Germany and Switzerland

Kandern, Germany is a quaint town situated right next to the borders of both Switzerland and France. We enjoyed visiting our longtime friend here, as well as her wonderful friends.

One day when it was pouring rain, Jared shared that he had prayed it would rain at least once in each country we visited this summer. We were thankful for the cooler weather the rain brought, and we realized God had answered Jared’s prayer thus far.

Our friends took a day to drive us to Switzerland to see the Alps and to visit the Gruyere cheese-making factory, as well as the Cailler chocolate factory.

Both of these factories had excellent tours. At the cheese factory, we learned about how the Gruyere cheese must be made to very strict standards, according to the AOP (appellation d’origine contrôlée) using natural milk from cows that graze in the nearby fields. The cows feed on all sorts of local grasses and flowers (no hay) which helps give the cheese it’s unique taste. In fact, they said over 70 nuances of flavor can be detected in this complex, flavor-packed cheese. The cheese is aged anywhere from 5 months to 18 months. We sampled a 6, 9, and 12 month cheese, and while they were all delicious, we could taste the stronger, more complex flavor as it aged. If you want to learn more about the process of making this prized cheese, here’s a link you can go to that summarizes the process.

At the chocolate factory, which has been around since 1829, we learned about the history of chocolate, how this chocolate is made from bean to bar, and sampled roasted cacao beans. We were very excited at the end where they let us all eat as much chocolate as we wanted. They served about a dozen different types of bars and truffles, and we ate to our hearts’ content!