the Parish Church to eat our picnic lunch, as its lakeside exterior is wrapped around by a cloister with benches. At this stage, the sun was still shining and clouds were on the move. We descended to Territet, then caught the bus into town to do some shopping. I went to the railway station to buy my abonnement demi-tarif, which will last until the day I leave. Clare booked us discount tickets on-line to take us across Switzerland to visit Heinz and Mari-Luisa in Grabs in the coming week. I'm wondering where else we can go this time to benefit from half price fares.