cheese. chocolate. castles. : Gruyeres, Switzerland

A lot of people ask us where they should stop while in Switzerland.

Well, Gruyeres is now definitely on that list if you want an authentically swiss place.

and oh so cute!

First Stop - Gruyeres Cheese Factory 

Then we headed to the Gruyeres Castle!

This teeny tiny village is home to HR Giger who wrote the Alien movies.

He's got a museum there  {we didn't go }and a little bar/cafe { we had  cappuccinos }.

then we made a stop to the callier house.

it was like willy wonka for me.

As soon as you walk in you are hit with the smell of sweet chocolate, you go through a little ride showing the history of chocolate, you see the chocolate being made, and THEN  you enter the room where you can eat as much swiss chocolate. as you want {!!!}

If they had given me a big glass of milk, I might still be there.

...

One of my favorite stories about a trip JB took with his high school to Europe has to do with this chocolate factory.  The night before him and his friends had a little too much fun.  Everyone missed breakfast.  They had to drive straight through to get to their reserved time at this chocolate factory.  So no  breakfast or lunch.  They had an even more intense experience than we did as the Callier people just kept bringing trays and trays of chocolate to them.  JB could not stop!  Of course for the first thirty minutes while they were on the bus heading toward the south of france they were all giddy.  Then the stomach aches started.  JB said he was miserable with a sore tummy the rest of the day.  

Needless to say, I made sure we had full bellies before attemping the Callier House.

and then we went to Fribourg  ... (: