Part 1: Geneva
We have planned this trip for ten years. Friends and family will attest that, while serious planning started in the last couple of years, for ten years we’ve set goals, set aside money, and took tangible steps to make this trip a reality.
One of the must-haves for the trip was an apartment with a view — and an extra room to host guests. When our accommodations solidified, we put the invite out to friends and family to come join us. This weekend we were stoked to host our first guest: our cousin from the East Coast of Canada, Eliza!
Eliza has been studying in Graz, Austria, and already has some familiarity with our crazy family — having stayed with us before — so she knew what she was getting into with a visit to Switzerland HQ. Lizee was quick to respond to our invite, and plans were put in motion to meet up with her in Geneva, do a tour of the city, and then head home to Chernex.
Cedar was especially excited, and spent the week before doing a countdown of how many nights until we got to go “pick up” Lizee from the airport. He spent most of the time building an epic Duplo city in his room, where he proclaimed Lizee would be sleeping.
Finally the day arrived — Cedar was up before us, ready to get on the train (about an hour and a half ride). The convenience of having a train station attached to the international airport meant we walked right off the platform and up the escalator to the arrivals area. It wasn’t long before she arrived, and we set off to explore Geneva.
Sheila and I have been to Geneva a few times — one of our first visits was a very early morning wandering after waking too early from reverse jet lag — so we had an idea of an itinerary: old town, a walk along the lake, and a nice lunch.
Highlights were definitely the Jet d’Eau, a huge fountain in the lake, which both Cedar and Lizee walked out to, as well as introducing Lizee to her first Rösti for lunch — which, on the scale of Röstis we’ve had, probably scored around a 7/10, but still refilled the tank after walking the city.
Being a holiday, the lakeside was full of people, but most stores were closed. Not that we were going to do much shopping — Geneva is a beautiful, but expensive city. Worth a day trip for sure.
Once we’d had our fill of Geneva, we jumped back on the train to head home. Lots of catching up and hearing more about Lizee’s Graz experience and her other trips around Europe. It was really nice to have our first family visitor, and we capped the evening off by introducing Lizee to our Chernex family at apéro.
We planned to make the most of the quick three days Lizee was with us, so we had a pretty early first night — and yes, Cedar got a roommate. Lizee was game to sleep in the second bed in his room, where he had laid out chocolates on the pillow as a hint for what was to come.
Part 2: Chocolate Factory, Gruyères
Cedar has taken to running into our room (at any ungodly hour of the morning) and proclaiming loudly “BIG DAY” before elbow-dropping me or his mother — mostly me — to wake us up and get going. This morning, however, was surprisingly different. He’d snuck quietly into our bed because he “didn’t want to wake Lizee up,” but it was all he could do to sit still and watch cartoons until our houseguest awoke — so he could fill her in on the day’s plans.
And today’s plans were EPIC.
Switzerland obviously has the usual cliché associations: mountains, watches, knives, cheese — and of course, chocolate. I’ve always suspected that this is what really brought Sheila here, and that the whole nanny thing was a clever cover story. And for someone who’s not that into sweets, I’ll admit: I’ve eaten the best chocolate of my life here. Today we were headed to the source — the Gruyères region — to sample it straight from the factory – Maison Cailler
For those keeping track, this would be our second museum-type experience. Though to be fair, the Cailler factory isn’t really a museum — it’s a working factory with a full-blown immersive experience dedicated to the history of the famous Swiss chocolate maker. Founded back in 1819 (yes, that’s 48 years before Canada), Cailler is the oldest chocolate brand still in existence in Switzerland.
A chocolate factory. A little history, a lot of chocolate tasting. High likelihood of not having creepy mannequins. What could possibly go wrong?
We arrived right on time. Sheila, being the good planner she is (and armed with insider knowledge from Sabine), had pre-purchased our tickets — a smart move, since the place was absolutely packed due to the holiday weekend. But in typical Swiss fashion, the crowd was efficiently managed, and our tour started punctually. We were quickly ushered into line and handed what Cedar called our “magic phones” — audio guides you could wave at QR codes to hear narration through headphones in your language of choice. He was stoked.
Magic phones in hand, we were herded with our small group into a large, dimly lit room. The doors closed behind us. A pleasant voice came through the tinny headphones “Welcome to Maison Cailler…”
So far, so good. Maybe a little stuffy, probably didn’t need to be this dark.
Then the floor started moving.
Okay. So, it’s a slow-moving elevator. Cool. Cool.
I glanced at Cedar — now a seasoned museum-goer — and watched his excited smile fade slightly to something more… cautious. Still, he’s holding it together, and hasn’t resorted to the thumb in his mouth quite yet (his obvious tell when he’s worried about something) The promise of all-you-can-eat chocolate likely keeping him game for adventure.
The elevator stopped. The doors opened. Now we’re walking through… a jungle.
The friendly narrator is explaining to us that chocolate is a gift from the gods. I am distracted by the jungle sounds. I see what looks like a panther lurking in the shadows. Cedar definitely sees the Angry-looking Aztec God Mannequin guarding a ceremonial gourd of chocolate drink… Here we go again.
He looks at me like we’re being punked, grabs my hand and we move on, neither of us interested in angering Quetzalcoatl, or any other manner of scary serpent gods.
We continue through the exhibit — now we’re on a rocking boat. The narrator’s talking about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, and the room is suddenly filled with shadowy conquistadors. I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable, maybe a little seasick. Cedar clutches my hand tighter, his palms are sweating.
Then the narrator — in a weirdly soothing voice — calmly says something like, “The journey to bring chocolate across the oceans was perilous. Many people died.”
Too late.
“I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” yells Cedar, at full volume.
Apparently, he had cranked up his magic headphones, because our entire group turned to stare at the small, panicked child now clinging to my leg. I’m not going to lie, at this point, I was even wondering what kind of psychological damage disguised as “educational enrichment” we were doing to this kid (and would the price be worth it when we actually got to the chocolate tasting part that we had promised)
I could go on describing the rest of what Cailler calls a “multi-sensory experiential tour through the history of chocolate,” but I’ll spare you the spoilers. You might want to see it for yourself one day — and, I think you should.
I will say (thankfully) the rest of the experience wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the first few rooms. It focused mostly on how Europeans once used chocolate drinks as an aphrodisiac (go ahead and explain that to your five-year-old), and then moved into the storied history of Cailler — including a very detailed, very Swiss accounting of its year-by-year corporate filings since the 1800s.
Eventually, we made it to the good part: the chocolate tasting. And taste we did.
Now, like fine wine, there’s apparently a proper technique for chocolate tasting. Had I been listening to my “magic phone” , I might’ve learned those steps. But instead, I was busy shoveling samples into my mouth while mesmerized by the production-line robot placing, cutting, and boxing chocolate branches conveniently on a table in front of me.
Luckily, Cedar, Lizee, and Sheila were more civilized — tapping, smelling, inspecting each piece before tasting like professional sommeliers. I was actually pretty hungry. Had I not already filled up on hazelnuts and raw cacao beans in the previous room, I might have started in on the giant chocolate waterfall, which was politely guarded by a friendly chocolatier, who I learned was from Ontario. He seemed pretty excited to spot fellow Canadians and rewarded us with even more free samples.
Finally, we entered the last tasting room — and I’m proud to say I showed more restraint than my companions, who absolutely had to do multiple passes through the whole range of white, dark, milk, hazelnut, caramel… I actually lost track, likely in a chocolate induced hallucination. It is safe to say that a few more minutes in the tasting room and we’d all have needed to be rolled, or carried out by the chocolate robot.
Like all good museums, the tour ended in the massive Cailler gift shop. Sheila and Lizee made a beeline for the shelves. Meanwhile, Cedar — now vibrating from almost two straight hours of chocolate consumption — rocketed toward the chocolate-themed playground. Volume knob turned to 11, he charged through the equipment, shouting instructions at the tourist kids who had no idea what was happening. I was starting to worry about the sugar crash.
And this was just the morning.
The next part of our EPIC DAY took us by train and bus to the beautiful medieval town of Gruyères. Gruyères has been called one of the most beautiful medieval villages in Switzerland. It does not disappoint! Nestled on a hill overlooking the rest of the valley, this place looks like someone turned an old fairytale book upside down and shook it out into the alpine foothills.
We were all laughing while walking up through the cobblestoned main road, half expecting villagers to throw open tavern windows and burst into a Disney tune from Beauty and the Beast.
It was hot, and the chocolate high was starting to wear off. After a few sightseeing stops at the castle and the picture perfect viewpoints, we found a really nice restaurant and had our second Rösti — this one closer to a 9/10 — along with a nice charcuterie board.
Sitting in the shade that afternoon, watching the bustling town, you could close your eyes and imagine what life might have been like back in ’38, ’39 (that’s 1138, 1139) when this place was first founded — built up on Roman foundations from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
I imagined the first Count of Gruyère and how proud he must be that the legacy of his name today is tied to a cheese that is world-famous and delicious. And how lucky we are to sit and enjoy it.
After lunch — full from the deadly combination of cheese and chocolate — we headed back home to relax and get ready for the next day’s adventure, feeling pretty satisfied that we’d done our best as tour guides to show Lizee some of our favourite highlights of this amazing place.
