Gruyères!

Gruyères: The SCR's Jerusalem, Mecca and Yankee Stadium Rolled Into One...

Welcome back Cheeseheads (as we assume our dedicated followers have by now dubbed themselves) to a Very Special Episode of the Swiss Cheese Report. In this instalment, the SCR makes its long overdue pilgrimage to the spiritual home of swiss cheese, the medieval mountain hamlet of Gruyères.

View from the Castle

Gruyères is located just north-east of Montreux, on top of an isolated hill in the canton of Fribourg. Today it is famous primarily as the home of the eponymously delicious hard yellow Gruyère cheese that is protected with a vigilance and vigour worthy of a walled castle town by the modern-day pikemen of the feared Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC). Reminiscent of the heroic House of Gruyères's famous victory over Charles the Bold at the Battle of Morat, the AOC has recently triumphed in its struggle to uphold the sanctity of the Gruyère geographical indication - or appelation d'origine - against such (unsurprisingly) French pretenders as Comte and Beaufort in the so-called by me Great Fromage Wars of the early 2000s.

Tapestry: Triomphe des Fromages Gruyères

Make no mistake -- Gruyères is no one-trick pony in the highly pony-trick-laden world of European dairy gastronomie. Bored with the ho-hum bread and cheese standby, they have mastered the refreshingly different bread in cheese variant, inviting visitors to sample their delectable melty cheese fondue. The town also produces the myocardial-infarction-inducing Gruyères double-cream which dairy scientists estimated at a whopping 48% mfc before their delicate measuring instruments succumbed to the sheer excess of it all. There is also, you will no doubt be shocked to learn, a highly rated chocolatier, Maison Cailler, in nearby Broc.

But Gruyères fortunes did not always rely solely on its aptitude for exploiting the production of Switzerland's favoured bovine population. Once the town was a centre of political intrigue and a sought after ally by the competing interests of the Holy Roman Empire, the House of Savoy, the Old Swiss Confederacy and the Duchy of Burgundy, among others. This was the combined effect of a sturdy castle, a remote locale and a certain pragmatic political flexibility.

Castles Were a Strong Claim to Relevance in Medieval Times.

Presumably Where the Knights Got Drunk

Nineteen Counts of Gruyères called the castle home. Alas, it all came to ignominious end with Michel who died in hock to the cantons of Fribourg and Bern which upon his death claimed his lands and promptly turned the whole place into a whopping money-making success by opting to stop fighting in wars and instead to focus on supplying tasty and easily transported cheese to feed the growing armies of the many neighbouring kingdoms and duchies who were engaged in the the perpetual fighting that was the hallmark of medieval Central Europe. So Gruyères was kind of like the original Haliburton... just with cheese.

The Castle Interior

No Clever Caption, Just Pretty

We spent most of our time walking around the town and checking out the castle, which Sam liked because we let him run around on the assumption that if the Austro-Hungarian Empire couldn't break the place it would probably survive our son.

Sam Tests Our Assumption

In complete juxtaposition to this medieval architecture is a cafe and museum just outside the castle gates by the man who designed the Aliens for the James Cameron blockbuster. It completely does not fit in this traditional Swiss village -- but then it's fair to say it wouldn't really fit anywhere.

Weird

To recover from this rather unsettling experience, we decided to sample some of the local wares and to eat as much cheese as possible in the most stereotypically Swiss looking place conceivable. (The double-cream we took home for later.) This place was just what the doctor ordered:

Le Chalet

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the sign says "Action Raclette". We later learned that "action" is Swiss for "promotion" or "sale". So, sadly, the raclette was no more exciting than usual. After the Alien cafe though, this was just fine by us...

Your SCR Correspondents: Happy Pilgrims

Until next time dear readers. And thanks to Sarah Mak for some great photos.

Halloween

Ok. so we are a month behind with our blog. Scrambling to catch up on this snowy weekend. Unlucky for me, I caught 24 hour bug that had me between bed and the bathroom most of the day yesterday. Luckily it does NOT appear to be a weird third trimester morning sickness and I'm not 100% today but much better. Since I'm sitting on the couch anyway, may as well get caught up with a few things.

pirate sam with bloody finger cookie

And I've been really wanting to get this post up. Because Sam was the cutest pirate ever - at least that's what his mom thinks. We did halloween with our friends and neighbours, and another family from the mission. Julie had called all the neighbours to find out who would be handing out goodies and she had our route all mapped out. There were enough houses that we were out for an hour. Halloween is taking of in Collex.

Sam, Nadia, Katya, Niklas, Cedric - Mission kids

Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Sam didn't have a clue what this was all about...for the first house. By house #2 Sam was shoving his way past the other kids, including 10 yr olds, and walking right into people's houses. Don't have to worry about my kid being left out. However, the exuberance soon turned to anxious freaking out if he wasn't first in line, etc., and it was all a bit much.

The haul

I think his bag of candy (and crackers and other random swiss items) is still 99% intact in the office. Ok...I've eaten some of it ;)

Sam recycles

He's just that kind of guy. We have to take our recycling to the recycling depot here in Collex. It has become a Daddy and Sam activity.

On the way to the depot

Milk jugs

Double fisting

Making sure they reached their destination

Our first houseguest - Ad!!!

How happy were we when we got an email from my brother, Ad, saying he'd be in the area and would come for a short visit if we would have him. We immediately booked some time off work to be able to properly entertain our first guest. We also finally got around to clearing out the final boxes that were lingering in the guest room. I'm sure that if Ad hadn't come they'd be there still!

Ad arrived the Tuesday after our weekend in Lyon, and stayed until Friday. Day one we headed up the Saleve. We managed to catch the end of the telepherique season so were able to take the 'flying car'. It was a cool but fairly clear day so we had a nice view of Geneva. We didn't hike. Not only was Ad sockless (no surprise there for anyone who knows him) but he managed to give himself a nasty calf-cramp chasing Sam around and so was a bit gimpy the rest of the visit. I didn't mind ;) We then took in some of the sights (or non sights, really) of Geneva on our way to lunch at the Creux de Genthod, near our house. As usual, the food was glorious. I had the best Veloute de Chataignes EVER...I don't know if I can ever order it again for fear of always coming up short. We managed to keep Sam from having a melt-down (it was well past nap time) with Smarties and fries. Afterwards, we headed home for an easy dinner of pesto - which we had brought home from our Italy trip (the parmesan too!).

Ad and Sam on top of the Saleve with view of Geneva

Next day, rather than rushing off to explore the countryside as I had originally planned, we decided to lay low and explore Geneva a bit, particularly as we were going to head to Annecy, France the next day. Happily for me, Ad was game to check out the Red Cross Museum (a disappointment) and the Philippe Patek watch museum (lots of cool new and antique bling) - the kinds of things I want to do but never want to give a Saturday over too. In between the two, we headed to the Jardins Botaniques for a picnic. I had been here before as it was right near work, and it was the perfect place to let Sam do his 2 year old 'thing', with a carousel (yes...but only the coolest carousel I've ever seen) and a little park. Sam found a willing minstrel in Ad, and had a blast on the climbing apparatus and even learned how to use a pulley to lift up a bucket full of sand (which he did over, and over again).

On the slide

Happy boy

That night we had a babysitter booked for Sam, and for us a dinner at the Auberge in Collex for some local gastronomie. It was 'chasse' season, but I went for the bison which comes from the farm around the corner (we drive past them every day on the way to work). The food was simply delicious, even if we did have trouble getting through all 5 courses. Ad and I shared bison chateaubriand - perfect - with risotto and a 'forgotten vegetable tart' (forgotten vegetables = root vegetables I've figured out). Aaron dug into pheasant ravioli, duck terrine and bison steak. We all left very happy (although no one really loooooved the bison tartare). Any future visitors can look forward to a trip to the Auberge that's for sure.

Day 3 was Ad's last day, and Aaron had the day off as well so we all piled into the car and headed to Annecy, France, which is billed as the Venice of France. Although on a much smaller scale, Annecy did not disappoint (once we found it - lesson learned: 'old town' is not always the preferred destination). Annecy is an absolutely gorgeous town with canals, a lake butting up against mountains, parks and pedestrian shopping (yay!). I can see why they are in the running to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Annecy canals - beautiful

Thanks to some advice from a colleague, we hit up a yummy creperie, where Ad braved the tripe crepe. Personally, I found it horrid but he ate the whole thing - not sure if that was pride or what but I have to hand it to him. We managed to convince Sam to try the nutella crepe (what is WRONG with this kid?). We then wandered about the canals, through the park (where Sam twisted his ankle falling out of a tree I put him in - nice), past the lake and across the scenic bridges.

We lingered so that Sam could hit the swings and the play structure - with a limp (here's how you know your 2 yr old has twisted their ankle: every time they try to run, they just drop to the ground - ankle gives out. try not to laugh). We investigated the alleys and then sat down at a bistro to grab a bite before Ad took the train back to Paris.

Ad and Sam checking out the chocolates

All in all it was a fabulous visit, lots of wine was consumed (unfortunately not by me) and cheese sampled. We hope to have Ad and Sue back as well as any one else out there who may be reading this blog and thinking of a European vacation.

Weekend in Lyon

So...I'm about a month behind now on posts. Sorry. Things have been busy at work and then I tend to just put up my feet in the evenings after getting the family fed and Sam off to bed. I know putting up your feet is a no-no while pregnant but since we are headed straight to the c-section this time I don't have to worry about back labour...I hope.

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago we braved the rioting french crowds and headed to Lyon with friends Julie and Darren, and their kids Nadia (5) and Cedric (3). We headed off early on a Sat morning and only stayed one night, but managed to pack in a whack of kid friendly activities...and not a single protester (if you don't count hungry, bored and tired kids at various points throughout the weekend).

Julie, Cedric, Sam and Sarah headed for the Subway.

Kids happy to be out of the car

We found our hotel easily (thanks to Darren and Julie's GPS...really a useful think in poorly marked European cities) and quickly set off, via subway, to our first stop - the roman ruins.

Sam riding the rails

The Roman Ruins are on the Fourviere hill (a take a funicular up), and were founded in 43 BC by some Roman dude under Caesar. At the time they called it Lugodunon. It is quite a pretty and strategic spot, with views over the whole city and the converging Rhone and Saone rivers. At the time, it was the 'capital' of Gaul (makes me want to read Obelix and Asterix...sort of). We packed a picnic lunch and the kids were let loose to run amok (key for keeping young ones pleased) although they did get in trouble for actually climbing on the ancient roman marble ruins.

Sam on the marble ruins - 2051 years older than he is

Our visit was topped off by an impromptu performance by some sort of youth choir - the acoustics were great and everyone on site grabbed a seat to watch, with shouts of 'Bravo' when they were finished. It was neat. Video too long to post here, sorry.

We then walked over to a church on a neighbouring hill - Fourviere (sorry, haven't yet figured out accents on this thing). Not such an old church but imposing, towering above the city, and great views. A funicular back down to town left us in the Vieux Lyon (medieval, if you are wondering what 'old' means) where we had a crepe, checked out the shops, wandered the streets and the neat traboules. Derived from the Latin trans-mabulare (wiki cut-and-paste here), meaning to pass through, traboules are corridors through buildings and their courtyards, connecting one street directly with another. They were originally built so that they could move the silk about in inclement weather without damaging it. Lyon had the silk monopoly in France for quite some time.

Traboule: courtyards and balconies

Thankfully, Sam fell asleep for a little siesta so that he wasn't completely out of sorts for the puppet show we had reservations for a 4:30.

The puppet show. Guignol is 'the' Lyon puppet, created in the late 1700's. I don't think he's had many modifications since then. Billed as a show for 2-4 year olds, I had a hard time following the french. The French 3 yr olds had no problems, though. The ticket-taker asked the kids names when we came in, and they included the audience in the show - the wolf asking Sam, Cedric and Nadia if he could 'croque leurs oreilles". most of the time I didn't know what they were asking Sam so I'd just say 'OUI!'. The puppets also asked the kids if they liked to pick mushrooms, and what kids of mushrooms they'd pick. What kind of kids know different types of mushrooms??!! French kids, that who. 45 minutes later we were back on the street with slightly cranky kids. We decided to call it a night and do take-out at the hotel, since it was too early for the supper shift at the restaurants, too late to push the kids much longer, and we had reservations at a Paul Bocuse Brasserie the next day anyway. Hit the hotel pool, had some shawarma, and hit the hay.

The next day we had Parc de la Tete d'Or, Paul Bocuse Brasserie de l'Est, and possibly the Lyon aquarium (we never made it) on the agenda. The Parc de la Tete d'Or is the largest urban park in France at 117 hectares. It features a large lake for boating, a small zoo (elephants, panthers, screaming monkeys, deers etc.) and a number of play structures. Upon arriving, we had to wait to cross the traffic of joggers, rollerbladers etc. who were out on the rainy, slightly cold morning. We skipped the play structures (we slides? no thanks) but took in the zoo. It really is a beautiful park and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Lyon - especially runners and families with kids.

The gang: kids close to meltdown

We wandered around until it was time for our reservation at Brasserie de l'Est. Did I mention how excited I was for this? Delicious food, early reservation so no sweat with the kids. Located in an old train station with a miniature train making the rounds around the room.

The ambiance did not disappoint. Waiters, busboys etc. performing their duties with military precision, elderly ladies in their pearls, Hermes scarves and Balmain trench coats and elderly men in their cashmere vests, ties and wool pants. Equipped with new toys, smarties and stickers for the kids, we settled in for a fine dining experience. The place was PACKED. However, neither Aaron nor I was blown away by the food. I ordered steak frites. Bottom line - hard to match/beat Canadian beef no matter how good the chef is. And Aaron's chicken, was, well rubbery. But the company was fabulous, my fries were amazing and the creme brule very good. I'd go back.

And on that note, we'll be back with some pics from Uncle Ad's visit!

An Update on Life's Great Pleasures: Wine, Chocolate and Football

Hello friends and welcome to a quick instalment of the SCR to bring you up to date on what we've been doing for the past few weeks. We left you with the promise of a pending hike to a chocolate factory in the woods. In fact, this turned out to be a long uphill walk to a chocolate factory on a mountain.

Woods

Mountain (not Woods)

I hope our longterm subscribers will see fit to stay with us after this unfortunate error. Those responsible have been sacked. In any event, a few weeks back Sam and I joined some colleagues to walk from the lakeside town of Rolle to the mountain village of Bougy-Villars. Surrounded by vineyards, B-V is a rather upscale little part of Switzerland (will let you know once we find a downscale part of Switzerland), in part owing to the fabulous views of Lake Geneva.

Bougy-Villars

The distance was only about 5km or so, but mainly uphill with some impressively steep sections. This didn't bother Sam though as at the steepest bits he wisely insisted on riding in his stroller. That he hates. On flat ground.

Sam Taunting His Father As They Drop Farther Behind the Group

While a bit of a gloomy day, the outing coincided with the annual grape harvest so we got to see the vineyards during the thick of the action.

Delicious Wine Seeds

Buckets of Harvested Grapes, About Twice the Size of Sam

On Their Way to the Winery

Despite the appearance of lots happening, in practice, vineyards are pretty calm and picturesque places even at the height of activity.

Wine Country: Bucolic

Chateau Something-or-Other: Nice Neighbourhood.

When we arrived in Bougy-Villars, we stopped in the churchyard to enjoy a picnic lunch and the promised views of the lake and Mont Blanc.

Sam and the Church at Bougy-Villars

Sadly, there was fog and the views were unremarkable, so we had no choice but to introduce ourselves to the small winery (Fechy) across the street. A few sample bottles and a tour by the affable owner Georges-Claude Blanchard was enough to convince us of the merits of this fine Swiss enterprise, so we loaded the stroller with a few bottles of their Grand Crux for the trip back down the mountain. (Please stroll responsibly.)

The Busy "Fechy" Winery in Bougy-Villars

Before we could head back though, we first had to make a stop at the famous Tristan Chocolatier, which is considered by many (at least according to Wikipedia) to produce among the finest chocolates in Switzerland.

The Best Chocolatier in Switzerland?

I am by no means yet an expert on Swiss chocolate, although I did invest considerably in my ongoing education during this visit, but in my opinion this place certainly deserves consideration for the title.

Chocolate: Delicious.

On the way down the hill, we took a short break to enjoy some grapes and wine from the fields of a family who bottle only for their own use and enjoyment.

Sam Joins a Lumberjack Biker Gang

The following weekend we had big football related plans. The local club, FC Collex-Bossy (as in the club that plays at the field directly behind my house) had unexpectedly advanced to the final 16 of the Swiss Cup (unexpected as they are a fifth division semi-pro side) and were taking on Swiss Axpo Super League giants Sion. This is not Collex-Bossy's first brush with footballing titans, as the wee field had once played host to Liverpool, Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the heady days of the early 1980s (and the way things are going at Anfield, they may be moving in the same circles as the Reds again soon).

FC Collex-Bossy's Home Field

We planned to go as a family and with friends of ours, but the weather on game day was "good football weather" as they say. Meaning it was freezing and raining and awful. While about 2000 made it to the match, the game-going crowd from our group was reduced to me and a friend who left at the end of the first half. I, soldiering on alone, enjoyed a fine display of football. By Sion. Who scored 45 seconds in before dismantling the plucky upstarts from down the road 4-0. I felt a bit responsible for this given the way 2010 is unfolding on the sporting front, especially since they had been doing quite well up to that point and haven't won a game since I became a fan.

Alas, that's the way it goes. Those are the high points from the past few weeks. We'll be back with our next update soon, wherein the family takes up the battle for French pension reform by derisively shrugging off the fuel shortage and blockades to visit riot-scarred Lyon for the weekend.

Now here's a parting shot of our village, Jura mountains outlined in the background.

Collex

Woah Baby!! It's a...

...Peacock?

No joke (but not what you were expecting, was it?) As I exited today from the massive United Nations complex, full of up-and-coming 20-somethings carrying designer bags (they can't ALL be real...can they?) there, strutting it's stuff in front of the main doors was a peacock. Minus tail feathers mind you, but a peacock none the less and looking just as cocky as one would expect.

The peacock

I soon noticed that noone else found this to be strange. It WAS, after all, my first meeting at the UN. Perhaps this is a resident peacock. We get geese on campus at home. And there are also palm trees and bamboo all over Geneva. Maybe peacocks are par for the course. Anyway. All I know is that I need to get a designer purse.

But back to the subject of this post. Aaron and I went in for the 20 week ultrasound this morning - the one where they check out all the organs and where you can find out the gender. We are happy to report that the baby has 2 legs, 2 arms, a head (with a brain inside), a beating heart (130 - but clearly in chill mode), 2 kidneys, a stomach a bladder and a little face. However, after a lot of back and forth, we decided not take a look between it's legs. I learned my lesson years ago when I hunted down and opened my christmas presents before the 25th (Ok, so it took a few christmases to learn that lesson). We are looking forward to the surprise, and to surprise you all.

Sorry Darlene.

Baby from outside - 20.5 weeks

Meanwhile, we hope you are satisfied with this pic of the blob (as my grandmother would say). Although this particular blob is now 20 cm long, the pics aren't that clear. Looks like a boy to me but maybe that's because all fetuses look slightly neanderthal-ish at this point? (big eyebrow bones and protruding foreheads). not very delicate. And those ears...

Baby from inside - 20.5 weeks

Vickie, can you tell if it has the Woodworth chin?

The ultrasound experience, like the rest of my health care experiences so far here in Geneva, was very pleasant. it was a very nice, modern facility. There was one ultrasound and a small desk in a big room where in Ottawa they would have crammed 2-3 machines. The technician was very good - took no time at all to discern that all was well and the supervising doctor came in midway to review and give the ok...right then and there. clean bill of health. The technician also took the time to tell us what everything was and tried to get some good shots of the face (kinda weird, negative-type image, frankly).

We expect that we will have other ultrasounds along the way, as my ObGYN has an ultrasound machine right in her office. Unheard of back home. Again, her office is very modern/contemporary - I couldn't believe it when I walked in there the first time. It is going to be hard to resist the temptation to find out whether Sam is getting a baby brother or sister, that's for sure.

Finally, let me share with you some images of the place where I will have the baby, sometime in the week of February 13 - 20 as I'm told I need to have a c-section (after last time, i'm not complaining). Hmmm..I was initially disappointed that I wouldn't get to deliver at the newly remodeled Montfort hospital when learning we were moving to Geneva, but I think that this has it beat.

Classy Geneva private hospital food: no Jell-o.

And this isn't even the hospital (ok, private clinic) where they have a one star Michelin chef on staff. Apparently people go to the clinic just for dinner! Unfortunately, my OBGYN doesn't deliver there...I'll have to make do with simple, gourmet food, rather than world class gourmet food. Oh well. You can see more here:

http://www.la-tour.ch/votre-sante/maternite/galerie-d-images/

Lastly, when asked about what was in Mommy's tummy the other night (a daily topic now) Sam said: "...come out, and POP! a baby chicken!" . In addition to the new baby books, he has a book where a chicken hatches from an egg. I hope he isn't too disappointed come February.

Any baby chickens in there?