Date and time of visit: September 18, 2017, approximately 10:00 a.m.
When you think of Switzerland, you probably think mainly of German-speaking countries and French-speaking countries. Zurich is the center of the German-speaking area, and Interlaken and Zermatt, famous for the Jungfraujoch, are also German-speaking. The French-speaking part of the world is Geneva, and the area around Lake Geneva is very popular. The Italian-speaking area is a little more subdued than these.
There are some reasons for that. I personally think that it is easier to travel between German and French speaking countries because there are not so many mountains and passes to cross, while Italian speaking countries are more mountainous than you think and you have to cross passes to go to different areas. I felt it strongly when I visited beautiful villages.
Why did I tell you this story? Erlach, which I’m going to introduce to you this time, is a German-speaking village belonging to the canton of Bern, but actually, September 18, 2017 was the day when I was visiting every beautiful French-speaking village around Lake Neuchâtel in northwestern Switzerland, and this Erlach is also a village in this area, and I thought I thought it was French-speaking, but when I looked carefully at the signs in the village shops, I was surprised to see German written on them.
Because the village I visited just before coming here was of course French-speaking, and it was only a few minutes away from the village, or the next town. So the village was just on the border of the state. I didn’t notice it at all.
So, Erlach is a German-speaking village, but the atmosphere of the village was similar to other French-speaking villages nearby. Well, it is indeed within a few kilometers geographically. The parking lot was a little bit far from the village (but less than 100m away) and there was a big space. The photo below is the view of the village from near the parking lot.
The so-called Old Town is on a small hill.
The old castle ruins on the hill seemed to be a school now. It was a weekday, so children were playing cheerfully in the schoolyard.
From the top of the hill, you can see Lake Biel (a smaller lake to the northeast of Lake Neuchâtel). And below, there were vineyards though small scale.
It was a very ordinary and beautiful village.
