Ah, Gruyères! Where the cows graze with decorative headdresses and massive bells hanging from their necks, the grass grows spring green even in the midst of fall, and the tourists come from near and far to taste the smelly goodness of aged swiss cheese. It's like Disneyland for the cheese lover. There's the cheese factory, cheese souvenirs, restaurants devoted to making cheese a main course in a variety of ways, and then there's the cream. The Gruyères double cream drenched over meringues and fresh strawberries.
Not even a milk allergy could stop me.
Needless to say, I had to bring Marki here. It's just too cute of a village to pass up, especially when the train ride there takes you through the Swiss Alps, granting surreal views of Lake Léman below and farm land clinging to the mountain side. Those cows must have some serious balancing skills to keep from falling down the steep hills like little kids rolling hot dog style down grassy runways. And the little village of Gruyères stands at the top of a hill in the center of all of this, a medieval walled-in city with cobblestone streets and a castle to add to its appeal. I've been here several times before, once when I was eight-years-old when the double cream and strawberry dessert left a permanent mark on my memory; a second time with Chels on our pre-Nice travel adventure; a third time with Nick and Nat on Omi's 81st birthday trip; and finally, a fourth time with Marki. What can I say? I like cheese. And I find it a fabulous thing to share with people.
So between my 7-11am and 6:30-11pm shifts, we hopped on the train and made the nearly hour and a half trip to Gruyères where we ate quiche--what do you know--oozing with the famous cheese and raclette, a typical Swiss mountain tradition that involves heating a block of cheese and scraping off the bubbling goodness layer by layer, placing it over boiled potatoes with lots and lots of grey pepper. Hello heart attack at thirty-five. Then because we could not eat any more, we bought the meringues and a tub of double cream for dessert later that night. Let's just say that I didn't have to eat much dinner after our feast. A short walk around the village to burn 3.1974 calories, and violà! We called it a day!
(Photos courtesy of Marki's camera.)
Grass, cows, cheese, and castles. Yup, it's Switzerland!
Only the beginning. We shared both dishes and I freely admit that we were not total American fatties. We did not finish our food. Thank god.
Waiting for the cheese to melt...
* * *
Flashback...
Nick and Nat eating raclette during our trip two years earlier. It only took us 30 minutes to figure out how the hell the machine actually worked. Step 1: Make sure cheese heater is plugged in. Step 2: Place cheese block under heater. Step 3: Wait patiently. Step 4: When the cheese starts to bubble and is begging to be swept away, take special cheese knife and glide it across blistering surface. Step 5: Drench over potatoes and eat eat eat.
The village in April. Not as many people as when Marki and I visited, but with the snow, it felt fake. No way could an actual place look like this
View from the castle.
Only one thing left to do... If I grow my hair out for two long blonde braids, I may just have to move here and change my name to Heidi.
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