Today we were cheesy tourists as we took the autoroute high above lac leman into Switzerland to Gruyere famous for its eponymous cheese. The ancient walled town sits upon a hill and with a commanding castle. has splendid alpine views. We spent a. happy. couple of hours exploring the castle rooms,ramparts and gardens. there was a fascinating exhibition of photographs by a Portuguese artist Edgar martin whose work comprises photographs that appear to be normal but have something unreal about. them but are in fact true images. For. instance a series of typical British buildings that don't quite look right but they do exist as they. are a police training village. the. pictures appeared in odd places in the castle. but because of. their. content were. entirely appropriate because they shouldn't be there but. were ( if that. makes sense).
The castle also played an important part in the battle . that. ended the rule of the Dukes of burgundy over vast tracts of lands from Dijon to the Netherlands whose division between France and the hapsburgs still reverberates today. Three. glorious golden Royal cloaks that were war booty are still on display to this day. In a true showing of Swiss neutrality the city flourished during. the thirty. years war due to. selling. their cheese to both sides. The town is very pretty and we sat in the autumn sunshine and enjoyed their other local delicacy: double cream,meringue and. raspberries,a sort of Swiss Etonian mess. very filling so need for any more. lunch,particularly. as in the evening we went. to a fancy restaurant and enjoyed a lobster tasting menu. so many. ways to serve it,small portions but we were full at the end of the meal.