Saturday August 17th, 1872
/Saturday Aug 17th went to look over the town Vevay, the Market is a large open space, held on Thursdays and Saturdays, the principle day is Saturday the people are here with cattle and goods, fruits &c. by four in the morning, by 9 the men and women are sweeping it clear, the people are very early in getting up and going to bed.
The Quay which is very pleasant, is shaded with trees, three spacious Hotels with beautiful gardens 7 to 8 francs a day expense, there are 7 or 8 other Hotels very good from 4 to 6 franc’s, English Church service held at St Clair Church, the Church of St Martin erected in 1498 on an eminence amongst the vineyards, Ludlow and Broughton were buried in this church, Broughton read the sentence to King Charles 1st, On the restoration of Charles 2nd they went to Vevay as refugees, the English demanded them but the Swiss would not give them up.
The Bellerive School known to many English and American families is noted, the shops are very good, streets narrow, the veal large but fat and good, beef middling, mutton not at all good, fruits and flowers very nice, there are three or four Steamers on the Lake, about 3 ½ miles is the beautiful village of Clarens, there are many Hotels around the Lake from 4 to 8 franc’s a day, that is for breakfast Table d’hote, bed and attendance.
The grapes are ripe about the middle of September when you can go into the Vineyards and pick them for one penny per lb; as many as you like, black or white, to the east of Vevay is a villa erected in 1857 by the Princess Liegnitz widow of Frederick William 3rd of Prussia by a morganatic marriage; most of the houses here have double cased windows the winter is so very severe, and summer so hot. We returned to our Hotel for the night.
