Worlds Apart

Switzerland, with its snow-packed mountain peaks and forests, beautiful wooden chalets, and grazing cows and goats, really is as pretty as a chocolate-box image.

- Diane Heierli

And I think Father Time sets his watch to the Swiss train timetable. In fact, his watch is most probably Swiss-made. There is an orderliness to this society that is hugely attractive – even the woodpiles seem to be stacked with a definite sense of cultural pride.

The country is tiny – its population of less than nine million could fit nicely into the Kruger National Park – and most of it, interspersed with breathtaking lakes, is sandwiched between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It is also home to an incredible variety of cheeses, many of which are still artisanally made. A few of our favourites: Appenzeller, a hard cheese made in the north; Emmenthal, with its recognisable holes; Gruyère, which is similar in taste but without the holes; and then raclette, which, more than any other cheese, characterises Switzerland.

I have a clear memory of visiting my father-in-law in Switzerland many years ago. We stayed in a pretty little hotel in Brunnen next to the Vierwaldstättersee, and apart from the incredible views from our hotel window and the time with family, it was the fantastic cheese collection at breakfast that made our stay so memorable. Actually, this is where we met a new love, tête de moine, which translates into “monk’s head”. Originally produced by monks, it is served in an unusual way – a tool called a girolle is used to revolve around the pungent, fruity cheese and scrape off ribbons.

Maybe it’s because Switzerland’s peaks reach so high, or that they make such incredible cheese and chocolate, that one could be forgiven for thinking that this is, in fact, heaven.