Food, Jazz, and Flowers: A Weekend in the Romandie

It's becoming a summer tradition that Matt and I spend at least one weekend over in the French part of Switzerland, commonly known as the Romandie, where we used to live. We have this week off from work, so how better to kick it off than some time on the Swiss Riviera?

Friday afternoon we skipped out of the office a little early and caught the train to Vevey, eating a yummy picnic dinner Matt made along the way. After checking in to the Riviera Lodge (best budget hotel in town!) we met up with my dad at Charly's Cafe along the water for a few glasses of sangria and a very pleasant evening watching the lights of France across the lake.

One fixture of any summer trip to Vevey is the Marché Folklorique, a big outdoor market in the center of town with live orchestra music, flowers, demonstrations of traditional crafts, and wine from a different local vineyard to try every week. You buy a souvenir wine glass for CHF 9 (each week has a different design on it) and then refills are free until the market closes around 12:30 pm, at which point you should have purchased enough delicious food from the vendors to go and have a picnic in the nearby park. On a sunny Saturday morning in July, there are few places I'd rather be in the world than at the place du marché in Vevey.

This year we were unfortunately given incorrect information and upon our arrival were dismayed to learn that the traditional music/wine/crafts don't start until this upcoming Saturday. The market was still on though, and after meeting up with our Zurich friends Kerrin and Olivier who hopped on the train that morning, we browsed along the waterfront and collected lunch components and pretty pictures...

Picnic time! (No, Matt was not as grumpy as he looks).

Vevey is the world headquarters of Nestlé and evidence thereof is visible throughout town in a multitude of ways. My father has worked for the company my whole life, and as a child my family visited Vevey at least once a year for our medical checkups and vaccinations when we were on holidays in Switzerland. Consequently, whenever I see the huge glass building that houses the Nestlé main offices, all I can think of is unpleasant shots and blood tests!

After our picnic lunch we headed to the Alimentarium, a Nestlé-sponsored food museum along the lake. A giant fork marks the spot!

The Alimentarium was divided up into four sections: purchasing, cooking, eating, and digesting. There were lots of interactive displays related to the above topics, such as the different cultural meanings of a "meal", how people in Switzerland ate 100 years ago compared to today, the roles of your 5 senses in eating, exhibits of old cooking equipment, and much more! Of course the exhibits showed (almost) all Nestlé products, sometimes in vintage packaging. I particularly liked an old chocolate display suitcase (bottom right pic) with every kind of Nestlé chocolate bar conveniently packed up to take with you!

The next day, after a good long sleep-in, we caught the boat over to the French medieval village of Yvoire. Yvoire has won the national award for most beautifully flowered village a number of years in a row, and deservedly so - every house and street is overflowing with blooms. Combined with the castle, old stone walls, narrow streets, and little shops, this place is well worth a visit. The only downside is that it's very, very touristy - be prepared to hear more foreign languages than French and for anything you buy to be overpriced accordingly.

A highly recommended stop in Yvoire is the Jardin des Cinq Sens, the walled-in former castle garden which is now a lovely and tranquil respite from the hordes of tourists and ice cream cones. The garden is laid out as a labyrinth which takes you to four sections in turn, relating to taste, smell, touch, and sight. The taste garden has all edible and medicinal plants, smell has aromatic herbs and flowers, touch is full of prickly and soft leaves, and sight is replete with gorgeous flowers that bloom almost all year. In the center of the labyrinth is a gurgling fountain to represent the sense of hearing.

I was fascinated to discover the biblical Balm of Gilead - I never knew this remedy came from a plant! When rubbed, the leaves have a strong camphor smell, like the description in the bottom left picture.

And finally, a picture with the lake behind us. A wonderful summer weekend indeed!