Happy Swiss cows

Today's outing was to Gruyeres with my brother and two nieces. 

For those who are unaware this is a quaint little town in Switzerland where cheese and chocolate come from.  Can you think of a reason not to travel here?

No trams taken today, but here is what they look like..

We drove around the north side of Lake Geneva, past Nyon, past Lausanne, past Montreux, (where the jazz festivals are) and then up the mountain through the pass and down the other side.  Yes this route was the long way, but so worth it!!!!

It looks like I neglected to take any pictures of the happy Swiss cows enjoying all these green fields.  Hmmm. 

Once in town we parked and explored the medieval town and had lunch. 

Okay so now I get what Whistler is trying to look like....

We walked up to the castle,  but there was no time for the tour.  Nice view down though.  

And then some lunch at a nice restaurant ... with cheese of course. 

Now we did not have time to actually tour the cheese factory... But here is our peek without paying. ...

No time for castles. 

No time for cheese. 

What did we do with all of our time you may ask...

The Callier chocolate factory of course!!!

A Nestle owned company. 

Callier-Peter-Kolhler- Nestle. 

We arrived with a line that told us it would be about an hour to get in.  A short time later we purchased our tickets and were told it would be about an hour and a half for an English tour.  My french is not good as to understand a tour. 

No worries... This allowed me time to shop in the store with lots of chocolate for sale and then there was a cinema with short films and commercials about Callier from years ago. 

Finally our tour started... from room to room we went as we learned about the history of chocolate, chocolate in Switzerland, Callier and Nestle. It was really interesting and well presented. 

And then we looked through the glass at some small pieces of chocolate being measured out, covered in more chocolate, automated quality control  picking out the ones not up to snuff and then packaged...

Finally the best part... The tasting room!!

Everyone walks around the table to sample the different types of chocolate. 

Uh.... In case you did not read the sign...

Apparently I ate about 22 or 25 ... Almost one of everything, but the group behind was crowding me and the rest of my group were waiting.  

Don't forget chocolate is good for you!!

Chow chow...