So I realize that I promised a blog about our day of Chocolat et Formage....but there was just too much to say and too many pictures for one blog! So, I'm breaking the day into two parts. This first blog will be about the train ride through the Alps and the Chocolate factory (the "Chocolat" portion of the day) and next week I'll finish writing about the day with the cheese factory and wonderful village of Gruyere (the "Formage" portion).
This was a big day for us....Whitney and I were on our own as it was Monday and Cousin swiss Mister had to go to work! Here was our self portrait in front of Cousin Swiss Mister's apartment building (also served as a reminder in case we couldn't remember what street to go down on our way home!)
We made our way to Montreux and bought train tickets to ride up through the Alps first to Broc, where the chocolate factory was located and then to Gruyere, home of the cheese factory. The train had such BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL views! Here are just a few pictures...
On the trip, we saw lots of churches and cows. Now, I am very passionate about agriculture and religion....so I took a lot of pictures. My cousins decided I snapped a shot of every church and every cow in Switzerland. I sure did my best. :) Here are just a few of my collection....
In fact, it sort of turned into an agricultural tour of the Alps....in addition to the cheese factory and cows, we saw sheep, vineyards, a corn field, several dairies....not surprising this was my favorite day of the entire European Adventure!
The above picture is sheep we saw in a village. Below is a painting of a shephard and his sheep that was on a little Swiss house.
So we arrived at Montbouvon, Switzerland, where we had to change trains. What a cute little Swiss train station, huh? You will also notice the rain. It was FREEZING all day. We were dressed in short sleeved shirts and shorts, thanks to cousin Swiss Mister's promise that "It's hot here every day!" Yea....
Luckily, the next town had some stores, where we bought hoodies and an umbrella. That hoodie cost me 30 francs, but I would have paid 100 at that point, I was so cold! We re-boarded the train much happier (and warmer) campers!
After that little detour, we arrived in Broc, Switzerland. Hope of the Callier chocolte factory.
We took a picture of Henri Nestle, to say thanks. He started Nestle chocolate, the company that over 100 years later gave my cousin Swiss Mister a job in Switzerland, which gave me a couch to sleep on and a reason to come visit!
Then it was time for the taste testing!! There were probably 10 different types of chocolate down this long glass case for everyone to try. Because I believe in giving it my all, I think I tried 8/10. By the end I was getting sort of picky....
We walked around the village as we were waiting for the train. So peaceful and pretty! This was me doing the spinning dance to "The Hills Are Alive....With The Sound Of Music" song.
From here we got back on the train to Gruyere....maybe the most beautiful village I saw in Europe....stay tuned next week!
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