I often bring my visitors here and they always get very well impressed by its beauty. So we park the car and walk the hill up to this medieval village. We stroll down the main street between restaurants offering fondue and raclette and souvenir shops filled with Swiss army knives and key rings. It is a very quiet Sunday in April with overcast and no sun, but it isn't raining and my Papa is enjoying this visit as much as everybody else.
We visit the Gruyère castle and get wowed by the fact that this castle is over a 1000 years old!!! Talk about history. One thousand years is a looooooong time ago...
Later we sit down to have crêpes with cheese and ham, traditional Swiss style. And Gruyère cheese it is, of course, the typical Swiss melting cheese with its sweet but lightly salty and nutty flavour. A cheese which has been named after this pretty village.
Later that afternoon, we make our way to Gstaad one last time before ski season is over. And my Papa gets the chance to see those beautiful Swiss Alps even though we didn't go out on the slopes. Just the view itself is impressive for anyone visiting this amazing country.
It is good to be reminded by its beauty and see Switzerland with a travelers eye. It is easy to forget, to get blind as a resident. It is good to take a step back and become a tourist for a day to enjoy all the beauty that surrounds us daily. Switzerland is truly a fabulous place to live in.
PS 1: Did you know that Souvenir is the French word for remembering or remembrance. Explains a lot doesn't it?
PS 2: Did you know that the Swiss Alps covers 65% of Switzerland's surface area making it one of the most alpine countries in the world. That is quite amazing...PS 3: All pictures taken with my iPhone5, edited in PicMonkey.com.
Kärlek
Annette
Annette
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Gorgeous photos Annette. I would love to visit Switzerland sometime in the future. We live in a gorgeous part of the United States. The inland pacific northwest. We have mountains and high desert all around us. After living here for almost 25 years, sometimes it's easy to not see it any longer. When visitors come we get a fresh outlook of the beauty all around us and it makes us appreciate it all once again. Thank you for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Betsy
Great pictures, looks like a lovely day out :)
ReplyDeleteJillxo
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I hope you have had a lovely visit with your Father!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful country, lovely pictures of the castle and city!! Read many books about shining Knights in armor in my childhood!! How cool to visit!!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! Would love to visit the Alps one day.
ReplyDeleteI could eat one of those crepes right now, Gruyere is my favourite kind of cheese, especially when it's slightly melted. Pleased to see you had a lovely day there x x
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous place to visit. You are so lucky to be near it.
ReplyDeleteOh what a beautiful post! I'm so glad you let us enjoy the day with you and the family! Thank you! And what a handsome papa!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous place!! 1000 year old that is a long time. It is hard to imagine all the things that have gone on there over all those years. The mountains look so picturesque with their snow caps. Thank you for sharing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteHugs Julie xx
Your pictures of Gruyere brings back so many good memories. My father took me about 14 years ago for a mini vacation to Switzerland. We stayed at Interlaken in a hotel with view on the beautiful Brienzsee. We made trips to Gruyere, Gstaad where we went skiing a lot in my childhood. Of course we visited Chateau D'Oex where I have lived for one year when I was 18 years old. Now my father has dementia and lives in a nursing home and can't remember anything. It's very sad but that is life I guess. Anyway thank you for the trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteGroetjes, Monique
Wow, 1,000 years old, we of course have nothing like that here. I believe a view of the Alps would cure most ills, they must be amazing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a nice trip with your Dad.
Meredith
I can only imagine how once it's safe to plant flowers, that town will look even more amazing. :-) I've never been to the French-speaking parts of Switzerland...just German areas, and a few days in the south (Ascona) where everyone spoke Italian. But every inch of that country appears to be stunning! How lovely to be able to share with family.
ReplyDelete(There is nothing like an iPhone camera. My last trip to Denmark in 2014 I shot entirely on my yellow 5C...interiors and landscapes alike. All were crisp and flawless.)