And my trip to Gruyères continues...

So in the last post about Gruyères, we had just entered the castle and seen the medieval flooring and the ancient kitchen...

Here are the suits of armour, only the kinghts are mising...

The information given to the side of it: Burgundian Cope, third quarter of the 15th century

Part of the booty from the battle of Morat (1476). It bears the great ducal coat of arms of Burgundy (Burgundy Ancient and Modern, Brabant, Limburg, and Flanders) and the coats of arms of Zealand and the Franche-Comtè above three flints and steels (emblems of Philip the Good, father of Charles the Bold).

The knights conference room...

With armours like that, chairs like these were probably comfortable enough...

So after the medieval ages, a noble guy inherited the castle and his artist cousin, took up residence here...

He kinda went overboard with his talents and painted...

Lovely whimsical pictures like this on every surface he could find...

Check out the painting behind me... it covers the entire wall...

Impeccable aesthetic sense...

There were a few religious paintings like this too... Jesus raising the little girl from the dead. Look at her, in her white clothes, it's a beautiful picture.

Another room... with coloured paneling

Vestiges of the past... a cannonball with the wood it splintered

The gardens outside...

The church near the castle...

Inside the church...

The candle stand in church...
After taking in all the sights it was time to shop... my brother specifically told us to get Gruyères products like the famous Gruyères cheese, the meringue and the double cream all made here in Gruyères. The cheese was quite nice, I used it to make French Onion soup. The meringue and double cream were scrumptious... of course they weren't in the least bit healthy but they dissolved wonderfully in your mouth.

Bought this toilet roll holder there... cute, right?

So that's it about Gruyères, a beautiful little village... I bet it looks even more beautiful in winter, everything covered in fresh blankets of pristine heavenly powder, snow. Should plan a trip there one winter season...

Comments

Rajiv Sankarapillai said…

Good post :)
Nice pictures :)

3:56 PM

Karen Xavier said…

Thanks Rajiv...

3:14 PM

Nice Ad....

Wouldn't you say so... Nam and me were in this huge clothing store and we were making fun of all the models on display (there was one of hrithik in which he looked kinda gayish) when we came across this one. Seriously, dark people are more better looking....

I hope the world doesn't end in 2012, I have a whole lot of books to read...

I heard bout Flipkart.com from Anju and that site has changed my life. All the books that I have been searching for since centuries, are now sitting prettily on my book shelf. Landmark is a thing of the past now... in fact Landmark is not what it used to be anymore, they do not seem to have stock on most of the good books. So I am deliriously thankful to the creators of flipkart, I seriously love you guys... continue with your fabulous work. Talking of books, here are a few people who have enriched my life with their recommendations of the written word... My brother Manoj for buying the ' The Partner ' by John Grisham . Now I hadn't heard of Grisham before so the book was just lying there at home. One day I got bored and picked it up, that was the start of my love affair with Grisham and legal thrillers in general. This was the first John Grisham book I read and it was in a word mindblowing. I couldn't set the book down, my heart was racing away with Patrick Laniga...

My school teachers...

So I got to thinking bout my school days recently and it saddened me that I was starting to forget a few teachers who had shaped my life, I have already forgotten nearly half the classmates... though its not my fault. Some people just don't want to join facebook, then how can you find them in this big world. Even if I do find them, there is not much to talk beyond the 'where are you & what are you doing' phrases. But the teachers are another matter, they deserve to be remembered for moulding us. I gotta hand it to the convent school I studied in, they really knew how to select their educators... all the teachers I had shared a genuine passion for teaching and above that they had strong moral values and faith which invariably shaped our lives. To them being a good person was what mattered the most and they made sure we grasped this knowledge, it also helped that I had staunch catholic parents who cemented this view. Anyway, I just wanted to jot down stuff bout my teacher...

Contemplations and Ruminations

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