Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0007389, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 16:10:32 -0800

Subject
Fw: Clarens cemetery, /Montreux
Date
Body
EDNOTE. Legendary Swiss guide Brian Boyd on Nabokovian places in Montreux.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Boyd (FOA ENG)" <b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (67
lines) ------------------
> First, you should get the spelling right, especially if you're doing
> Internet searches: Montreux, not Montreaux (a mystifyingly frequent
mistake:
> do people think Montreux is near Bordeaux?). Rhymes very roughly with
> English "er . . . " but not with "Oh!"
>
> Second, Montreux and Clarens are small places and flow into one another.
> There are tourist information offices at the railway station and on the
> Grand Rue. You could walk to the cemetery in 15 minutes from the Montreux
> station, and from Clarens it's very close, under the landmark of the
Chateau
> du Chatelard.
>
> Third, take Ada III.8 and the end of IV (and perhaps VNAY). The Trois
Cygnes
> combines the Montreux-Palace (and its Cygne wing) with the Trois Couronnes
> at Vevey, which is worth seeing too (you could walk along the quai there
too
> if you're feeling energetic, a stunning view), and where early in 1966 the
> Ns dined with James Mason and a call on the house phone helped trigger
ADA.
> Back at the Montreux Palace, the service entrance Van and Ada use for
their
> trysts is still in the Cygne wing, near the sequioa (also in ADA) on the
> Avenue des Alpes side of the Palace. I think the paulownia above the
toilet
> on rue du Murier (and Avenue des Alpes) is no longer there, but if you
face
> uphill from the sequoia, you're almost staring at where Ada saw it. Look
up
> and spot the alpine choughs and what Van calls Mont Roux (Mont Cubly).
Mark
> the ginkgos along the Avenue des Alpes, where the roundabout is
post-Nabokov
> (as is much of the Grand-Rue side of the Palace's entrance and lobby, and
> the area on the lake side of the street that housed the swimming pool the
> Nabokovs sometimes enjoyed). Check out the cafe opposite the railways
> station as Van does. I think the newspaper kiosks by the station have
> changed beyond recognition since VN's day. Do follow Van and Ada and VN
and
> Vera down along the promenade, as far as She Yawns Castle, and notice the
> tufted ducks, coots and grebes, and the Chiens interdits sign forbidding
one
> to cross highland terriers with poodles. Take the cog railway from
Montreux
> up to Caux and treat yourself to a meal at the railway restaurant there,
> long one of Dmitri's favorite haunts, while taking in the view.
>
> BB
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 7:59 AM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Fw: Clarens cemetery, /Montreaux
>
>
> EDNOTE. This info requested below would help a lot of people. Perhaps a
> permanent set of directions could be made available.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sergej Aksenov" <sa354@cam.ac.uk>
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (14
> lines) ------------------
> > Hello all
> >
> > I was wondering if anybody knows street address of the cemetery in
Clarens
> > in Switzerland where VN is buried, perhaps with some instructions on how
> > to get there from the Clarens bus or train station. I tried searching
the
> > internet but to no avail..
> >
> > What would be VN sights in Montreaux worth visiting, apart from the
> > Montreaux Palace Hotel and Rue Grand?
> >
> > Thanks very much in advance
> >
> > Sergej
> >
>