On A Grand Tour

A few things come to mind when thinking about Switzerland. Snow-capped mountains. Beautiful towns. Cheese. Chocolate. Gorgeous countrysides. Medieval architecture. It’s pretty amazing, then, when one destination combines all of the above in one fabulous package. That is exactly what we were met with when we arrived in the town of Gruyères, a two-hour train ride from Geneva in the beautiful Swiss countryside. It is a quintessential castle town, with the 13^th-century Château de Gruyères crowning the beautiful hillside town and the city walls circling the whole thing in a delightful historic package. As we walked up the hill to the town entrance, in the dark and in freezing rain, we had no idea just how beautiful the town and its surroundings were.

We stayed right in the middle of town at Au Soleil de Gruyères, housed in a building built in 1330 (!!!!!) and beautifully renovated. As Americans who are used to getting excited about architecture from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the novelty and our immense appreciation of historic European architecture have not worn off.

Morning dawned bright and sunny and we had to keep our jaws from hitting the floor as we stepped outside to a clear view of the town and surrounding Prealp peaks. Being in this town truly feels like stepping back in time—the cobblestone streets, lack of cars, ramparts visible between the buildings, and castle sitting on top of it all are nothing short of spectacular.

We started our day with a visit to the Château de Gruyères to continue to immerse ourselves in the history of this beautiful town. We strolled the ramparts and wandered the rooms ranging from the castle’s early days to its time as the administrative center of the region in the 16^th century to its final phase as the summer house of a wealthy Geneva family in the 19^th century (must be nice!). Every window offered stunning views of the town below and the dramatic peaks rising from the valley floor.

After hours of castle history, it was time for some food, so we headed all the way down the hill to La Maison du Gruyère to learn about and sample the region’s namesake cheese. As you may have guessed, the famous Swiss cheese originated from this region and gets its name from this town. We learned all about Swiss cows in this region, who uniquely spend all summer long eating the flora of Alpine meadows; this translates into magical milk that then becomes the delicious Gruyère cheese. We sampled cheeses of different ages and appreciated the differences in taste caused by the aging process.

Gruyère milk and cheese permeate all aspects of basically all meals in this town. Indeed, the town positively smells like cheese during mealtimes, and somehow not in a gross, stinky kind of way. Besides the obvious fondue and raclette that star the regional cheese staple, Gruyère is in the signature pasta, macaronis de chalet, in the signature soup, soupe de chalet, and sprinkled on the traditional Swiss rösti. It’s hard to escape it, but then again, why would we want to? For dessert, basically all desserts come with a side of crème de la Gruyère, a double cream that is stunning in its smoothness. Pair it with fresh fruit, ice cream, or meringues; no matter what, the result is pure deliciousness. I think Swiss cows must really make magic milk.

The next day, we took a long walk across the beautiful countryside to the town of Broc to visit Maison Cailler, the factory of the oldest Swiss chocolate brand still in existence, and learn about another industry that benefits from magic Swiss milk. We learned all about the history of chocolate and how chocolate is made at Maison Cailler. Perhaps best of all, we were treated to unlimited chocolate samples.

Strolling town is, as always, one of our favorite activities. On a chilly afternoon in Gruyères, this is best done with a hot cup of vin chaud in hand. Our culinary happiness with this town inspired much of our shopping, so, laden with meringues, crème de la Gruyère, a new raclette cooker, and vin cuit (French for “cooked wine”), we hiked back down the hill at the end of the weekend, our stomachs and hearts fully satisfied.