29th September 2023
It is our last day in Evian before flying on to Singapore from Geneva at 7.30pm tomorrow. At least this gives us another morning in Evian before we drive to Geneva. Another beautiful sunny day awaits us with temperatures in the mid 20's expected.
We depart from La Verniaz at 9 am to drive to Gruyeres in Switzerland, expecting to arrive at around 10.45 am.
The road takes us through small and very old French villages along the lakeside and about 15 minutes after crossing the Swiss border, the scenery changes dramatically to very green lush fields and stunning mountain backdrops.
We arrived in Gruyeres on time, and like many old Medieval villages, there is no car or parking access in town. Several car parks are provided outside the town and when we arrive the upper one closest to the town is full, but there are plenty of spaces at the next level down. There is a steep but short walk up to the town.
Scenery on the walk up to the village
We were not really prepared for how pretty this village is when you finally get to the entrance. It is not a large village, but there is a lot to see and it is incredibly well preserved.
In the map above the shaded section at the top is the castle, coming down on the right hand side the church is marked with a cross and the other green and grey section in the middle of the map is the main square and commercial area. The other areas are outside the city walls.
Main street/square where all of the restaurants, hotels and shops are. You can see the castle in the background.
The church and cemetery in the foreground
The Castle, Chateau de Gruyeres
As we head up towards the castle there are a number of old buildings lining the street that are now museums, or repurposed for other uses, like the school below.
The local school
Before venturing on to the castle, we needed have something to eat as we have not yet had breakfast. There were a number of options in the main town area, but we chose a small takeaway cafe in the upper section of the town to get a panini and cup of coffee to tide us over. There were some open air tables nearby where sat down to have them.
The castle is now quite near and we decide to go through it before lunch, as it is only around 11. 15 am and we have lunch booked for 12.30pm. This was a very well fortified village and as well as the substantial wall around the village, to get to the castle grounds you pass through another wall.
Making our ay up to the castle entry
Entry into the castle is a reasonable 8 euro for seniors, so we buy our tickets and once through the ticketing building we enter into a large courtyard called the esplanade.
Castle Map
The views from the top of the esplanade walls are fantastic.
Typical country scenery
Dairy cows hopefully working on some Gruyere Cheese
Escalating these walls only gets you to the courtyard which you then have cross to reach the castle walls
Esplanade area (castle wall on the right)
Chapel within the esplanade
You can walk along the ramparts protecting the castle on the outer wall
From the ramparts you get a good view of the castle gardens and some of the castle building.
The gardens
At this stage all we have done is had a walk around the outer courtyard ( esplanade) and a walk along the wall ramparts. It is time to go inside the castle and see what is there.
The castle, built between 1270 and 1282, was the property of the Counts of Gruyeres until the bankruptcy of Count Michel in 1554. From 1555 to 1798 the castle was the residence of the bailiffs and later prefects sent by the creditors the cantons of Fribourg. Purchased in 1849 by the Bovy and Balland families, it was used as a summer residence and was extensively restored, establishing an artists colony there. It was repurchased by the Canton of Fribourg in 1938 and turned into a museum. Evidence of the artists colony abounds throughout the rooms of the castle.
Our point of entry into the castle is through the kitchen
A great deal of the castle has been restored and we went through a number of rooms on 3 floors, some of which were devoted to artists who did some work in the room and lived there during their work.
The following series of photos gives some idea of the grandeur, quality of restoration and artworks left by some of the artists colony.
A room displaying armour and weapons
The Counts Room
The music room
The medallion room
The Knights Room
Galleries along the wall on the top floor for defensive measures
Having completed our tour we left the castle and headed back down the street towards the main commercial area.
We soon reached our lunch spot.
Located on the ramparts of the village we had a table at the back of the restaurant overhanging the rampart
Looking up at the restaurant from the rampart
Lunch, of course, had to involve Gruyere cheese. John and I chose a cheese tart/quiche, Carole cheese crepes and Sharon went for the Raclette.
We all had too much to eat but it was very tasty, and rich.
After lunch we had another quick stroll around town, looked in on a demonstration of the Gutenberg Press, and then headed back to the car for our drive back to Evian.
Gutenberg Press Demo
We were back at La Verniaz at around 4.30pm, had time for a rest and a need to pack suitcases for tomorrow's departure. An easy dinner down in Evian is agreed to be the plan, so we caught the 6.20pm funicular down to the town.
It was reasonably busy being a Friday night, but we had no trouble getting a table at Villa Borghese, where we had eaten earlier in the week. We all had a simple Italian dish for dinner and we caught the shuttle bus back to La Verniaz.
Our time in Evian has been most enjoyable. Many thanks to Josh and Caroline for their excellent restaurant recommendations.
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