Europe
The Fondue Train
Tweet If you’re looking for a fun weekend activity in the Swiss canton of Fribourg, The Fondue Train (or ‘Le train retro’ as it is known in French) may be just the ticket. It combines everything that’s admirable about Switzerland – impeccable organisation, a simple culinary concept, good wine and a picture perfect backdrop against … Continue reading
Put a fork in it!
Tweet After almost 10 years in Switzerland, I finally saw Vevey’s famous fork, positioned across from the Charlie Chaplin statue on the lake front! There has been much controversy around this fork, which at 8 meters in height and 1.3 meters in width, is made entirely from stainless steel. The fork was designed by Jean-Pierre … Continue reading
Echandens – My Hometown
Tweet Echanden’s chateau may not be as regal as the one in Versailles, but it was once the residence of Georges Simenon, the French language’s equivalent of Arthur Conan Doyle. And if that’s not enough it’s rumoured to be haunted. Ironically it was here that I attended a wedding party, 10 years ago. The couple had married in … Continue reading
An ode to cheese
Tweet There‘s a science and an art and to making cheese. And it’s precisely this combination of precision and love that makes cheese the perfect food for the Swiss to produce. And it’s not just the variety of cheese that is mind boggling. The Swiss have found a number of ways to melt, combine, fry, … Continue reading
In my backyard: A little bit of Colorado in the Canton of Vaud?
Tweet Should I be writing about La Tine de Conflens? I think I may be about to let the best guarded secret in the canton of Vaud out of the bag. But it was such a pleasant find that I think it would be a crime to keep it to myself. I don’t think I’m … Continue reading
How alcohol can help you win friends and influence people when you travel
Tweet I should remember Scotland for being ruggedly beautiful even in god awful weather. But a fortuitous encounter with three old men and a conversation that opened with the line, “So, is your toy boy a man of few words or is he just plain stupid?” will forever be etched in my memory. Not a … Continue reading
Sent. (Not forwarded)
Tweet Okay, so this is a a really corny way of introducing the town called ‘Sent’. It’s located in the Swiss canton of Grison not too far away from the haunted hotel that I wrote about in my last post. To me, the canton of Grison combines the prettiness and exactness of the German part of Switzerland … Continue reading
And when you’re not drinking whisky, what else can you do in Valais?
Tweet Once again it may appear that all M. and I do is consume large amounts of alcohol when we go away for the weekend. So besides visiting Swhisky, what else can you do in the region of Ardon and where can you stay to get to it all? PLACE TO STAY: La Petite Cigale … Continue reading
P’Ardon? They make whisky in Switzerland?
Tweet Visitors associate Switzerland with whisky, about as easily as they would Italy with poppadums. But one small enterprise, is now putting Swiss whisky or ‘Swhisky’ on the international map.
Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it…
Tweet … And then when you do, take some time to admire it! Some of Europe’s bridges may not be able to compete with the likes of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but what they lack in size they make up for in charm and character. Here are some that I believe deserve … Continue reading
