Story of My Life in Geneva: Discovering the land of chocolate and cheese...

This week we continued to establish our routine-trying to find more activities to keep Eliza busy during the day. Adalyn had a full week of school and still likes it a lot! She told me before bed on Friday that she missed her teacher and was sad she didn't have school the next two days. So sweet- we are so happy that she likes her school, teacher, and classmates.

Eliza had garderie twice this week, still very unhappy with being away from me, hoping that she will eventually get used to it and enjoy it. It makes me sad to leave her unhappy, but I know eventually she will enjoy playing with the other kids and be excited to go (hopefully!).

Adalyn started dance class on Tuesday - she seems to enjoy it. It seems a lot more structured than the class she took in MN and it is taught in French, so I hope she can keep up and focus!

Adalyn in the black leotard-

On Wednesday, we had some friends over to play and have dinner. Adalyn only has school half days on Wednesdays, so the afternoons/nights can get long- especially when Chris is traveling. So, we had over our new friends that we had met Sunday. Their kids are almost the exact age of Adalyn and Eliza, so they play together well. It was nice to see the girls having so much fun and for us moms to enjoy some wine and adult conversations.

On Saturday, we went to Gruyeres, which is in Switzerland. Gruyeres is a medieval town at the foot of the Alps, mainly known for their production of famous Swiss cheese. First, we stopped at the Castle of Gruyeres. The castle was built in 1270 for the Counts of Gruyeres. In 1938, it was opened to the public for tours. We really enjoyed touring this castle because it was semi-furnished, so Adalyn was able to imagine what life would be like inside the castle.

Gruyeres

Waiting for "Coronation Day" again...

The garden in the castle-

After the castle, we headed to La Maison du Gruyere (the cheese factory). First, we had lunch. Since we were at a cheese factory, we decided to have our first cheese fondue. Adalyn was a bit hesitant and didn't love the flavor, but of course Eliza loved it! I thought it was so interesting, they put all of the cheese into a cellar, which holds up to 7,000 35kg rounds of cheese. The rounds are turned over and brushed with a water and salt mixture everyday for the first ten days. The following two weeks, the process is done three times per week, then twice per week for the next three months. I never realized how high maintenance cheese was- makes you enjoy it more!

Where they make the cheese-

From there, we headed to the highlight of the day, the Callier (Nestle) Chocolate Factory. We took an interactive guided tour that traced the history of the factory from 1898 to the present. We were very impressed with the tour- Eliza was asleep for the first five minutes of the tour, but then I think the strong smell of chocolate woke her up into a real life dream- who wouldn't love waking up in a chocolate factory! We were able to watch the chocolate bars get made and eat them right off the assembly line. Just when we thought the tour was over, and we were pleased with our sample we had received, we walked into an amazing room... a chocolate tasting room. The room was filled with all the different kinds of chocolate with samples to try- it was amazing. I really think the girls thought they were in a dream- Chris and I did too! (Although my dream would have had wine tasting with the chocolate!)

Fast asleep... but not for long!

The chocolate cow that makes her favorite chocolate milk!

Loving the chocolate tasting room-

Sunday afternoon, we visited the Botanical Garden Park in Geneva- located alongside of the north side of Lake Geneva. It is a huge park that features plants from all over the world. Most of the plants were done flowering, but we imagine this place is amazingly beautiful in the summer. They also have an old fashioned fairy-tale carousel that the girls really enjoyed riding. It was fun to get out and discover another park in Geneva.