Tuesday, May 5, 2015

europe trip 2014, day 7.


Our awesome view in Montreux, Switzerland.

Tear. When leaving Murren, we were definitely a bit sad. We will always hold a special place in our hearts for that town. But, no time to be bummed as we are off on our journey to Montreux! In Lauterbrunnen, there was a driver waiting to take us to Gruyere for a tour of the
Callier Chocolate Factory and the La Maison du Gruyere dairy. I have to say, both tours were a bit disappointing. The tour of the Callier chocolate factory was like something out of Disney Land, which we didn’t love. Luckily, it ended with being able to taste as much chocolate as you could handle. I was definitely up for the challenge.  Next up was the Chateau de Gruyere, where we ate lunch and happened upon a display of classic cars celebrating the 80th Grand Prix of Montreux. It was pretty cool to see all of these cars parked in such a historic setting.

Callier Chocolate Factory

















After lunch, we went to La Maison de Gruyere for a tour of the dairy and some cheese tasting. This was a complete bust. The tour was lame, the cheese was packaged, and there was a very limited amount to see. We bought a beer at the store in an attempt to drink away our sorrows while tasting the small amount of cheese we were given. I would not waste the time if I were you, unless you were an extreme fan of Gruyere cheese. Like, you have gruyere cheese posters hanging at home and brush your teeth with it kind of fan.


Our expectations.

Our experience.

Our Expectations.

Our experience.

:(


So, the journey was not a complete waste. Since we blew through the last tour so fast, we ended up having enough time for an unplanned visit to the Chateau de Chillon once entering beautiful Montreux. It just happened to be the next stop for the Grand Prix cars that we had seen earlier in Gruyere. Again…classic cars in a historic setting. That was pretty cool. The Chateau itself was very impressive. My only regret is that we did not have enough time to see all of it. This was definitely the highlight of our day, and when things turned around. Our driver dropped us of at Le Fairmont Palace, which might have been our favorite hotel of the trip. It was incredible. We had a room that overlooked Lake Geneva, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Before dinner, we explored the walking path along the lake and watched the classic cars make their way into the middle of town. Not wanting to spend a fortune to eat at a restaurant along the water, we found a small restaurant and picked up food to go. We found a bench along the water and ate our dinner as the sun was setting across the lake. It ended up being just what we wanted. If we had a redo, we would have planned one more night in Montreux. 




 The cellar...right next to the dungeon. How cruel!


Bombs away.

No noose is good news!













Even dogs can enjoy a car show.





 Lake front walk.
 It's vacation...see a theme here?













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