Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-I've said it before.

Switzerland has a beauty that goes unmatched in this world.

It has mountains and shimmering lakes, vibrant cities settled along shimmering lakes, terraced vineyards that look out onto mountains before ambling down to shimmering lakes.

You think that would be enough, but it's got these, too.

Switzerland also has some of the friendliest and open people you'll ever want to spend time with, and getting to know the people behind the traditions and treasures of this country is well worth it.

I'm in Lake Geneva and the Valais.

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world, and I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places To Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-My 20-year knowledge of the Internet tells me I could just play this for the next 24 minutes, and no one would mind.

Best day ever.

But the fact is, this country is filled with experiences that give you the travel version of the fuzzy-wuzzies, and I'm exploring the French-speaking Lake Geneva region and beyond, including its main city, Geneva, as well as small cities and towns all close by, but I'm starting here in Martigny in the Canton of Valais.

This is a magical place called Barryland where you can learn the history, interact with, and sometimes be nibbled on by Switzerland's national dog, the St. Bernard, and for a few Francs, one of the foundation's St. Bernards can take you for a walk.

-This is Alix.

She is a 6-year-old female dog.

And I'm walking with her like we are going to visit patients in hospitals, clients and elderly people homes.

I'm working a lot with children in the field of -- in the autism spectrum.

-So Alix has a job, a very important job.

-She has a very important job.

-And what is the purpose of Barryland and the kennels?

-Yes.

The main aim is to breed St. Bernard dogs because they are very rare.

-They are?

-And the second aim is to use the dogs for social work.

They are very suitable for people if they sit in a wheelchair or for elderly people because of their height.

-Their height.

That's right.

-And sometimes, we even put them into a bed of a patient, and they can really breathe with the dog and relax.

-Oh, my gosh.

Do you hear that?

Do you hear what you're doing for people?

Huh?

Good job, Alix.

I've always known St. Bernards.

Everyone does, but I never realized there was actually a man named St. Bernard.

-This was the founder of the hospice up in the mountains.

-Mm-hmm.

-It was like 1,000 years ago.

They had the passes named after him, and later, the dogs were named after him.

They helped the monks to find people when they are lost in the fog or under avalanches.

-And that's here, the St. Bernard Pass, right?

-Yes, exactly.

-So people would go over the pass, and it was incredibly dangerous.

And these dogs would be sent out to rescue people?

-Yes, because they are very curious, and they like to look for things, and they would just know if there is something laying under the snow.

Like, we have one dog who is trained to rescue people under the snow, and in the final exam, the dog has to find something under seven meters of snow, so they have really, very good noses.

-Seven meters.

That's 21 feet.

-Yes.

-They can smell people under 21 feet of snow?

-Mm-hmm.

-Wow.

-Mm-hmm.

And the most famous dog, Barry, we are named after him, Barry Foundation.

He saved more than 40 people.

That's not just history or legend.

That's for sure.

-That's for sure.

Wow.

What isn't for sure is that St. Bernards carried barrels around their necks.

There's no historic proof of it.

Barrel or no, it doesn't make this national dog any less adorable.

I'm now in a neighborhood that is part of the city of Geneva and yet apart from the city of Geneva.

And that's because it actually wasn't a part of Geneva.

The neighborhood of Carouge was built by an Italian king in the late 1700s to compete with Geneva, and naturally he used Italian architects to help him.

And I think where Geneva has this reputation of being a serious city, here this neighborhood has a more laid-back, quirky feel.

-I like to compare Geneva, the nice, elegant lady, and Carouge is the naughty boy.

[ Both laugh ] -We all love the naughty boys.

-Exactly.

[ Both laugh ] -The shops here seem so specialized.

-Yes, this is really something almost unique we find now here in Carouge because the soul of Carouge are the craftsmen.

-Philippe Pascoet may not deserve bad-boy status, but he is considered the first chocolatier to go beyond the Swiss milk chocolate tradition to create a more daring and unexpected chocolate experience.

[ Gasps ] -And?

-Oh, my goodness.

Mmm!

Oh!

Mm-hmm.

So this is dark chocolate... -Yes.

...with passion fruit.

Oh, it's phenomenal.

-But you taste the fruit.

-Oh, it's beautiful.

-Yeah.

-But it's not too sweet.

It's really -- -Exactly.

-You taste the freshness.

And what sets his chocolates apart from all of Switzerland, which is known for chocolate?

-He was the first to work with dark chocolate.

-Oh.

All right.

-And by making infusions and with a fruit base also.

-Oh, lovely.

-This is lavender.

-[ Speaking French ] -The lavender comes from south of France, So only... -Only the best.

-...very, very the best.

Yes.

-Is that orange?

-No.

It's a yuzu.

-Yuzu.

Yuzu.

-Yuzu.

-That is an Asian fruit.

-Yes.

Right, exactly.

-Oh, goodness.

You guys just keep talking.

I don't speak French, but I speak chocolate.

-Right.

[ Laughter ] -Monsieur Jean Kazes has been making custom clocks here in Carouge for 45 years.

-Bonjour, Jean.

Hardworking.

-I love his style.

-Yeah.

-It's almost abstract.

-Yeah, it's actually -- Everything started with this clock like that, and by when he was taking it apart and thinking that it's such a pity to hide the movement of a clock inside.

-I agree.

So people come to him to have a very unique piece made.

-He made also the clock with the longest pendulum in the world, 30 meters, and you can check on me and on him in the Guinness Book.

-Really?

How long does it take Monsieur to make something like that?

-[ Speaking native language ] -So it takes three months or more because it's really a creation.

-A creation that is no doubt one of a kind like the man himself.

-Are there many men like him here in Geneva?

-No.

-He's rare.

-He's unique.

-While there are many places to admire the art of keeping time, there's only one place that allows you to partake in it.

-You build your own watch.

That's the concept.

I always advise to begin to search your movement first.

That's the principal thing you're going to see in your watch at the end.

-So you can pick gold.

-Gold color.

We have silver color, so you can choose all the color, the die color, the bracelet color, even the case.

-And then you've made a truly one-of-a-kind, unique souvenir from the country of Switzerland.

-That's the point.

That's the point.

My name is Mathieu.

I am actually a Swiss watchmaker working here in Geneva.

I'm from Quebec.

My father moved the whole family 18 years ago.

-Initium gives people a bit of experience in a nearly 500-year-old trade.

-Here you have mechanical movement.

Okay.

You can see beating.

-Okay.

It's like the heart of the watch.

-How many pieces, roughly, are in just that movement?

-If we count every screw, every pins, about 150.

-So Mathieu will take it apart, and I'll help put it back together again.

I did this once with a car and an engine.

It did not go well.

-So we will begin by remove this first screw, this screw just over there, and for me it's big screw.

-That's a big one.

-Those screw are big.

That's a big one.

-Boy, you remove one layer, and there's another one.

-I just do all the time the same path, the same order.

-Is it counterclockwise?

-Yeah.

-No, no, not in this case.

[ Laughs ] -And then it was my turn.

I can't see a thing.

[ Both laugh ] -Try this one.

-Okay.

Okay.

-Here you go.

-Okay, oh.

-A real watchmaker.

-Let's see.

[ Gasps ] Oh, it's a whole new world.

-Exactly.

-All right.

I can see -- -Tiny world.

-It's a tiny world I'm a part of.

I feel like a gorilla.

All right, so... Wow.

Oh, my goodness.

-You screw now.

I think it's okay.

-Yeah, and then do I just pick it up with my fingers?

-No, no, no.

You always use the tweezer.

-The tweezers, okay.

-Otherwise, you're going to put the fingerprint on the movement, and it's not good.

-That's not good.

-No.

It's humidity on your hand... -Ah.

-...and that can create rust.

-This is like a really bad drinking game in my college years that I totally lost.

-There we go.

-Okay.

-Whoo!

First screw.

-We made a watch.

We made a watch.

Just another 149 pieces to go.

If you grew up in a luxury hotel, how do you think you would spend your childhood?

Meet Jacques Mayer, Geneva's male version of Eloise.

...here in this hotel?

-It was great fun.

With my sisters and cousins, we would run around the corridors and play tricks to the chef, and we would go into the pastry chef's place and pinch the ice cream, so it's great.

At that time, the house was very, very exclusively reserved for members of noble families.

-The hotel is the Beau-Rivage on Lake Geneva and was opened by Mr. Mayer's great-great-grandparents in 1865, making this one of the few grand am hotels in the world that is family-owned.

Its clientele has raised eyebrows for well over a century.

-Well, the royal floor was the first floor, and then the second floor was a little bit less high.

-So the first floor is where the royals would stay.

-Yes, absolutely.

We had the suites on the first, second floor.

They are the historical suites.

-One suite is named after Eleanor Roosevelt, who stayed here in 1947 as she was drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

You are a hotel of business that has been in operation through World War I, World War II, the Internet and our cellphones and our smartphones in a way that we have completely changed the way we travel.

-Mm-hmm.

-How do you maintain consistency through all of those changes?

-First, passion.

-Okay.

-Second, pride, and then a need for innovation.

-So you innovate.

-You know, curiosity.

Even though our world is getting less and less human somehow, you know, I feel that -- and when people find a little bit of humanity, they would definitely enjoy.

-[ Speaking native language ] -The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.

The hate of men will pass, and dictators die.

Liberty will never perish.

-I'm at a destination dedicated to Charlie Chaplin, an artist who left a cultural legacy that is still felt today.

He was also a good dad.

-I'm Eugene Chaplin.

I'm the fifth child of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill, and this is our family home.

I lived here for about 50 years.

-He wrote his autobiography here.

Did he write any of his later movies here, as well?

-Yes, "The Countess of Hong Kong," of course, and "The King of New York."

My father lived the rest of his life here, and in 2016, we turned the house into a museum.

Chaplin's World is a place where you can see the house where he lived, his legacy, and where he found happiness.

-More than any other art form in the world, film brings the world together.

We can all see the same film, and even if it's in a different language and if it's about different people that we don't know, we still connect with it, and your father is one of those people who created it as an art form.

-Of course, with pantomime, it's a universal language.

-There's no language barrier, so everyone -- -One can understand it.

-Right, right.

Just portraying deeply human emotions but doing so with dignity and a bit of comedy.

-So I think, well, everyone is a little tramp in his own way, so we always recognize ourselves in him.

I'm amazed 'cause I went to China not too long ago, and even in China, people know him, you know.

-Wow.

-Because he was the only artist which films were allowed during the time of -- -During the Mao years.

-Yeah.

-Chaplin's work plays out on countless screens throughout the studio.

Each are sound stages that become mini-theaters to watch and, perhaps most importantly, play in Chaplin's World.

-In history, you have people who manage to describe the human condition very well.

You have Shakespeare and impossible love like "Romeo and Juliet," and I think Chaplin did it with film.

It's the eternal problems.

Will they be ever solved?

I don't know, you know.

Maybe in 100 years we'll still talk about these same problems.

-And we'll still be watching his films.

-Exactly, and we're still watching his films because he did it with humor.

-Chaplin said, "A day without laughter is a day wasted."

For me, this day was certainly not.

A 40-minute train ride from Geneva, Lausanne is known for its universities, business, and hospitality schools, and even though it has a Gothic appearance, it's more young at heart, which is felt in the energy of the many visitors who come here for its music festivals.

Have you ever been to this festival?

-No, it's the first time.

I'm very excited.

I've been wanting to come for a very long time.

-So there's still things you're discovering here.

-Yes, all the time.

I'm Diana Casalis.

I am originally from Mexico, and I moved to Switzerland nine years ago.

-And so why the change?

-I wanted to be in Switzerland for hotel school.

-Okay.

-And the best hotel schools are here in Switzerland.

-Were there surprises moving here?

-I think it's like peeling the onion.

You come here.

You see one thing, and it's like a beautiful postcard, and then you feel like -- After a while, you feel like, "Oh, there's nothing to do."

-Uh-huh.

-And then there's, like, a ton of things to do, and then you meet more people, more things to do, and it's, like, amazing.

-The festival has a beautiful location within the warren of cobblestone streets that lead up to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, built over 800 years ago.

There are indoor and outdoor festivals throughout Lausanne all year long, showcasing every type of music imaginable.

- I want you close And I want you To be in my city Yeah, I want you to carry me -The eclectic mix of both audience and musicians makes sure there's always something to appreciate.

The beautiful Belle Epoque boats operate on six Swiss lakes, but the most worthwhile trip is on Lake Geneva, which not only boasts spectacular scenery, but also has the largest fleet of these elegant steamers.

[ Steam whistle blows ] These boats date back to 1904 and provide a brilliant view of this stunning country.

The Swiss always say, "Oh, well, we have a very small country," and yet everything in it is just grand and stupendous, and that smallness really works to a great advantage because you can be in the incredible city of Geneva.

You can hop a train and in 40 minutes be in Lausanne, this beautiful Gothic historic city, and then hop one of these beautiful boats and just go for a lovely trip around Lake Geneva, looking at the mountains and enjoying the lake.

So in one day, you could explore a city, another city, a lake and mountains, and yet I'm headed to the wine region of Lavaux.

So how long as Lavaux been a winemaking region?

-[ Speaking native language ] -[ Speaking native language ] -It's about the 11th century.

-How long have you been growing grapes here?

-14-- Yeah.

1451.

-You look great!

-Yes, it's the wine.

-It's our wine.

[ Speaks native language ] -Chesselas.

-Chesselas.

-And that's the main grape here in Lavaux.

-Yes.

-Sant.

-Sant.

-Sant.

-Sant, Michel.

-Is it true that the Swiss drink all the wine the Swiss make, and therefore none of us get to enjoy your wine outside of Switzerland?

-About 100% of the wine which is drank here, 65% is imported, so we import a lot of wine also.

-So I guess that's a "yes."

Americans do not know Swiss wine, and so therefore we think, "Oh, they don't make wine," or maybe it's a new wine region that's just sort of beginning.

And you've been making wine since the 11th century.

-Yes.

We cannot produce a huge quantity because there is a limitation for the quality, so we cannot make more.

It's forbidden.

-[ Speaking native language ] -So, yes, what Cecile say is that the wines are quite expensive also because we have to make all with the hands.

-Nothing's mass-produced... -No, no.

-...which is lovely.

-Yes, it's not possible.

And I think we don't want it.

-No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[ Speaking native language ] -There's one type of sound that is so inextricably linked to one country.

The sound is pastoral, calming, and, even if you're not Swiss, feels like the musical version of comfort food.

[ Alphorn blows ] I'm in the mountain resort of Nendaz, home to the International Alphorn Festival, where up to 150 alphorn players gather from all around the world.

Antoine has been an alphorn player for 25 years.

How long does it take to learn how to play the alphorn?

-[ Speaking French ] -Helping me is Briane Staheux, who not only has begun lessons in the alphorn, but also speaks French.

-So, the first documented alphorn in Switzerland is about 1400, 1500.

-Oh, my goodness.

Wow.

And it was used to communicate, right?

From mountain to mountain.

-[ Speaking French ] -The alphorn was used to alert others of enemies, natural disasters, as well as simply calling to people.

You know, like one of these.

That's not his alphorn.

-This is the original mobile phone.

-If you're ever around an alphorn, you just want to give it a shot, and the key to learning how to create sound from a 12-foot instrument is to start out small.

-Pbht!

[ Speaks French ] -Vibrate.

-You got to vibrate your lips.

[ Horn blowing ] -Good.

That's the right one.

[ Laughter ] -Yes.

Oh.

I just want to apologize to all the people of Switzerland right now.

[ Alphorn blows ] -[ Speaks French ] -Huh!

-Wonderful.

Bravo.

[ Laughs ] -Bravo.

-Ah!

-[ Speaks French ] -More air.

More air.

-Let's leave Switzerland on a better note.

[ Alphorns playing ] -We are close of everything, you know.

Close to the mountain, close to the lake, close to shop.

You can do anything.

-I grew up in Mexico, but Switzerland is now my home.

I'm very happy to live here.

I always recommend people to travel to Switzerland because it's such a beautiful place to live, and the people here are very welcoming.

-The scenery is out of this world.

Everywhere you look in Switzerland, any part of Switzerland you look at, it's a postcard picture.

The people are friendly, as well, and it's clean, and it's secure.

-And everything runs on time.

-When a destination allows you to meet a one of a kind, then make one... when you can see quality and taste it... when you get a front-row seat to a legacy who ultimately reminds us to laugh... that is when we share a love of travel, and that's why Lake Geneva and the Valais in Switzerland is a place to love.

For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.