{"id":1097,"date":"2025-07-08T12:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2025-07-23T18:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:57:18","slug":"welcome-sonya-len","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/?p=1097","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Sonya & Len"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been a delight to host our family and friends here in Chernex. Having houseguests gives Sheila an excuse to build a weekly itinerary of events\u2014something she loves\u2014and it gives us the chance to \u201cshow off\u201d some of the local insider knowledge we\u2019ve gained while living here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next guests from back home in the Fraser Valley, Sonya and Len, arrived this week via Paris. They’re visiting us on the first leg of their European vacation, and we were eager to help ease them into the European lifestyle. That means croissants, fresh fruit, and cheese for breakfast every day, a big lunch, an ap\u00e9ro<\/em> dinner\u2026 and maybe a little wine now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fresh off our Stresa mini-vacation, our first order of business was some house cleaning. We moved Cedar into our bedroom on the air mattress, and as has become tradition, he set up his room as the Auberge<\/em>, complete with chocolates on the pillows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We met Sonya and Len in Montreux and brought them back up to Chernex, where we enjoyed a little ap\u00e9ro<\/em> before heading down to check out the Jazz Festival. The festival had just kicked off, and it\u2019s truly a sight to behold. The city of Montreux\u2014normally home to about 27,000 people (a third the size of Chilliwack)\u2014balloons to over 250,000 when the spectators start arriving. Montreux Jazz is the second-largest jazz festival in the world, second only to Montreal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But tonight, the weather wasn\u2019t on our side. As soon as we got off the train, the wind whipped up and things turned stormy. Sheila and I had been in town earlier to meet up with new friends of ours from Saas Fee\u2014Paul and Karen\u2014who were in town as Porsche VIP guests to see Neil Young and Chromehearts. We had seen storm clouds brewing, but as with many summer storms here, they often pass quickly with more bark than bite. This one, however, had a bit more staying power. After a quick stroll along the lake, we decided to cut our festival outing short and head home. Sonya and Len, still jet-lagged from their flight, didn\u2019t seem to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day we spent exploring Chernex, showing Sonya and Len around the village and helping them get oriented. That evening, we were invited over to Sabine and Yvan\u2019s for a \u201ctraditional\u201d Swiss dinner\u2014and my first fondue of the trip! I\u2019m sure there\u2019s an art to a proper fondue, and if so, Sabine and Yvan have absolutely mastered it. I\u2019m also sure there\u2019s probably an art to not<\/em> overeating at a fondue party\u2014one I have definitely not mastered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to gauge how much melted cheese and bread you\u2019re actually eating. Unlike a grilled cheese sandwich (of which I can politely stop at one or two), with fondue, you may have no idea you\u2019ve just consumed two blocks of cheese and a full loaf of bread\u2014until you’re climbing the six flights of stairs to your apartment. Needless to say, there wasn\u2019t much room left for dessert. Still, we were spoiled with a truly authentic Swiss meal, made by dear friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a restless night of wild cheese dreams, we awoke to more sketchy skies. Our mission for the day was to make it to Epesses (yes, that<\/em> Epesses) for a private wine tasting with Madame Chevalley. We planned to train there and then walk into the village. What started as a light drizzle had turned into a full-on rainstorm by the time we arrived\u2014and none of us were prepared for a rainout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, wine tasting fixes everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike some of the rushed wine tastings we\u2019ve experienced back home, this one was expertly curated. Madame Chevalley welcomed us into her cellar, where we gathered around a large old wooden table and tasted eight or nine beautiful wines. Sonya and I took on translation duties (mostly Sonya, to be honest), as Madame Chevalley spoke primarily French. But after a couple of glasses of wine, we were all speaking some delightful blend of French, English\u2026 and maybe even a little Spanish for good measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Cedar\u2014who had been left in charge of the breadsticks\u2014polished off the entire basket while we tasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an afternoon like that, nobody was too motivated to cook dinner, so we stopped by one of our go-to pizza spots near the famous Vernex water fountain. Jet lag was catching up to our visitors again, and they were probably thankful Sheila hadn\u2019t packed the evening with too many plans. We had big plans for their final two days with us, so a good night\u2019s sleep was in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t mind being at home during festival nights, though. From the comfort of our balcony, I\u2019ve now listened to Chaka Khan, Neil Young, Royel Otis, and tonight I’m listening to – Diana Ross all without ever leaving the apartment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Cheese Fondue!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Thoroughly enjoying the fondue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The hosts of our traditional cheese fondue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A quick funicular ride for some nice views<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Chevalley Jean Francois Winery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Wine tasting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Inside the tasting room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a delight to host our family and friends here in Chernex. Having houseguests gives Sheila an excuse to build a weekly itinerary of events\u2014something she loves\u2014and it gives us the chance to \u201cshow off\u201d some of the local insider knowledge we\u2019ve gained while living here. Our next guests from back home in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,12,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chernex","category-food-and-drink","category-friends-and-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_6131-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlecedarfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}