Lucerne

The next day dawned bright and clear, which was perfect as we planned a tour of the city of Lucerne.  Known for its high end luxury items, Lucerne is a beautiful city in the northeastern part of Switzerland filled with artistic buildings, churches and historic places.

 

Perhaps one of the most moving sites is the Lion Monument, which commemorates Swiss guards that were massacred when a mob stormed the Tuileries Palace seeking King Louis and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. 

Near the monument is a garden and small museum that showcases the topography of Lucerne over the ages.  The site contains 32 glacier pots - smooth, circular grooves carved into the bedrock (some by as much as 30 feet deep) by water moving large stones over the years.  Fascinating!

 

We walked around the city for awhile after lunch, and then crossed the Chapel Bridge, the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe.  The bridge is famous for wooden paintings adorning its ceiling.  Although many were destroyed in a fire in 1993, the paintings are being painstakingly restored.

Lucerne was absolutely beautiful, and we could have easily spent another day or two exploring the area.