3.16.2013

festival du chocolat


The best thing about living near Switzerland has got to be the abundance of amazing chocolate. Can you believe this is the fist time we have gone to the annual chocolate festival? We took the train to avoid car show traffic around Geneva - two 20 minute rides and we arrived at a festival tent full of chocolate samples from some of Switzerland's finest chocolatiers. Even a vegan can find enough  dairy-free dark chocolate to start to get a stomach ache, but we paced ourselves as best we could against the ubiquitous treats. I ate some of the sweetest chocolate covered raisins ever and had a cup of hot cocoa and we nibbled bits from each exhibitor. 


One of my favorites was these rabid chocolate bunnies...their maker told me they wouldn't smile (hehehe). Not chocolate, but these candy apples were bright and beautiful in the sunshine.


Once we made our rounds, and stopped at every table, we hopped the chocotrain to visit the local chocolate factory, Favarger. (My absolute favorite that I buy every week!) Yeah! 


We spent a little time sitting in the sunshine on the lakefront, and then decided to spend the afternoon walking. We rode the train partway back, had a little picnic, and then walked along the river toward home (with a kilo of chocolate in the backpack).


River trail near Satigny.


3.10.2013

hiking: la vuache


There's just enough sunshine and warmer temperatures to keep us from wanting to ski again this weekend. We decided it was a good day to wander out "that way," to the Vauche hills between the Alps and the Jura. We parked in Chaumont, and started hiking up the spine to Mt. Vauche, a short hike, topping at 1101 meters, where there is still a bit of snow. This easy hike showed us that it is going take some work to build our legs back to our weekly, longer, tougher hikes in the Alps...but I can't wait. Winter will be back this week, extra cold, and hopefully some new snow, but the light is changing, days are getting a little longer, and there are plenty of green things pushing through the ground.
   

After we made our way back down to Chaumont, we visited the hilltop ruins of Château de Chaumont, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the surrounding countryside and the Alps until some dark clouds made their way over. Only half an hours drive, it felt like we had traveled somewhere far away...there's still so much to explore.