Cheese. And lots of it. That's what we had for lunch at "La Maison de Gruyere", and boy was it yummy. This was the first part of our short excursion by car outside of Mont Pelerin. As you may or may not be able to see from the picture on the left, Danielle and I each inadvertently ordered a ham & Swiss cheese salad, thinking we were ordering sandwiches, and what we were each served was probably the equivalent of a 2x4x6 inch block of cheese, diced up and served with ham over a handful of lettuce. It was quite amazing that neither of us suffered that block-of-lead-in-stomach sensation after.
The plan had been to visit Gruyere, have lunch, and then tour
the cheese factory, but on the advice of some other tourists we opted to head for the top of Mont Moleson instead for a view of all Switzerland. ("Molson Mountain", to the Swiss-Canadian rednecks.) The weather has been stellar in terms of temperature, but unfortunately the sky has been a little hazy, making picture-taking a bit more of a challenge. I've been using a polarizer filter to bring out colour (including any blue that's in the sky) with limited success. Regardless, we got some great shots from the top of the mountain (which we climbed via "funicular railway" and gondola). The walking paths at the top were along narrow ridges between mountain peaks, and it seemed that there was a cross mounted on each peak. Nice reminder of who created this place. The slope on either side of the trails was unbelievably steep, and even more unbelievable was the endless chiming of cow bells that could be heard the whole time we were on top of the mountain!
I am convinced the Swiss have the most athletic cows in the world. (If you think there's a cow theme developing in this blog, you're right. Wherever we go, we cannot escape the cow. It's part of the culture.)
the cheese factory, but on the advice of some other tourists we opted to head for the top of Mont Moleson instead for a view of all Switzerland. ("Molson Mountain", to the Swiss-Canadian rednecks.) The weather has been stellar in terms of temperature, but unfortunately the sky has been a little hazy, making picture-taking a bit more of a challenge. I've been using a polarizer filter to bring out colour (including any blue that's in the sky) with limited success. Regardless, we got some great shots from the top of the mountain (which we climbed via "funicular railway" and gondola). The walking paths at the top were along narrow ridges between mountain peaks, and it seemed that there was a cross mounted on each peak. Nice reminder of who created this place. The slope on either side of the trails was unbelievably steep, and even more unbelievable was the endless chiming of cow bells that could be heard the whole time we were on top of the mountain!
I am convinced the Swiss have the most athletic cows in the world. (If you think there's a cow theme developing in this blog, you're right. Wherever we go, we cannot escape the cow. It's part of the culture.)Hiking with the kiddies actually worked out pretty well. You can see from the picture how enthralled Elias was with the scenery. He kept nice and quiet. Lucia alternated between complaining as soon as there was an uphill grade to desperately trying to pick wildflowers to feed the mountain goats (there were none, but she wouldn't believe us.) 
Our walk on the mountain made us thirsty enough to slap down 6 Swiss francs for a bottle of San Pellegrino gassy water. Without a doubt, it was the best water I've EVER had.
A very memorable day, indeed. It felt like we were treated to the quintessence of la Suisse. It's a true blessing to be here.
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