Category Archives: Switzerland

The Fondue Train

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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 which to enjoy it all.

I took The Fondue Train – run by the canton of Fribourg’s transport authorities – for the third time last autumn and was surprised to find I hadn’t tired of the experience.

The leisurely 40-minute ride on the bright green electric train, from the main station in the town of Bulle to the sleepy village of Montbovon, gave us enough time to enjoy a pre-lunch aperitif as we trundled through the Swiss countryside. It had been a long week and I could feel my shoulders relax as I sunk into my seat with my glass of wine and watched the little villages and the open fields with Fribourg’s signature black and white cows, roll by.

When the train came to a full stop in Montbovon, the ladies serving us got to work lighting the burners and handing out slices of crusty bread along with the vacuum packed sachets of grated Gruyère and Vacherin cheese.

Preparing a fondue from scratch can be a tricky endeavour even for those who know the ropes. To melt a mound of grated cheese into a creamy consistency requires, first and foremost, strong arm muscles for stirring. The correct amount of alcohol, corn starch and other ingredients then need to be introduced into the pot at the right time so that the cheese does not separate or become too thin in consistency. You needn’t worry if you’ve never made a fondue before as the sachets of cheese come prepared with all the necessary ingredients. We only needed to stir the mixture until it was ready to eat.

From the number of Swiss on the train that afternoon, it was clear that the outing has found favour with the locals as well as tourists. I did find this surprising as the Swiss will generally avoid buying pre-prepared fondue cheese, at all costs, as it goes against tradition. But from the remarks I overheard that afternoon, it was clear that the convivial atmosphere trumped the need for an authentic fondue experience.

By the time the meringues with double cream arrived for dessert, the ambience in the train had warmed up considerably and people felt comfortable enough to strike up a conversation with passengers at other tables. At this juncture I would like to offer the following words of caution: please do not take The Fondue Train if you’re unwilling to get up close and personal with strangers! The dining space is limited and I know a few people who did not enjoy the experience for this reason.

This time around, I was only slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to enjoy our pre-lunch drink at the bar or ‘Moléjon’ wagon of the train, which was the case when we took the evening excursion. Instead, we were seated straight away in the restaurant carriage, which meant we didn’t have to move places when the train stopped in Montbovon. I’m not sure if this was a one-off event to accommodate the number of people on the train that day, but it would be worthwhile enquiring about it when making your reservation.

The bar wagon of The Fondue Train

The lunch hour train stops for enough time in Montbovon for a walk around the village and a visit to the local church, though the break in the journey may have been too long for some of the young children. Even the parents who were organised enough to come with card games seemed pleased when the train finally started on its way back to the station in Bulle that afternoon!

The train runs only on Friday and Saturday evenings and at lunch time on the weekends. It’s also possible to reserve the train for birthdays and other events. I know that there are similar excursions organised in other parts of Switzerland and if you’ve been on them, I’d be interested to know of your experience!

DETAILS

Departure:

  • Main train station in Bulle, Canton of Fribourg

Cost:

  • Adults: CHF 43
  • Children: CHF 39 (13 – 20 years)
  • Children: CHF 13 (until 13 years of age)
  • These prices cover only the cost of the train ticket, the fondue and dessert. Drinks are not included and must be paid for in cash at the end of the trip.

 Dates for winter-spring 2012

  • Friday Evening:  20 & 27 January; 10 & 24 February; 23 March; 20 April.
  • Saturday afternoon: 14 January; 21 & 28 January; 4 & 25 February; 17 March; 14 April.
  • Saturday evening: 11 & 18 February; 3 & 10 March; 21 & 28 April.
  • Sunday afternoon: 8, 15, 22, 29 January; 5, 12, 19 & 26 February; 4, 11, 18 & 25 March; 1, 15, 22, 29 April; 6 & 13 May.

This information is available in French and German on the following site: http://www.tpf.ch/fr/voyageurs/offres-speciales/train-fondue.html

 Timing

  • Afternoon trips leave from the main train station in Bulle at 11:30 and return around 15:30.
  • Evening trips leave from the main station in Bulle at 18:30 and return around 22:00.

Reservations

  • Reservations are required. The phone number to call is +41 26 913 05 12
  • You can collect and pay for your tickets at the station in Bulle on the day of your trip.

 

 

 

 

Put a fork in it!

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Views of the fork and the Charlie Chaplin statue from the lake front in Vevey, Switzerland (©MRandin)

 

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 Zaugg, a sculptor from Neuchâtel, Switzerland and was embedded in the lake in February 1995 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Vevey’s Museé de l’alimentation (Food Museum).

Unfortunately, the Alimentarium did not obtain the required authorisation to keep the fork in the waters of Lake Leman after its year long exhibition and it was moved to Littau in the Canton of Lucerne, in the garden outside the Berndorf cutlery factory.

In 2008, the Canton of Vaud finally granted permission for the fork to be brought back to Vevey, which is where we saw it today.

It was a lovely way to spend Christmas day in Switzerland.

I hope you stay safe and happy this holiday season, where ever you are in the world!

 

 

Echandens – My Hometown

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The bells of the church in Echandens are our wake up call on a Sunday morning! (©MRandin)

Echandens, a little village in the Swiss Riviera, is better known for its bakery than its 16th century chateau or pretty white church on the hill. I have called Echandens ‘home’ for the past 5 years and like other residents, I relish having a hot croissant in the bakery’s poky tea room on a Saturday morning.

The queue into the bakery is often long, though the produce at the end of the line makes it worth the wait. Those lucky to find a place in the tea room are never in a hurry to finish reading their newspaper. After all it’s a perfect place to observe the locals and listen in on the village gossip. If you express your irritation in any way, you upset the ladies at the counter and find yourself on the receiving end of an icy “Bonjour”.

This is village life at its best. Take it slow and never rush. In the summers, dining  al fresco is the norm and  the start of good weather is signaled by the sound of people cheerfully clinking wine glasses on their patios in the evenings. If you don’t like the lifestyle you can go live somewhere else.

On the other side of the village is the sixty something hairdresser, with a penchant for alternative medicines and a love of the sun. But aside from a two week holiday in Majorca every year she has never left the village for any extended period of time. Like her sister, who runs her own business a few hundred metres away, they see no need to live anywhere else. The local wine maker, bank clerk and our retired neighbours feel the same way.

The families in Echandens have seen their children and grandchildren grow up together. They pride themselves on being a close knit community and worry that neighbouring Lausanne city will continue to expand into their highly valued postal code.

Unsurprisingly, new residents are seen as interlopers. So you tread gently, offering as much information about yourself before any is offered to you. And when it is, you know that you’ve broken an invisible barrier and are considered a worthy member of the fold.  This means that when you’ve lost your beloved cat, your neighbours will help you look for her and then celebrate with you when she is found.

Having the patience to break into the community is a small price to pay for what the village has to offer.

My husband and I own a view of a chateau and on a clear day we can see the Alps from our balcony.

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 the little white church on the hill just before and had led their guests in procession to the chateau for the first part of the wedding celebrations.

As I walked through the garden with a glass of champagne in hand, I wondered what it would be like to live in this place.

Now I know.

An ode to cheese

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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, cook and enjoy cheese.

So how do I love my cheese? Let me count the ways… Continue reading →

In my backyard: A little bit of Colorado in the Canton of Vaud?

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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.

(©MRandin)

I don’t think I’m exaggerating about this being a secret. It isn’t a well advertised walking trail and so far I’ve only seen a thumbnail image of the waterfalls on one tourist brochure. M. and I would have probably never known about if not for the coffee table book at a local fair.

I remember that the photos looked heavily edited and seemed too ‘tropical’ to be Switzerland. So the young lad, managing the stall, looked somewhat puzzled when I asked him a second time for the exact location. “It’s in Switzerland” he repeated slowly “and not too far from here” he added. Continue reading →

Sent. (Not forwarded)

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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 with the craziness of the Italian part of the country.

I got a bit trigger happy with the camera as we walked around the town with its many entertaining and charming building facades.  Can you blame me?

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And when you’re not drinking whisky, what else can you do in Valais?

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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

This Bed ‘n’ Breakfast has earned every one of its four stars. Rarely have I stayed somewhere where the owners have paid such close attention to detail, down to the way they lay the table at breakfast. Emmanuela and Claude Rebord run La Petite Cigale (‘The Little Cicada’) with an efficiency and ease that is surprising, given that their business has been up and running for only a short while.

Each corner of their house is decorated to a high standard. And it’s pleasing to feel that relaxed as you walk in through their front door. They also have a dedicated welcome service for their visitors, in the form of Merlin their dog! Even the hardest heart won’t be able to resist the charms of their four legged companion!

The lovely Merlin! (©MRandin)

 

Continue reading →

Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it…

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… 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 to be mentioned.

 The ‘Devil’s Bridge’

(©MRandin)

Continue reading →