The Rest Stop at Gruyère

The drive from Strasbourg to the chalet in Les Mosses was like a drive through the cheese section of the grocery. You pass through Emmental and Neuchâtel and Gruyère and Fribourg. All of these are villages in Switzerland that became more famous by lending their names to cheeses.

...and by the way - Swiss Cheese, the stuff with the holes in it that is sold in America, is Emmental. I lived nearly 46 years before finding that out.

Gruyère is a pretty little village on the banks of a mountain lake with a castle in the middle of the lake. The main highway passes close by and there is a rest stop there. We stopped.
The opening photo shows the lake with the village of Gruyère in the background. The photo above shows Chris and Jill Hagan stretching their legs after being trapped in the back seat of the car for 2 1/2 hours. Kids must play.

The photo above shows a couple of the cows that pasture in the grass surrounding the rest stop. Inside them somewhere is the tomorrow's cheese.

The Swiss love their cheese and the seem to love their cows even more. If you look at the cow in the background, you can just make out the bell tied around it's neck. It seems that almost anywhere, if you get away from the noise of the road, you can hear the clanging of cowbells in all directions. In Gruyère, the hills are alive with the sound of cowbells.