This was supposed to be the day that we went to Montreux and caught the Golden Pass train to Interlaken, possibly visiting the Reichenbach Falls at some point. But someone had great difficulty getting out of bed this morning! (Not true, I got up and had a peaceful morning). So I spent my time tinkering with my web software, specifically trying to merge the files from my machine at home with this laptop here. I’ve had no success, so that will have to wait till we get home (and after the Congregational Library committee meeting next Tuesday).

Early afternoon we eventually got going and did what was probably the closest thing we could do (bar walk to the lake). We took the train to Neuchatel, birthplace and place of ministry for many years of William Farel, the man who persuaded Calvin that he should come to Geneva. After he and Calvin were banished from Geneva he returned to Neuchatel in retirement, dying in 1565. He spent some time pastoring the Collegial church there.

The building can be seen from the train, which made for a daunting walk. It was necessary to walk down from the station and then up again to the Collegial. And the reverse to return to the station. I wasn’t sure we’d be physically up to it, especially as we walked down to the centre of the town down steep roads. One of them was a street designed for children, with the road painted. Part way down was this Christian bookshop. Now my French is not wonderful, and my German worse, but I got the impression that this was a new meaning of the word “Christian” with which I was previously unfamiliar. Perhaps I’m doing them a disservice.

We climbed up the other side, up the Rue de Chateau. The Chateau itself, next door to the church building, it the seat of local government. Refurbishment work was being carried on at the Chateau and the church building. But we weren’t interested in that. We were just glad to be alive having climbed the staircase, more than 100 steps.

In the picture at the top, and this one here, Farel looks as if he’s about to fling a book, probably a Bible. Perhaps it is a sign of triumph, having his foot on someone’s head. Perhaps the head is that of an idol? We wandered into the church building. The only other people there were taking videos and photographs. As I was wandering around the front, musing on the figures that had not been removed at the time of the Reformation (they looked, and probably were, 13th century and marked the burial spot of a local noble family) I had my second phone call of the last two weeks. I quickly switched it to silent and thought I’d changed the ringtone (I’d had to reinstall all the ringtones after a software upgrade). Unfortunately, selecting a ringtone causes it to play at full volume even when switched to silent. I think some people might have been offended, had they been there, to hear a 1969 piece of music!

The return walk was exhausting. Because of the way the timetable works, there are two trains an hour north and south along the line to and from Yverdon. They run three minutes apart. Miss the second and you have to wait an hour. We managed to walk down the steps, through the town and back up to the station and got to the platform just as the second train arrived. We collapsed in a heap on the seats. Marianne said I was looking a little red in the face, though my ears were returning to a normal colour. Not surprisingly we were ready for bed when we got in, but first had to eat a lovely meal that Anne had prepared. She told us that as the management course she was doing was so intensive, and that on Friday morning she had to start (not leave) at 7AM she would be staying in a hotel in Lausanne. So we’d have to say our goodbyes early tomorrow morning.