Gruyére, Switzerland

Gruyere

Our last day in Switzerland was spent visiting the small town of Gruyére in the French Swiss countryside. Honestly the main reason I chose for us to stay in Montreux was so that we could come here. We spent the day exploring medieval architecture, eating cheese, and stuffing our faces at the local Swiss chocolate factory until we were bouncing off the walls. It was glorious!

I was really impressed with how charming the town of Gruyére is too. It sits perched on top of a hill among the green, tree-filled mountains, overlooking pastures that are sprinkled with dairy cows.

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Gruyere

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The inside of the town is so quaint and well-maintained that you feel like you’re walking right through a movie set.

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Can you see the kitty in there? Man, what a life!

All of the food was really good too. One of the cafes we stopped at served their coffee with these delicious cream truffles!

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Then for lunch we had a melted Gruyére sandwich with a colorful salad on the side:

Gruyere food

After lunch, we drove to the Callier Chocolate Factory  to take a tour. While we were there they taught us about the history of chocolate, gave us a behind-the-scenes look of the factory, and then let us inhale about 1800 different samples.

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Okay, for me, it was actually like 20. But Brandon had at least 40. I was a little concerned.

The last thing on our agenda for the day was to go swimming at the thermal baths nearby in Charmey. I was ridiculously excited for this part of the day.

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I envisioned us relaxing in warm mineral-infused spring water as we stare out at the mountains and savor the lingering flavor of Swiss chocolate on our tongues.

Well it wasn’t exactly like that. It was more like a mildly chlorinated community pool that was extremely crowded and overpriced. And you’re required to undress and remove your shoes in a bare-bones unisex locker room and then walk around the whole place (including the bathrooms) barefoot. I guess I was expecting it to be more like a spa environment. Maybe the exterior should have been a hint that it wasn’t?

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Or maybe I’m just a snooty pants? ;)

The next morning we started the drive to the south of France (more on that soon!) and on the way we made a pit-stop to have lunch in the lakeside city of Annecy. We were only there for about an hour but from what I saw, it was gorgeous! We ate at a place right on the lake and the color of the water was so pretty.

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I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant because the food was amazing too. We had a ratatouille type dish with couscous and then finished with profiteroles (cream puffs) that were filled with chantilly ice cream and topped with a warm chocolate sauce. Oh my, they were heaven on a plate!

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Then it was off to Provence!