A beautiful drive & some touristy stuff

Aug 7

We checked out of our Hotel Eiger (sob) this morning and made our way down the gondola/train to the car.  Husband planned a back road route towards Guyeres — our planned side trip on the way back to our apartment in Lausanne.  Well planned – as the drive took us over the Jaunpass range and through some lovely countryside.

But as we descended down the other side of the pass, it got hotter and hotter.  Soon it was 90+° and the entirely wrong climate for the two admittingly-tourist things we planned 1) a chocolate factory in Broc and 2) a cheese manufacturing plant in outside of Gruyeres.

Steadfast, we carried on but, alarmingly — both were very touristy with buses dropping off hoards of other tourists.  We skipped the chocolate tour* but did take the little cheese tour…pretty lame, we could have saved our CHF’s (Swiss Francs).

Our final destination was the medieval village of Gruyeres  – a fortified town without cars.  We had to park way down the hill, so puffed our way up arriving sweaty and hot.  A really pretty village with plenty of charm, despite the brutal heat.

 

We had a little lunch and refreshment of local-made double cream with fresh berries and meringue cookies.  See how pretty and quite decadent given a pot of fresh local cream.  The last photo is the view from our table as we partook of this delightful treat.

Drove back to Lausanne with the air conditioning on until we reached Lake Geneva and the cool breezes in our apartment up top the hill.  The google map link for our apartment is HERE – zoom out and in to see the Lake and the vineyards – just down the hill.

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*Stupidly, we bought a variety of chocolate bars and thought they would survive buried in our trunk.  But alas, back at the apartment, we discovered we had very soft chocolate.  So, we put them in the fridge for a bit and then tried one later – wonderful!  So apologies to those who may receive chocolate bars gifts – trust us they taste wonderful – they just look a bit rough 🙁 …