In the Land of Gruyère Cheese

February 25, 2017 -- On this sunny Saturday our search for snow-free hills took us to the Gruyères countryside in the Western part of Switzerland. It's too early for the cows to be in the fields so we had to walk through the meadows without the accompaniment of the lovely music of the cow bells.

Our hike started in the little town of Neirivue, approx. 10 km South of Gruyères

There is still a lot of snow in the mountains, but we only ran across a few bits of it on the trail that we walked.

In the farming areas there are lots of Buzzards and Red Kites.

There are no cows in the fields yet, but spring is starting to make its appearance! The forest was all covered in Snow Bells in one area.

We walked 3.5 hours and approx. 12 km from Neirivue to Gruyères.

Even with the cold breeze blowing, it was a good 12-km walk ending with a visit to the old town of Gruyères and its castle perched on a small hill in the middle of the valley. The little town was already full of people, surprising at this time of year!

The old town of Gruyères and its castle are located on a small hill.

The old town of Gruyères and its castle are located on a small hill.

On the ramparts in Gruyères

View North from the castle in Gruyères

View South from the castle in Gruyères

 

There are already loads of tourists around

This is an ancient system of grain measurment

Of course we bought some Gruyère from the local cheese shop, although we avoided the expensive handmade chocolate bunnies from the Chocolate Factory. Down near the train station is "La Maison du Gruyère" (The Cheese Factory) where robots are used to prepare 5000-7000 HUGE (35 kg) wheels of cheese per year.

This is the "Chocolate Factory" in Gruyères, the handmade chocolates are very expensive, but the shop was full none-the-less...

We bought some Gruyère cheese while in Gruyères. That is a necessity.

At the "Maison du Gruyère" near the train station, there are up to 7000 35-kg cheese wheels processed here per year.

Gruyère is also the home of the Giger Museum, a tribute to the weirdly disturbing work of Swiss Artist HR Giger, whose art was the inspiration for the creature in the "Alien" movies as well as the set design for the movie "Dune". Fascinating and totally macabre. HR Giger was obsessed with fusion of human and machine. Next to the museum was a Giger-themed Café/Bar, which I wanted to photograph, obviously a desire of many passersby as the sign on the window read "Pictures for Customers Only"... of which I did not wish to be.

HR Giger Art, a fusion of humans and machines. The inspiration for Sci-Fi movies....

This work is at least not as disturbing as some of the others...

On the way home, one last look at the pastoral Gruyères landscape...