Dreaming of Chocolate and Cheese! A Tour of the Cailler Chocolate Factory & Gruyères

The Cailler Chocolate Factory

Jen and I at Cailler!

Chocolate-making in action!

The finished product

The tasting room!

Jen enjoying a delicious treat!

So hard to choose between so many!

Jen, Dan and I had a fun day of sight-seeing last Friday as we took a drive to Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory and Gruyères! Cailler is one of the most well-known chocolate brands in Swizterland. Starting off our day at the chocolate factory, we were greeted with the delicious aroma of chocolate as we opened our car doors! The tour started with a funny show that reminded me somewhat of the Haunted House ride at Disneyland. Our group walked from room to room, each door opening and closing behind us, a loud voice booming over the speakers providing the history of chocolate through the years while a visual scene played out in front of us! At the end of the show, we walked into the next section of the tour, which described the chocolate-making process along with the cocoa beans and nuts used to flavor it (although Cailler's chocolate recipe is a well-kept secret!). We then watched part of the production line in action, as the chocolate pieces were created and sent down the assembly line to be cooled and packaged. The final (and best!) part of the tour was the tasting room , where we could sample all of the different lines of chocolate made by Cailler. Our chocolate tasting turned into our lunch, as so many of them called out to us to be tasted! Yum!

In Gruyeres!

Friends back together again!

Next, we drove to Gruyères, located just a few minutes from Cailler. Our first stop here was La Maison du Gruyéres, where the cheese-making demonstrations are held. We decided to pass on that, but we did pop in to the souvenir shop to check out the cheese for sale! Next, we headed up the hill to town. Gruyères' main street is a no-car zone, but you can park your car just below it and walk up from there. We strolled through the cobble-stoned streets, checking out the menus of the restaurants that we passed. We settled on one with a terrace and observed the lovely outdoor views while enjoying a glass of the local wine and munching on a meat and cheese plate....of course, Gruyères cheese! We topped off our meal with a mouth-watering ice-cream sundae! Dessert could not be passed up as Gruyères has some of the freshest milk and cream available on a daily basis from the near-by dairy farmers. We ended our town tour in front of the Gruyères Castle, admiring the green rolling-hills of the country-side. It was then time to head back to Lausanne and pack for our weekend trip to the Swiss Alps!

Bienvenue à Jen & Dan en Suisse! - Welcoming more friends to Switzerland!

Our guest book has been quite full this past month! Monday night, we welcomed my friends Jen and Dan to Switzerland! I am so excited to have another set of close friends staying with us! They have been traveling around Europe since mid-May and so arrived in Lausanne by train from Florence, jet-lag free! They have been doing some sight-seeing this week while we are at work, but we have been enjoying the evenings together catching up! We came home from work Tuesday night to a delicious pasta dinner prepared for us by our guests, and last night we enjoyed a yummy Swiss meal - fondue! I'm very excited for our weekend plans together, which will take us to the Bernese-Oberland in the Swiss Alps!

More Guests Check -In! Steph & Brent's Swiss Visit

Reunited! Hanging out on Lake Geneva in Lausanne

Fondue!

Walking through the ramparts in Murten

View from the ramparts over Murten

Roman amphitheater in Avenches

Taking a short break!

Reading up on Einstein's life at his museum apartment in Bern

Bern's new bear enclosure

Bern's famous bears!

Steph testing the waters of Bern's Aare River

After arriving home from Crete on Monday, we welcomed my friends Steph and Brent to Switzerland on Wednesday evening. After 24 hours of travel, they finally made it to the Lausanne train station with big smiles, happy to finally have arrived!! They were troopers and managed to stay up late catching up in order to better adjust to the time zone change.

Thursday, we did a short outing out into town to get their Swiss passes at the train station and groceries at the Coop City, which Steph thoroughly enjoyed! :) Between their jet-lag and a bad case of the stomach flu that had hit me just a day before, we were all ready for naps in the afternoon! I had to pull a "mean mom" move and wake them up from their snooze a little while later, but over-sleeping a nap while experiencing some major jet-lag can ruin your sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I say this from personal experience! That night we served our guests a traditional Swiss meal of cheese fondue to expose them to the local cuisine!

Friday, Steph and Brent took a panoramic train to Lauterbrunnen, located approximately 2 hours 40 minutes from Lausanne in the Swiss Alps. Unfortunately, our plans to meet them there after work were thwarted due to my illness and so Mark and I spent an uneventful weekend at home. Luckily, our visitors got to experience the wonder of hiking in the Swiss Alps! They came back in the early afternoon on Sunday and we all had a relaxing afternoon at home together. They also got to see our Sunday grocery shopping routine at the train station, as everything else is closed here on Sundays!

Mark and I had to work on Monday, so Steph and Brent headed to Chateau de Chillon to check out the castle. We were very thankful for the home-cooked meal they had prepared when we got home from work that night. :) I took the day off on Tuesday to spend their last day in Switzerland with them. We had a long, but fun day of sight-seeing! We started off in Murten to walk the medieval ramparts, eat lunch and enjoy a glass of the local wine from Mont Vully! Then, in an "Amazing Race" move with only minutes to spare, Steph and I took off for the train station so I could buy a ticket, while Brent paid the lunch tab! All worked out and we made it on the regional train that took us to Avenches, a few miles away from Murten. Avenches, although a small town, is known for having the most well-preserved Roman ruins in Switzerland. We sat in the Roman amphitheater, which was being prepped for hosting summer concerts and plays. We then headed back to the train station, wanting to catch the next set of trains that would take us to Bern.

Bern, our final destination of the day, greeted us with some great sights. We went to Albert Einstein's apartment, which is now a museum. This apartment is famous as he was living at this location when he worked on his Theory of Relativity. Next, we moved on to Bern's cathedral and then ended the day with a visit to the new enclosure where Bern's famous bears live. We finally made it back home, 7 train rides and 11 hours later, but with a feeling of accomplishment that we had experienced so much! Early Wednesday morning, Mark and I said "au revoir" to Steph and Brent, as their Swiss visit had come to an end and they departed for Italy. It was great to see them and I am already looking forward to our next rendez-vous, wherever that may be! :) Miss you both!

A weekend in paradise - Crete, Greece

Our beautiful hotel, the Amirandes

The amazing outdoor pool!

Beautiful lagoons filled the interior of the propertyMark enjoying the view

Enjoying our spot on the beach!

No words can describe this sight

We were lucky enough to have two holiday weekends in May! I took my mom to the airport very early in the morning on Friday the 21st and Mark and I went back later that morning to catch our flight to Crete! We had a layover in Athens and finally arrived in the early evening at our beautiful hotel, The Amirandes, located approximately 15 minutes from the capital city of Heraklion. The Amirandes provided us a beautiful location for a relaxing island weekend!

There were some strong ocean winds on Friday night and most of Saturday so it was a bit chilly upon our arrival! However, we managed to get in some beach time on Saturday afternoon before dinner. We had a great lobster dinner our first night at the resort's Mediterranean restaurant, Lago di Candia. Saturday morning, Mark worked out in the gym and I swam in the spa's in-door heated pool. :) We ate lunch by the awesome outdoor pool and then made our way to the lounge chairs on the beach to catch some rays! Just laying by the ocean and listening to the waves was fantastic...the sounds and salty air smells brought back memories of San Diego and a little bit of home was re-discovered. We had Asian cuisine at the resort's Blue Monkey restaurant on Saturday night! Both nights we were treated to an out-of-this-world sunset to end the evening.

Sunday we continued our theme of relaxing with another lunch by the pool and afternoon by the beach!! We even took a dip in the ocean, which was nice once I got over the immediate chill factor! We enjoyed our last breakfast outside on Monday morning and breathed in the delicious ocean air one last time before heading back to the airport for our flight home. It was great to have some time away on-island before going home to welcome our next set of visitors.

L'hotel de Mark & V - A visit from Mom and a trip to Prague!

Prague's Old Town




Prague's famous Charles Bridge


Týn Church in Old Town Square

The cathedral at Prague's castle

Our view from the river cruise

The past month has gone by in a whirlwind! I spent the first week of May getting our apartment ready for our first guest of the spring: my Mom! She flew in on Mother's Day, which was great and we spent the afternoon catching up! She was a trooper and adjusted to the 9 hour time difference w/out difficulty! On her first full day in Switzerland, I took her around the Old Town area of Lausanne. We had lunch at one of our favorite spots, the top of Manor Department Store and did some shopping! Tuesday we took the train to Geneva, but spent most of our hours there dodging the rain and except for seeing the Jet d'Eau, got almost no sight-seeing in that day! Unfortunately, we have been experiencing a cold month and it has been chilly and rainy since my mom arrived. By the end of the day we were cold and wet and I went to bed feeling poorly.

Wednesday was my birthday so it was a lot of fun to have her in town. Since I wasn't feeling that well, we had a low-key day. I took her down to Ouchy, the lake-side area of Lausanne. We had lunch at the Creperie d'Ouchy...yummy! and we walked through the Olympic Park. It started to rain again so we headed for warmth back at my apartment! We made one of my favorite dishes as a kid, my mom's spaghetti sauce and so I had a good spaghetti birthday dinner that reminded me of home. The day was topped off with a birthday webcam w/ Sister and my Dad, as well as one earlier in the day with Steph, thanks to her insomnia. :)

Thursday was a Swiss holiday so Mark and I took my mom to Montreux and up the mountain train to Caux. Then Friday we jetted off to Prague for a week-end trip. Although rainy and cold, we had a fun week-end! The city architecture is really beautiful. We stayed in an apartment suite right off of the main square so we were close to all of the main sights, including the famous Charles Bridge and Prague's castle. We did a lot of walking around the Old Town and took a river cruise to rest our weary feet! Our Friday night dinner was a more traditional Czech meal in a cozy, dining room setting at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Our meal on our other night in town was a delicious combination of the Belgium delicacy "moules et frites" or mussels and fries...yum!

We got back to Lausanne on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon relaxing. I had to work on Monday and Wednesday that week so my Mom spent a couple of days doing some local sight-seeing on her own. We appreciated the home-cooked meals she had waiting for us when we got home from work! On Tuesday, we took the train to France and had a shopping day in Lyon. We had a wonderful day and I came home with some new clothes and an early Christmas present from my mom...a new set of luggage! We spent Thursday, her last day, in Lausanne's old town, picking up some a few more souvenirs and enjoying our last hours together. I was sad to see her off on Friday morning, but we had a fabulous two weeks together!

Hiking through the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces

Mark hiking through the vineyards

Which way?!!

Taking in the view

The end of our hike in St. Saphorin

Mark and I set out yesterday morning for a hike through the vineyard terraces in Lavaux. Lavaux is the region located just outside of Lausanne and is famous for the vineyards that line the hillsides along Lake Geneva. It covers approximately 30 kms of terrain and was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

We took a five minute train ride to Lutry and started our hike from there. We spent 3 hours following the yellow signs along the route and enjoying the remarkable views! We got quite a bit of exercise along the way from climbing some hills which was good! We also spotted some gazebos at different points along the way so we will have to pack a picnic next time. We ended our hike in St. Saphorin and took the train back to Lausanne. It was a great hike...looking forward to more now that the weather is warm again!

Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival

Heading to Zermatt on the train

The view of town and the cemetery from our hotel balcony

Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival!

Walking around town

Jason Mraz, all-acoustic style!

The Matterhorn!!

Our stop on the cable car at almost 10,000 ft.

Heading back down the mountain

Mark and I had a fantastic time in Zermatt for the Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival this past weekend! We took the 3 hour ride via train from Lausanne and enjoyed views of the beautiful Swiss countryside along the way on the Glacier Express train. Zermatt is located in Southeast Switzerland and is a popular ski resort, although most people know it for being the home of the Matterhorn mountain!

We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our hotel, Hotel Allalin in the center of town. Zermatt is a car-free zone, which makes it pleasant to peruse the shops and walk around the village. All of the taxis are electric! It is a beautiful area, nestled in the valley below an overpowering mountain chain. We took a walk around town and then grabbed an early dinner before the concert.

The Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival is an all-acoustic event, and we had tickets to see Jason Mraz perform on Saturday evening. The venue is a set of tents that were erected in the center of Zermatt. It was a great venue as it felt intimate and we had a good view of the stage. Jason Mraz is an amazing performer and we had an fantastic time rockin' out to his show! Check out a short clip of his performance in the video below!

On Sunday, we ate breakfast at our hotel and then walked over the cable car lift to head up the mountain for some up close views of the Matterhorn! It really is a spectacular sight to see! Our first stop was just to hop out for a minute at Schwarzsee Paradise at 2583 meters (8474 feet) for some photo ops! We hopped back in the lift and got off at Trockener Steg at 2939 meters (9642 feet). This stop on the lift is a big one and has a restaurant with a panoramic view of the Matterhorn and the mountain chain around it.

To finish up our trip, we headed back down the mountain and took one more stroll around town before heading back to Lausanne. It was a short trip but packed full of great memories! Hopefully we'll be able to head back to Zermatt one day for some hiking in the summer or skiing in the winter!