Tag: land of cheese and chocolate

I got this email in my work inbox this morning. I could read the words, but had no clue whatsoever as to what it actually meant. This is not an uncommon occurrence.

From:	  C,N,LAUSANNE,Systems Nutrition & Health
Sent:	  vendredi 18 octobre 2013 07:43
To:	  RDDOR: All Users
Subject:  Cuchaule et moutarde de Bénichon

Main caf building H
Bon weekend et bonne Bénichon

N

For future reference, cuchaule is a brioche with saffron from Fribourg. The “moutarde de Bénichon” is more of a spicy, savoury jam than a mustard and the Bénichon itself is a traditional harvest feast where everyone eats and drinks too much.

The Swiss post office offers a service that I think is brilliant. I’m always needing to post stuff but I don’t always have stamps on me, or I don’t have time to go to the post office. Solution: send a pre-paid SMS, get a code, write it on the enveloppe, send letter!

This is one of those brilliant ideas I wish I’d thought of.

It comes with its own nuclear bunker.

Seriously.

Apparently, it’s Swiss building laws that all apartment buildings need to have one. Generally, it’s where all the storage units are kept. But still.

NUCLEAR FALLOUT BUNKER!!!!!!

Having a jambon cru sandwich in the old town of Gruyère.

Lavaux is a region in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It consist of 830 hectares of terraced wineyards that stretch for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the actual vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area. Since July 2007, the Lavaux is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

http://www.flubu.com/various_pics/lavaux_aug_2013/

A funny thing happened to me on the way to watch a movie this morning. Swiss movie theaters will assume that you already have 3D glasses, because you have to purchase them in advance. I went to see the Wolverine movie and I hadn’t noticed it was in 3D until I sat down mid-previews. I didn’t have glasses. As regular readers will know, I’m night-blind and have shit low light vision, so I wasn’t keen on leaving the seat I’d managed to stumble into. I ended up watching the movie without glasses, yay! On the flip side, it didn’t give me too bad a headache, and they were nice and reimbursed my (outrageously priced) ticket.

Today is a good day. Today examplifies why moving to Switzerland was a good idea. It’s a nice, sunny, cool day. I’ve been walking in the markets (plural, there are several) all morning and I have a bag full of fresh produce I will pickle later today. I have air-dried boar and deer. I keep seeing, smelling and hearing new and enticing things all the time. I came across two groups of buskers, one playing Bach’s Air on s G string (hur hur, that always makes me giggle) and the other playing Por una Cabeza (think of the tango scene in Scent of a woman). With such good bread, cheese and charcuterie, it’s no wonder I’ve put on weight. Still, that’s for another day, cause today is a good day.

Every weekend, we try and go walkies in town. We’ve managed to discover lots of interesting places, like the market on Place du Palud where I found my jalapeno peppers and the terroir shop and the gelato and tea shops near Bessieres. There’s also the little oil shop and cafe Coccinelle near Flon. Today, we discovered that if we walk in the pedestrian area in Bessieres, we end up on place St-Francois. Along the way, we pass in front of Blondel, a chocolaterie that’s been open since the 1850s, and Bucherer, a watch and jewellery store that’s not much younger.