Paris to Annecy in less than four hours, TGV is impressive. That made it possible to visit a friend of mine in Annecy for the weekend. After meeting up with my friend at the train station, we grabbed some croissants from a shop for breakfast and dicussed where to visit for the two days. The plan was: Day 1 - visit Chamonix and Day 2 - visit Annecy old town in the morning and a nearby village Le Grand Bernand in the afternoon.

Chamonix was the host for the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924. This French Alpine town is one of the most popular winter destinations in the country.

During the weekend trip to Annecy, I had a chance to visit this charming ski resort for a day trip. It is located very near to the point where the French, Swiss and Italian borders meet. Italy is just at the other side of Mont Blanc, linked by a tunnel.

Basel is Switzerland’s second largest city, situated on the bank of the River Rhine with its city boundary interestingly stretching to the French and German frontiers. We spent two nights there, making Basel as the base to visit Freiburg (40 minutes by train) in Germany and Montreux.

Having actually spent only half a day walking around the city, I must say we saw only a little of it. Indeed, to me, Basel is that sort of place that has more to offer to business visitors rather than tourists.

After seeing two enchanting historic villages, Caerleon and Solva, we continued our journey to yet another delightful one, St. David’s (Tŷddewi in Welsh). The city (Queen Elizabeth II conferred city status in 1995 because of the presence of the cathedral) was founded by St. David himself, the patron saint of Wales in the year 550. It is the smallest city in the United Kingdom

We rented a car for the weekend to drive along the southern coast of Wales visiting Caerleon, Solva and St David’s. The reason to stop by Caerleon was to check out the Roman Amphitheatre.

This quiet little toen beside the River Usk was the site of a Roman Legionary Fortress and also believed to be the location of the legendary King Arthur’s Camelot. We first arrived in the village at the Roman Bath Museum. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the museum as it opened late on Sunday so did the tourist information office.

Using Basel as the base, we traveled to Montreux by catching one of the early morning trains. The train ride between the banks of the River Rhine and Lake Geneva in the Swiss Riviera offered magnificent view. What was just not complimenting the scenic ride was the rain, that was greeting us “Welcome to Switzerland” since we arrived 2 days ago.

Montreux is set along the shores of a large bay and lined with many of the Edwardian-style splendid residence