Cara Mia, Oh My!!!: A little slice of Swiss life

I love food. Everyone knows that. Maybe I love it too much. So I plan on cutting down, once I get back to the states.
When I get back to the states.
Saturday Julia took me up the hills to a small town for a cow parade. Each summer some farmers take their herds up higher in the mountains for grazing. They bring them back down in the fall.
Several communities have festivals around the return of the cows. I am not sure how much is traditional and how much is touristy because the festivals do draw crowds. There are booths: wine, cheese, crafts, linens. Some really neat paper silhouette type drawings, very intricate, very expensive, which are also a Swiss local tradition, drew my eye but I think I bought enough artsy stuff this trip.
Of course we had to have a sausage....served with a chunk of bread. And some pomme frites. If nothing else, I can order French fries, red wine and ham and cheese sandwiches in French.
We also visited Craig and Yvonne...friends of Julia's and I like to say friends of Jackie and me. They have two lovely little girls and they just bought a house higher up in the hills. So we went to visit the pink house, which is a work in progress. A lot of work in progress. But I can see sitting on the terrace, with Lake Geneva in the distance, enjoying the quiet as the girls splash in the pool. Or turning around and seeing the hills behind. It will be a beautiful home, filled with love and laughter.
By the way, the pool is Julia's idea.
Saturday night we went for fondue. Now Sherri will remember the place, where man love blossomed, the blue linen shirt legend began, and the obscene cow pictures dot the wall.
We were joined by Craig and Yvonne and Kevin and Christina, also friends of Julia's who we consider our friends.
Fondue, cheese and tomato, was the menu for me. Chunks of bread dipped and swirled in a cheesy blend. Or maybe a dip in the tomato fondue. And wine. Of course, wine.
Dan may remember dessert there....but the pear dish is not on the menu currently.
Meringues are however. And they were absolutely amazing.
Two huge meringues served with a dish of cream, a strawberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream. You dipped the meringue in the cream, put it in your mouth and it literally melted, releasing a flood of flavors.
Pretty darn good.
Today we are planning to meet nephew Mike and his family at perhaps the place closest to heaven on Earth: Callier chocolate factory and sampling room, where hundreds of chocolates are put out for people like me to sample.
Hope they have enough!