Switzerland: Gruyeres

25 November 2006

Gruyeres (excuse lack of accents) is a town located in the French-speaking canton of Fribourg, about 80 km away from Bern. It is of course famous for its cheese, as well as this decadent meringue, served with evil double cream, which we sampled for research purposes.

	train Bruce and I took the train from Bern to Fribourg town, where our friends Eva and Micha picked us up and we continued towards Gruyeres by car. The view outside the train en route to Fribourg was very much a rural autumny one, given the unseasonably warm winter Switzerland had been experiencing.
	mainst Standard tourist shot, main street of Gruyeres, after a serving of meringue with double cream and ice cream.

Gruyeres Castle

One of the two main tourist sites of Gruyeres, this medieval castle incorporates a regional and arts museum.

	tree Crazy trees out on yard outside castle.
	castle Castle lookout with nearby maze.
	maze Every good castle's got a garden maze.
	castleview1 Spectacular views from castle.
	castleview2 Spectacular views from balcony of one of the rooms, now a converted gallery of colourful fantastic (as in, fantasy) art.

Giger Museum

The second main tourist site in Gruyeres is the H.R. Giger Museum, of Necronomicon, Alien and Species fame. Giger is actually Swiss-German, and the presence of his museum here in the middle of this medieval-looking rural town has a jarring anachronistic feel about the whole thing. The art was disturbing, terrifying, yet strangely aesthetically pleasing. It is said the man suffers from night terrors, and his art is a result of him attempting to put his nightmares onto canvas or sculptures. He's certainly very skilful at it.

	giger1 Entrance to the Giger Museum.
	giger2 Giger Museum, lateral view.
	bar1 The Giger Bar is adjunct to the museum and of course showcases more art. Eva is sitting on the Harkonnen Chair (Giger is also something of an architect), which was going to be used in a Dune movie adaptation but got canned.
	bar2 The Giger Bar ambience.
	bar3 Practically part of the Giger Bar furniture.
	bar4 More Giger Bar ambience.