The Rosengart Collection (property of a foundation established by Angela Rosengart in 1992) has been accessible to the public in its entirety – f0r the first time ever – since March 2002. The collection, which comprises some 220 works and focuses primarily on French painting from 1870 to the 20th century, is presented over an exhibition area of some 1250 square metres.

The exhibits are arranged around three main themes.  The ground floor is home to the Pablo Picasso collection, with a special focus on the artist’s later work; the lower ground floor accommodates the Paul Klee collection; and the first floor is devoted to important works by more than 20 further artists from the Impressionist and Classic Modernist movements. *

*From the museum guide pamphlet.

We made what, because of the heat, seemed a long trek to the old town wall in order to view it and climb some of its towers. When we  arrived at the wall I wimped out part way up the first tower (I am not very good with heights) so, whilst Mr C ascended the tower,  I opted to take the short walk along the ramparts to the next tower and then down to ground level. I was glad when I arrived back at ground level where I found a nice bench in the shade to wait for Mr C.

When Mr C rejoined me, we made our way back into to town where I had one more of those refreshing mineral water and berry drinks.  We then strolled through the town where Mr C found a book shop to investigate.   He didn’t manage to find anything to purchase but I found a rather interesting board game which I did purchase.  Later we went to a nearby bakery to buy a sandwich which we ate in a nearby public park accompanied by sparrows who fed off any stray crumbs.

After lunch we visited the ‘Rosengart Collection‘. This is a gallery of  modern art including paintings by impressionist artists and a large number of Picasso’s works.  After enjoying this museum we made our way to the lake where we relaxed over a leisurely drink and enjoyed the views whilst waiting for the arrival of the boat that was to take us on a panoramic tour of the lake. The tour of the lake was nice and relaxing, the more so because it was accompanied by a refreshing glass of wine. It just had to be done

For that evening’s meal, we chose to return to the same restaurant that we ate in on our first evening in Lucerne. Thunderstorms were imminent so, to keep dry, we sat outside but underneath an overhanging roof. A number of Swiss army officer cadets from a nearby training school were occupying a large table in the restaurant. This made service for us a little slower than our first experience there.

Earlier, we had tried to check in online for our return flight with the intention of avoiding the problems we had incurred on our outward journey. Technology problems made this a little difficult so we abandonded it until after dinner when I insisted we try again!  We checked in successfully only three hours after the earliest time that we could have and took the last two seats that were adjacent to each other.  We also noticed that very few seats remained available after we had secured ours. I wonder how many people didn’t get a seat on the flight…

Our usual bar was full of Swiss army officer cadets, milling around, so plan B was put into action which, just around the corner, led to the discovery of another bar that was full of locals and had a nice, relaxing atmosphere.

I could hear the officer cadets partying underneath my hotel bedroom window and indulging in what sounded like drinking games well into the night…