Today started out a wee bit sketchy. We had decided it was time to hit the road and visit La Gruyère,home of Gruyère cheese and Caillet chocolate. We had a car...and GPS..how difficult could it be?
We forgot our passports. We forgot Euros. We were very thankful that we didn't end up in La Gruyere, France, where we had set our GPS coordinates to. Just a little typing mishap..oops, wrong country...We saved ourselves just as we were crossing the border into France. Mike informed me.. after... that his spider senses had started to tingle.
They too must be recovering from jet lag.
I refrained from saying anything as he had already informed me that I was only to speak if he was going to go through a red light or hit a cyclist.
The GPS guy ended up being a wifesaver..I mean, lifesaver. Between the language/ sign differences,nameless streets and crazy drivers, a GPS system is indispensible. I cannot say enough good things about our GPS guy. He doesnt even yell at us when we ignore him or go the wrong way. At one point, I could only laugh as I looked at the GPS monitor and we weren't even on a road. I was wondering why he kept repeating himself..
La Gruyère is a beautiful farmland region located between the shores of Lake Geneva and the Alps.The hills are alive...dotted here and there with town after town, each with its own raison d'etre. It is very green and very pristine. The farmhouses are immaculate.There are no broken down tractors or beat up jalopies in their front yards.
I like these people.
We spent the afternoon wandering the Château de Gruyères and its medieval town. A bit touristy, but beautiful especially combined with the surroundings.. I will only say this once, even though I think it often...I can't wait to see these places when the trees are full, the flowers a bloom and the weather warm.
We spent the majority of the day either eating, or walking to eat somewhere. We had a fantastic fondue lunch in town.We finished it off with a dessert of fresh raspberries, served with double cream.We may have had some wine with that too. Olivia tried fondue...and liked it! It was a proud moment for us.
After lunch we figured we might as well continue to satisfy our every whim. We continued up the road to Broc to visit La Maison de Caillet (Nestle) for a tour of the factory and some chocolate. It has just been renovated and reopened on the 2nd. The actual factory has been there since the 1750's and was the first in Switzerland to make milk chocolate. I believe we spent a couple of hours there. The tour ended with a room full of "testers"...100 different types of chocolate. You can only imagine...
It continues...
We continued on to Chateau de Chillon which is located on the shoreline of Lake Geneva. Unfortunately, it was closed. My kids are loving churches and castles. it is not necessarily the history they are after, but the novelty of climbing all the old crooked stairs and the discovery of all the nook and crannies.
The sun was just setting and there was a slight mist settling as we were there. Olivia and I took a ton of photos, a few of which I have posted on my flickr account (on the right hand side).
I am hesitant to say how our evening ended, but it really just sums up family travel.....
Macdonalds for chicken mcnuggets!
The line up was out the door, the drive through even further. It must be the free Wi-fi?!
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