Annual "la chasse" hike

September in Switzerland marks the "la chasse" or "hunting" season.  For meat-eating food lovers, the "la chasse" season is more famously known for the sinfully delicious game-inspired meals, with lots of deer, boar, and beef.

Last year, on the first Saturday after arriving in Switzerland, our friends took us to a nearby mountain area on a short hike that ended at the most amazing restaurant, where we had our first "la chasse" experience. We loved the hike and meal so much that as September started approaching again this year, we decided that we should repeat the same hike/la chasse experience and make it an annual trip.  This year's hike did not disappoint, the air was crisp and the fall foliage was starting to come out. After an hour-long stroll, we arrived in la chasse heaven.  Even the presentation of the dishes was a sight to behold (hence the multiple pictures of our food, which appeared in front of us looking like art work).  We are already looking forward to next year's annual la chasse outing!

Oh, and apologies to any vegetarians out there!

Our friends' dog Denali, trotting along the trail on the way up. The mountain area in the distance is one section of a huge ski domain called the "Portes du Soleil" or "Doors of the Sun"

The restaurant's regular menu and the la chasse menu

D and the appetizer , tagliatelle with mushroom cream sauce

And another appetizer, polenta/mushrooms and apricot/creme/almonds

My dish, deer medallions in a red wine sauce

The boys' dish, deer chops with cinnamon crusted butter

D's dish, deer with blueberry sauce

Nothing beats lunch on a terrace, with friends, in the sun, overlooking the mountains 

Adorable Tully and Denali, patiently waiting for some la chasse leftovers!

Dessert, a whisky tiramisu and an apricot rum cake

As great as la chasse is, I am of course still missing the seasonal fall New England food (apple cider and anything pumpkin)! What are your fall favorite foods?

What a difference a year makes!

This past Thursday marked the one year date from when we moved to Switzerland. I still can't believe we have lived here for an entire year, to say the year has flown by would be a massive understatement.

I remember a few days after we arrived in Geneva last year, Ryan had gone to his first day at work while I was home alone for the first time - I was sitting in the living room of our temporary apartment staring at our list of errands and thinking about how I knew essentially no one in this country and everything felt SO foreign. At that moment, I had a flash of panic and thought to myself "What did I get myself into?! I'm not sure I can do this, this is not going to be easy". And by all means, those first months were not easy. They were full of endless errands, paperwork, permit struggles, furniture assembly, feeling lonely at times, struggling with the language, trying to obtain internet access to maintain contact with the outside world, living out of suitcases until our shipment arrived, transitioning into new jobs, missing family and friends, among other things.  Then, slowly but surely, life became more comfortable -- the errands gradually slowed, permits were secured, furniture was assembled and our apartment started to look like a home, we made friends, obtained internet and discovered the glory of FaceTime to keep in contact with friends/family, and started to go on adventures in our amazing surroundings.  And now a full year after that panicked afternoon, I can confidently say that Switzerland no longer feels foreign or lonely, it just feels simply like our comfortable and peaceful "home".  Of course living abroad in a foreign country will never be 100% easy, there will always be errands, missing family and friends, and moments of frustration -- but now it is just a part of life, whether life is in Switzerland or the US.

So as I look back on the past year and look forward to the (likely) two more years in this country, blessed is the word that keeps going through my head. I feel so blessed to have a loving, supportive husband, caring family, fun friends who have welcomed us to Switzerland with open arms, a beautiful apartment, the adorable Pumpkin, healthy bodies, a convenient city to live in, promising careers, the world's most beautiful scenery at my doorstep, numerous visitors to share our experiences with, and many opportunities to explore this side of the world. Blessed, indeed...

Some of my favorite moments in Switzerland thus far...

Thermal, alpine baths

The great thing about living in an alpine environment is that there are numerous hot springs hidden in the mountains that have been turned into baths and spas for public enjoyment.  These thermal baths range in type and style, from the kid-friendly thermal baths in Leukerbad to the luxurious alpentherme in Leukerbad with its multiple treatment rooms to our favorite thermal bath, Lavey-les-Bains, which has multiple pools, saunas, steam rooms, waterfalls, pools with underwater music, and many other features.

Most of the thermal baths not only derive their heat from the hot springs, but also use the mineral-laden elements from the hot springs in the water for health benefits. As a result, people with ailments can actually receive "prescriptions" from their doctors to soak in the baths due to the water's healing powers.

This past rainy, Sunday we checked out another thermal bath in the mountains, Thermes Parc, using coupons from Switzerland's equivalent to Groupon.  Hanging out in a mineral thermal bath is a great way to pass a lazy, rainy Sunday in Switzerland.  Although a bit smaller than previous ones we have visited, this thermal bath had a lazy river and was super clean and modern.  When you purchase your ticket at the registration desk, you get a waterproof, electronic wrist band that is used to enter the baths and open/close your lockers. Here are some pictures (not my own) of some of the baths we have visited over the past year:

Lazy river at the Thermes Parc

Baths in Charmey, Gruyere

The "spa village" at the alpentherme

The Roman/Irish treatment area at the alpentherme

Our favorite baths, Lavey-les-bains

The alpentherme baths in Leukerbad

TGIF!

I just finished two big projects at work this week, so I'm feeling especially relieved and in a celebratory mood for this weekend. We are relaxing in Geneva this weekend since the upcoming month will be full of busy (and fun!) trips home to the US and visitors in Switzerland. TGIF everyone, hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

Lake Geneva regional specialty: Filets de perche

Aside from its traditional specialities of cheese, chocolate, and wine, Switzerland continues to surprise us with some lesser-known, regional specialty foods.  Filets de perche or "perch filets" is one of specialities of the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland.  Perch is plentiful in Lake Geneva and fishermen pull fresh catches out each day and sell them to local restaurants.  Not being a huge fan of dining on lake-fish (generally they taste too fishy for my liking), I haven't been terribly excited to try this local specialty.

A few weeks ago, after a Sunday morning at the driving range with friends, we drove to a restaurant called Au Vieux Navire in a little village on the shores of Lake Geneva that is known for its filets de perche dishes. In formal Swiss dining fashion, we started the meal off with an "aperitif", which is essentially a fancy cocktail drink.  We then all opted for the variety dish of filets de perche.  It consisted of filets de perche cooked three ways: (1) with lemon and parsley, (2) with tomatoes and basil, and (3) the "piece de resistance"... with champagne FOAM and lobster sauce -- really?! To call this fish delicious would be an understatement, it was amazing. Needless to say my opinion on filets de perche has changed...

We finished the meal with the "crepes suzette" desert, which is essentially crepes flavored with an orange caramel sauce. The fun part was that they made the dish in front of us.  Lunch and a show! We will definitely go back to this restaurant soon -- I'm going to try to convince my dad in a few weeks that this place gives George's weekly fish fry in Meredith, NH a run for its money ;)

Oops... yesterday's video wasn't working

Here is (hopefully) a working version!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2RDlF3UaeU

The neighborhood market

Every Sunday that we are home in Geneva, Ryan has a favorite morning activity.  He usually wakes up before me and sneaks out to the farmer's market that takes place at the square outside of our apartment. He loves to wander around and come back with all kinds of yummy food.  You can find fresh veggies and fruits, cheeses, meats, breads, and prepared foods from many different countries and cultures.  One morning when I was able to get myself out of bed early enough and in my pursuit to show you all more of our "hood", I accompanied Ryan on his weekly ritual and taped his Sunday adventure for your viewing pleasure...

Half of a beautiful hike

As the summer starts to come to a close, I have been asking Ryan to do some hikes with me while the weather is still good.  I got my wish on Saturday as we headed to Chamonix to hike to Lac Blanc, an alpine lake that sits at around 2200 meters and has sweeping views of Mont Blanc and its neighboring glaciers in the background.  The hike is well known by tourists and easily accessible.  You take a cable car up to around 2200 meters and hike horizontally across to the lake.  So we headed off to Chamonix excited for our day of hiking.  But, there was a slight problem... our lazy butts slept in and dilly-dallied around the house for a few hours, so we didn't get to Chamonix until around 2PM and the last cable car down from the hike left at 4:30PM = not enough time to do the entire round trip hike to the lake.  Oops. We decided to still do the hike, but just go half way for fear of missing the last cable car down and being stranded in the mountainous terrain.  Disappointing as that was, we still managed to get in some good hiking and saw some amazing scenery.  I'm used to hiking in the white mountains of NH, so hiking above the tree line with rock fields, snow still on the trails, and 25 degree temperature differences to the valley below is super intimidating but it presents some unbelievably gorgeous sights at the same time.  Ryan even went to the market before we left for Chamonix and got us a superb lunch of truffled ham, greek salad, and a fresh baguette that we enjoyed while overlooking the views. So in the end while we were disappointed that we didn't have time to check out the lake, it was a perfect Saturday excursion and we're excited to return one day (hopefully this fall) to check out the actual Lac Blanc!  

Check out the glacial valley behind me, you can actually take a train up to this glacier and go through a tunnel into the glacier

Don't lean left!

Riding the chair lift down

Mont Blanc is the tallest peak on the right