Is it not a cheese?

I was out driving one day when I visiting my brother and I saw a sign to Gruyeres and I thought "well let's go there" I instantly linked the city to a cheese and a good one!

Gruyers is the capital of the district of Gruyére in the canton of Fribourg. Gruyères is 810 m above sea level, 4.5 km south-south-east of the district capital Bulle. The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson and a perfectly preserved old castle-village, isolated on its crag but within easy reach of Lake Geneva. The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane river, and gives its name to the well-known cheese. Gruyères cheese is an important factor in supporting the tourist trade in the region.

There is a cheese factory in Pringy which is open to visitors.

It is one of Switzerland’s most photogenic sights and attracts hordes of daytrippers throughout the summer season, come to stroll on the village’s only street and explore the impressive château - one them being me in nice day in early April.

A major tourist attraction is the medieval town of Gruyères with its castle, containing a regional museum and an arts museum. There are cultural activities in the castle (concerts, theater).  The castle was formerly the regional seat of power, occupied from 1080 to 1554 by the nineteen counts of Gruyères, but was decimated by a fire in 1493 which destroyed virtually everything but the dungeons. The last occupants reconstructed the living quarters in a lavish Savoyard style; Michael, the final Count of Gruyères, ran up huge debts doing this and then fled, leaving his creditors • the governments of Fribourg and Bern • to divide up his lands between them.

Nearby is Mont Moléson, a mountain suitable for climbing, or for the less athletic there is a cablecar to the summit which was rebuilt in 1998. The resort town Moléson-Village caters for both summer and winter tourism. But what really struck me in this beautiful city was how wonderful it looked, especially with all the beautiful paving stones. The city has done an aazing job relaying all the paving stones, there are more than 266.000  or 3550 square meters of stones used and it has taken more than 6 years to do. 

In the castle I visited a small gallery devoted to modern fantasy art • which is fine if you like that kind of thing but has no connection whatsoever with the cobbled quaintness all around.

But far more interesting did I found the H.

R. Giger Museum. It was fantastic to see the magnitude of ideas and horrors collected at one place and I was truly amazed by the fantasies put together here. The museum is open Tues•Sun 10am•6.30pm; Fr.8; SMP; you can check the website www.hrgiger.com.

Giger is a graphic artist, born in Chur, who is most famous for designing the special effects for the movie Alien • for which he won an Oscar • as well as Poltergeist II, Alien 3 and others. Flushed with success he took a shine to Gruyères, bought one of the old houses, and has turned it into a showcase for his unique brand of grotesque art, sexualized surrealist visions of machine-like humanoids, nightmarish cityscapes and fantasy-porn obsessions crowding over three dark and very interesting floors.