Saturday, August 26, 2006

And then there was cheese...


I am writing about Friday, Aug. 25. I woke up and had breakfast of coffee, juice, and a fresh apple tart from the corner Boulangerie. Then Chris, Engy and I walked to the train station to catch a train to Veytaux-Chillon to tour the Castle of Chillon. On the way to the train station, I stumbled upon a "G-string stand" which was new to me (and very funny), but I guess normal in this different culture...anyway, the castle environment was stunning...Lake Geneva was clear and expansive, surrounded by mountains and vibrant flowers. The castle, from the 12th and 13th century, was very cool to see as it was my first one. The tour was well organized and I enjoyed exploring, especially seeing the crypt and climbing around between each chamber. It felt surreal, like a movie set. Several paragliders were visible in the sky during our time there, doing somersaults in the air. We saw a couple of swans and a really cute miniature brown lizard on the way out- of course, hitting the ultra-touristy shop there before our departure!

And then, there was cheese...we headed to Gruyeres on a fancy train with plush green material on the seats, gold trim, and tables that folded down so we played a game of "Go Fish" on the way. Beautiful scenery from the train! I felt like there were about ten different shades of green among all the hills, trees, and little lakes we saw. The landscape was ripe with brown, black and white cows. We arrived at Gruyeres and immediately purchased a late lunch of fresh bread, cheese, and salami. One of the best cheeses I have ever tasted in my life! We went on a cheese tour which was actually geared toward young children ages 6-12 (nice of them to leave that piece of info out)...the audio tour was told from the perspective of a very silly female British cow named Cherry. One of my favorite bits was her saying "Hot, isnt it? Just like when the milk comes out of my udder- all warm and frothy! It takes 400 liters of milk to make a 35 kilo cheese!!" I did learn that cows have four stomachs, so I guess the tour was worth it(?)

Finally we headed back to Lausanne for the group BBQ with Paul. On the way, I found an interesting beverage- iced tea with Swiss cannabis flavor- which I quickly consumed without any unfortunate side effects (or any pleasant ones, for that matter!). The group dinner was fun, and we gave Paul a card and bottle of scotch with our thanks and appreciation. Went to bed early to get enough rest. What a lovely day in Switzerland!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home