The Village of Gruyeres

In keeping with the theme of “just” hanging out with friends during our trip to Europe, Annelies and I didn’t make any plans for Saturday. We were content to visit with Tammi and Martin wherever. Life isn’t always about seeing stuff and doing things, but spending time with the people who matter to you.

But Tammi suggested that we visit the village of Gruyeres, which is about 20 miles (a 40 minute drive) from their house. She hadn’t been for a while and wanted to get out of the house. Martin’s back was bothering him, so he stayed behind with the pups.

I hadn’t done any research on Gruyeres, so didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I didn’t even have any preconceived notion of what it might even look like, what we might see, etc. But, since Tammi suggested it, it couldn’t be bad, right?

It. Was. Amazing.

First, the location is stunning. And it’s old. It dates back to about the mid-1100s. You know by now that we like old stuff, right?

The weather was perfect, too, which made for lots of pics.

We had Tammi to lead us around, so we didn’t even pay the map much mind. We figured we’d just stroll a bit, look through some shops, have lunch, and leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I laughed out loud when I saw that statue. My pal, Fuzzy, had been to Switzerland mere weeks before our visit. And she’d visited this very museum. I just had no idea where it was located. What are the odds of us happening into the same small town?

We didn’t have time to visit the museum, as we’d already reserved a table for lunch. But you can see some of Fuzzy’s pics here (follow the link then scroll down in her post).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it was time for lunch.

 

 

 

Sounds simple and looks gross, right? A giant plate of cheese…

Oh. My. God. It was absolutely delicious. Really.

After lunch, Mike and I went into the castle. I’ll tell you about that in a separate post, since I have lots of cool pics to share.

Here are a few miscellaneous images from the village.

 

 

 

 

Just wait ’til you see the inside of the castle. It was WAY cooler than I anticipated.

We strolled a bit more after lunch then headed back to the house for our final night with Tammi and Martin.