Road Trip: Montreux, Gruyere, and Piedmont with Molly and Tai

WARNING: WINE WAS CONSUMED

At last to the French-speaking part of Switzerland! My high-school buddy Molly, my law-school buddy Tai (they were college buddies in a confusing non-coincidence), and I drove to Lake Geneva in late May. We had a beautiful, sunny day for this first leg of our road trip and a visit to the 13th-century Chateau de Chillon. Chillon was built by the House of Savoy before they were conquered by the Bernese and we were struck by the distinctly French perspective on this history (e.g., “this room was used for flowers, parties and artistic expression until the Bernese came and started using it to torture people and store guns”). This castle inspired some major art: Lord Byron wrote “The Prisoner of Chillon” and Courbet and Turner painted it.

We enjoyed the views of Lake Geneva and mountains, as well as the crazy vineyards that appeared about to slide off steep cliffs into the Lake. After our tour, we drove up to La Ferme du Chateau, a lovely hotel in Lucens. On the advice of the hotel manager, we went to Restaurant de la Gare, for Lucens’ “gastronomique” experience. When we told the sommelier that Molly is a viticulturist in Napa, we were visited by the chef, given numerous special dishes and urged to try more and more regional wines. Before the night was over, the chef joined us for a few glasses at our table. The evening ended with all of us watching fireworks over the town castle and we three ladies stumbling back to our rooms.

The previous night’s events notwithstanding, we set out early-ish the next day for an epic hike: the Gastlosen Trail in the Gruyere region. We were ready for 11 km, but not quite ready for some of the terrain in our running shoes or organized sufficiently to make it to the last chair lift back down to our car, so 11 km became… much more.

It was spectacularly beautiful. There were wildflowers everywhere and glorious views.

Important backstory: When Molly and I were in high school, we went on a hike with a third friend in the Helderberg Mountains. We went off the trail and Molly took a significant fall. She was injured and unconscious and we could not get to her, but we got to some rock climbers and the park ranger, who took it from there. Flash forward 30 years(!), Molly is a wonderful, healthy, mom-of-three, but there are some moments in our adventures together when I recall the night Molly was hospitalized. Her mom was incredibly gracious under the circumstances, but at one moment she asked me pointedly, “What were you doing there Leah??”

There were moments in our Gastlosen hike, sliding down dusty, rocky paths or climbing cliffs in our inadequate shoes, when Mrs. Williams’ question rang through my head, as it does sometimes on our adventures. But we survived AGAIN! Middle-aged lady knees and hips just a little worse for wear.

When we finally got back to the car, we drove to nearby Gruyères, known for its famous cheese, intent on obtaining a classic fondue dinner. But first, an apero at Gruyeres’ truly bizarre HR Giger bar. Hans Rudi Giger was a Swiss artist who did the visual design for Alien and other movies. He has a “biomechanical” art style and is not afraid of the grotesque.

The Gruyeres fondue was good. It seems like a hard dish to screw up. We asked what was in a particular salad and our youthful French waiter told us is “it could have tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, carrots and more.” Apparently, it could also have none of those things. We appreciated this use of one of our English modals of lost opportunity.

One more night in Lucens and we were off to Piedmont. We drove through Switzerland’s southern mountains and into Italy while listening to Esther Perel’s couples therapy podcast “Where Should We Begin” and predicting the likelihood that couples would stay together. We drove to Turin, the busy capital city of Piedmont, for a panini lunch and, then straight into a bike race. That was a little stressful, but all was well when we arrived at the Poderi Luigi Einaudi Relais in Dogliani. We changed into bathing suits and took a dip in the pool before our next apero: the Relais served its own delicious wine. A decent but not super memorable dinner in Dogliani and we went to bed.

The next day we set off to conquer this:

Piedmont wines include Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera — some of the best in Italy. We were ready to try them all. I was driving so could only try teeny bits of them all. We drove into Barolo itself, where Molly snuck into the famous vineyards to inspect the vines. They were unkempt. We Californians felt momentarily superior.

We walked through Barolo to the Enoteca Regionale del Barolo where we really could try them ALL. Some were yummy and some were terrible. Molly explained wine things to us.

After our Barolo wine tasting experience, we drove to Castagnole to attend the Festa della Barbera. We parked our car and caught a shuttle up to the old town. The festival was set up with different wine producers, farmers and restaurants offering tastings in courtyards, squares and parks in the town. Bands with different-colored flags marched through town. The Piedmontese were ready to party.

In Castagnole, we discovered one of the greatest inventions of all time: Wine glass bibs! When you are at a party and trying to drink wine and eat hors d’oeuvres at the same time, you simply tuck you’re glass into your wine glass bib and two hands are free. We proudly used our bibs while enjoying some risotto al barbera. We planned our wine-bib business in California.

The Festa raged on, as festas tend to do, culminating in Molly simultaneously setting off a bathroom alarm and a bathroom hose and emerging quite wet as the worried Piedmontese looked on. Looking out at the Festa in that moment, the techno music suddenly amped up, I realized that we were the only group with a designated driver. And I pictured us all trying to drive out of the parking lot at the same time. We fled (after purchasing several more bottles of wine).

Another night in our Relais and dinner in Dogliani and we set off the next day for the long drive home. We parted ways in Lucerne. Molly to the Alps for more hiking. Tai back to Thilo and work in Zurich. Me back to Basel and my boys.

Molly returned to Basel for one last night after her Bernese Oberland adventure. We managed a quick tour of Basel and a dinner in Alsace. Thank you for the visit Molly! Thank you for being my partner in so many adventures Tai!