I could have liked, above all things, to have been in this balcony during one of the fine sunsets of this season of the year.  I think the creeping of the shadows up the acclivities, the growing darkness below, and the lingering light above, with the exquisite arabesques of the rocks of Savoy, must render the scene even more perfect than we found it.

Blonay is surrounded by meadows of velvet, the verdure reaching its very walls, and the rocks that occasionally do thrust their heads above the grass, aid in relieving rather than in lessening their softness.  There are just enough of them to make a foreground that is not unworthy of the rocky belt which encircles most of the picture, and to give a general idea of the grand geological formation of the whole region.

We left Blonay with regret, and not without lingering some time on its terrace, a spot in which retirement is better blended with a bird’s eye view of men and their haunts, than any other I know.  One is neither in nor out of this world at such a spot; near enough to enjoy its beauties, and yet so remote as to escape its blemishes.  In quilting the castle, we met a young female of simple lady-like carriage and attire, whom I saluted as the Lady of Blonay, and glad enough we were to learn from an old dependant, whom we afterwards fell in with, that the conjecture was true.  One bows with reverence to the possessor of such an abode.

From Blonay we crossed the meadows and orchards, until we hit a road that led us towards the broad terrace that lies more immediately behind Vevey.  We passed several hamlets, which lie on narrow stripes of land more level than common, a sort of shelves on the broad breast of the mountain, and which were rural and pretty.  At length we came to the object of our search, a tolerably spacious modern house, that is called a chateau, and whose roofs and chimneys had often attracted our eyes from the lake.  The place was French in exterior, though the grounds were more like those of Germany than those of France.  The terrace is irregular but broad, and walks wind prettily among woods and copses.  Altogether, the place is quite modern and much more extensive than is usual in Switzerland.  We did not presume to enter the house, but, avoiding a party that belonged to the place, we inclined to the left, and descended, through the vines, to the town.

The true mode to move about this region is on horseback.  The female in particular, who has a good seat, possesses a great advantage over most of her sex, if she will only improve it; and all things considered, I believe a family could travel through the cantons in no other manner so pleasantly; always providing that the women can ride.  By riding, however, I do not mean sticking on a horse, by dint of rein and clinging, but a seat in which the fair one feels secure and entirely at her ease.  Otherwise she may prove to be the gazee instead of the gazer.