Villars, August 1, 2014

Today is the Swiss National Holiday.  On August 1, 1291, three Alpine Cantons swore an oath of confederation, which later became regarded as the foundation of Switzerland.

Parades, bonfires, music, fireworks, sausages and beer or Raclette, dances till the wee hours and sometimes lights in the highest peaks, taken there by alpinists.

The weather was not good up here, very cloudy, but it was beautiful down in the town where we went around 4 and watched the parade from benches provided by the town.  There were food and souvenir stands lining the main street, all under tents.  A carousel for the children.  Everyone walking, eating, drinking, laughing....wonderful ambiance.

Then the parade started with the old Vaudois militia on horseback in 19th century costume.

The Hallebardiers in red with their distinctive cleated sabots which make a lovely clacking noise.  This group is not that old, having been organized only in 1970, but their costumes hark back to the Burgundy wars.

The wonderful cows with their floral crowns and bells.  I photographed every single one!  I love Swiss cows.

The bell shakers.  What a sound!

The alpenhorns.  Beautiful music.

The yodelers.  So haunting! 

The goats.

Local costumes.

And bands, ski groups, medieval fair groups, more horses, more cows.....and much more!  It was one of the best I have seen...sorry Bristol!

We then came back to the house and had Raclette with tiny boiled potatoes and all the accoutrements, gherkins, pickled onions, viande des Grisons and other cured meats.   And for dessert...une tarte aux poires!  David was the cook and ate while standing at the Raclette machine, scraping off the cheese for us.  He put a half a wheel of Gruyères in the machine.  I think we ate about half.  At some point you have to scrape off the rind as well and it is called "la religieuse"(the nun).  It is crackling and soooooo good.  The origin of this expression is obscure, but one that sounds likely is this: when nuns visited homes, they asked people to set aside the rinds of cheese for them, the unused portions of the cheese.  Sounds good to me.  There is no doubt that these melted rinds are absolutely delicious.

Then we had a nice wait, with Glenfiddich, for the fireworks.  There were definitely thunderstorms in the area, but the mist gradually dissipated.  The sunset was not too bad.

Neighbors joined us on the terrace and the show started around 10:30.  The fireworks were spectacular and right in front of us!   Danielle and Dave's chalet is one of the highest in the town, so we had a great vantage point.

When we went to bad, the weather had deteriorated and we had tremendous thunderstorms and rain in the night.  Woke us up!  This July has been the worst for rain and lack of sunshine for the past 55 years in Switzerland.  All sorts of records have been broken.  When we left Gruyères the other day, we took a different route home via Gstaad and Les Diablerets.  Although the rain was not as heavy as it had been that morning, the rivers, including the Rhône, were raging mountain torrents and there were magnificent waterfalls all around us.  It was a spectacular drive home.