The medieval town of Gruyeres

Today's trip to Gruyeres was every bit worth the money and time I spent on the train, as well as the steep hill that I had to climb to get there. If I had said that I liked Bern, I loved Gruyeres.

Gruyeres (pronounced gRu-yeaRhr, yea its tricky...) is a town located in Fribourgh, a city just a stop away by train from Lausanne. A medieval town that dates back to the early 12th century, perhaps even earlier, it is probably best known for its pride, the cheese, Gruyere.

Besides the cheese, Gruyeres is also known for a tourist spot, mainly due to the Chateau de Gruyeres and the HR Giger Museum there. Most die-hard sci-fi fans would probably squeal at the mention of HR Giger, the noted creator of Alien. Alas, I''m not much of a sci-fi fan but more of a fantasy fan, so the Chateau was just to my liking. No wonder I love that place! A castle on top of the hill, surrounded by the huge mountains (a skiing destination) and the picturesque backdrop of unmelted snow, its a scene straight out of those Goodkind or Eddings books.

Let me gush on a little about the chateau... The castle is now a museum (like most of them are) but it also has exhibits of modern contempory art pieces (pictures that look straight out of some whimsical fantasy story. Again, I like...) and a photo exhibit of the nature arount Fribourgh. But, thats not all! Because it was once owned by a very rich man with some extremely talented artist friends, there are several rooms in the castle that are richly decorated and painted. In these rooms, colourful murals cover entire walls from ceiling to floor. It was simply breathtaking and I won't waste my breath describing something thatI can't show...
















I've actually got more pictures on the olympus camera (I borrowed batts from my friend) but because I don't have batteries now (I returned them), I can't show you more. But, this is not the only rooms with full-room murals. There are also rooms with elaborate tapestries and other stuff. Other than that, there are other things that I liked... Luckily, I took the photos on my phone, so here you go...













































After the tour of the castle, it was easily lunchtime. We are in Switzerland, the land of Heidi, expensive watches and delicious chocolates. But besides that, what else is Switzerland famous for, or more specifically, Gruyeres?? CHEESE!

Yes sires! And what is the most famous cheese dish in Switzerland? FONDUE!! But, besides that, we also have... RACLETTE!!!

Raclette is a way of eating cheese by melting it. It is not unlike a cheese fondue but the difference is you get a slab of cheese and place it under a heat source, scraping the hot and melted cheese off the slab and eating it straight on a piece of bread or potatoes.

One of the first things I had noticed when I stepped into Gruyeres was the signboard of restaurants for fondue and raclette. I was like telling my friend, "we SO have to try raclette". But then this raclette doesn't come cheap. Its 26 Fr.- a person. We can't share. So yea, I would have to eat homemade sandwiches for the next couple of weeks... But we are at Gruyeres, and its the first time I've seen raclette in Switzerland. Of course I had to try!

Like the fondue, it was an entire meal of cheese. We were just served a sizable chunk of cheese, some potatoes and a side dish of pickled cucumber and onions. I think 26Fr a person is not too bad, considering that a chunk of cheese that big can be pretty expensive.




























It was divine... A little plain, but it was very good. It was a little scary seeing the little puddle of oil there. Its not everyday that I eat such stuff anyway, so yea. You can see how much we've eaten! Just compare the before (second picture) and the after one (last picture)!

After the cheese, we went to the cheese factory to see how they made the cheese. Like a faithful tourist, I even bought a small slab of cheese that wasn't too expensive and took a picture with their resident cow that's standing infront of the toilets.















Oh yea, I bought meringue there too! It was reasonable and had that little gold stamp on it that said Swiss Bakery Trophy. Unable to resist, I bought and tried it. It was really good! None of the eggy smell that most meringues that I've tried have. Very crunchy and crumbly and yet it all melts in your mouth. Excellent stuff!

There were more things to check out in the neighbouring villages but by the time we were done with our stuff in Gruyeres, we had missed the previous train and the next would be in 30 mins. No choice but to wait then, since this place is so far from the city and the village that we wanted to go, Bulle, is a few kilometres away. But then, there wasn't much stuff there... It was Sunday and all the shops were closed. The museum that was supposed to be open there was strangely closed with no visible entrance. This meant an early ride home for me to write this blog after putting away my stuff and having dinner.

It had been a fun weekend, but its back to the books now... The next break that I have seem so far away... Sigh...