Switzerland.  The very name conjures up images of rich chocolate.  Obviously, I had to visit.  From Avignon I took a (per norm, very expensive) train to Geneva.  I wanted to discover the birthplace of milk chocolate and the machine that gives modern chocolate its silky smooth consistency.  The rumors of Swis efficiency are certainly correct: the train arrived right on time, and the streets had more directional instructions than any I’ve seen before - each lane carefully demarcated for bicycles, pedestrians, or cars.  I also had the best meal I’ve had so far on my trip: a small restaurant serving Eritrean food - lentils, spiced beef, and salad served on a delicious crepe. 

But I digress… the chocolate!  Now I’ve mentioned in this blog that I’m not the hugest fan of chocolate.  I know… blasphemy.  I prefer my candy sweet and fruity, or perhaps caramely.  Still, my trip through Europe was full of personal hardship and sacrifice, so I did do quite a lot of chocolate tasting.  I definitely grew to appreciate the good stuff, but I doubt it will ever be my favorite flavor.  Even now, I’ll always take Airheads, Goetze Caramel Creams, or Nerds over a dark chocolate bar! 

I heard rumors of a chocolate factory open for tours and tastings near Gruyere, in the mountains of Switzerland. I wasn’t sure how to get there, so I did some internet research and found a “chocolate train” with stops at the Nestle-Cailler chocolate factory and also a cheese factory.  Firmly aimed at tourists rather than the tourist-researcher I consider myself, I still felt this would be the easiest way to taste lots of chocolate.   Plus, after my difficulties in getting to the Haribo factory in Uzes I wanted something painless - and the opportunity to meet and join up with other tourists is a plus!

 The train was a full day expedition, leaving from the shores of Lake Geneva in the morning and taking several hours to arrive at the Gruyere cheese factory.  Apparently this type of cheese is famous… I wouldn’t really know.  It was pretty good - flavorful, salty, and smooth - sort of like parmesan cheese.  The tour itself was, well, cheesy.  A groan-inducing talking cow named “Cherry” because she was “born in the cherry season” narrated an audio description of the cheese-making process, but the best part was obviously the free samples.  

 Afterwards, there was a session for lunch in the small, touristy town of Gruyere. I opted to just walk around and take pictures of castles and the Swiss countryside - mostly to save myself for the free chocolate samples at the factory!  This turned out to be a very wise decision: the Cailler factory had an IMPRESSIVE amount of chocolate truffles for tasting.   Light on information, the museum focused on the chocolate making process and included tastes of cacao butter (tastes like butter/vegetable oil) and cacao beans, with a bit of Swiss chocolate history.  Furthermore, the “factory” tour didn’t actually visit the factory for insurance reasons - a montage of videos of conveyor belts carrying half-made chocolates had to suffice.  The focus was obviously the tasting room, where the attendants instructed us to eat as much as we wanted, but no leaving with chocolate!  This was, bar none, the most impressive tasting session I’ve seen yet.  Trays full of rich dark, white, and milk chocolates lined a counter.  Some contained caramel, hazelnuts, almonds, and coffee.  Unfortunately, it was difficult to eat more than a few pieces as the chocolate was very rich and sweet.  Don’t worry, I managed to suffer through and try a wide variety of flavors (hazelnut and orange were my favorites!) but in the end much of it blended together.

 Cailler chocolate is one of the few still made with milk - probably partly because of its proximity to the many Swiss cows also used in cheese-making.   Although part of Nestle, it is made separately and seems to be considered a bit of a luxury brand.  The chocolate is very rich, as mentioned.  It’s sweet and creamy and much less bitter tasting than French chocolate.  Definitely worth a stop on the chocolate train if you’re interested in chocolate and in Switzerland!

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Happy Halloween everyone!  Eat some candy corn for me…