Romont, Bulle, and Gruyères (3/13/1982)

Saturday, March 13, 1982

Ran into Heidi on my way to the train station. She had an early (I’ll say!) hairdresser’s appointment. Also, I saw a trolleybus turn onto Nidaugasse when Bang! Twang! the trolley poles bounced off the wires. The driver got out to pull both poles down and hook them on the roof (safety precaution?), then one by one put the poles back in contact with the wires.

Train day pass

Took the 7:52 train to Bern. The half-price cost of 10 day passes has gone up to 190 CHF/$95 (from 170 CHF/$85). After getting to Bern at 8:20, I checked the schedules, and caught the 8:34 express train to Lausanne, getting off in Romont. There was an extra train to Lausanne because of the Auto Salon/Exhibition in Geneva. It was 9:15 in Romont and lightly snowing. I made my way slowly up the hill to the old town behind the ramparts. There were a couple staircases heading straight up, but I stayed with the road. The old town had wide cobblestoned streets. I headed for a large church that was not identified on the outside, but inside a sign indicated it was Notre-Dame de l’Assomption/Our Lady of the Assumption (rebuilt 15C).

Our Lady of Assumption Church

The altar of swooping lines was behind an iron-grillwork screen and it had a “modern” bronze statue (1955) of the Virgin. There was a wide variety of stained glass windows, both Burgundian and modern. Across the street was the Château de Romont/Romont Castle, which now houses government offices, and the Vitromusée/Glass Museum only open in the afternoons.

Château de Romont

Walked around the castle keep with its wooden water wheel and old trees. At the end of the main street was a tower, and I walked the ramparts to another tower for a view down on railroad yards and the farms beyond. Went through town to the lower ramparts to return to the train station.

General view of Romont

I went to get the 10:31 train to Bulle and saw it on Track 3. Took the underground passage to reach Track 3, coming up to see the train “leaving.”  Actually it went to hook up to some freight cars. I waited for it to come back, but at 10:31 it was still sitting at the far end of the platform. I headed to the end of the platform, when it started “leaving” again, this time coming to the middle of the platform, and I had to hurry back to board. This was the regular-gauge Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat (GFM) train getting us to Bulle by 11:00.

Bulle was a substantial city so I just followed signs to the Musée Gruérien/Gruyère Museum, in a modern building with the Château Baillival behind it.

Gruyère Museum and Château Baillival 

The museum lobby displayed a variety of things; old documents, paintings from many eras, and bits of “poya” paintings (painted by the armaillis/mountain farmers which recorded the inventory of the herd, people, and equipment making the spring ascent into the mountains). There was an interesting wooden cane with a handle that they asked you to describe how it was made. It was inlaid with a sort of “T” on one side and a circle on the other. The back of the building contained a library and in the center were a check-out counter and stairs leading down to the actual museum which was well laid-out in a modern setting. Taxidermied animals of the area, plants and trees, maps, weapons, furniture, sections of a house, uniforms and costumes, toys, tools (for making cheese), and paintings from the traditional to the “poya.” Most of the paintings were long and flat and contained one “zag” (road that turned back on itself) and no perspective. The cows were carefully painted with their individual markings, and perhaps their own cow bell! I was halfway through the museum when an old man came up to me with a “Bonjour!” He then asked for my ticket. Oh, so that’s what that counter was for! I ran back upstairs to purchase a 3 CHF/$1.50 ticket and returned to hand it to the old man. Continued my tour seeing straw “lace” strips that are woven into hats and mementos of the local writer Victor Tissot. The Renaissance paintings seemed out of place.

Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat train

Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat new train

Returned to the train station for the 12:04 train to Gruyères, arriving in 10 minutes. A demonstration cheese factory was right next to the train station, but it wasn’t open. However, around the factory there were numbered pictures with captions in French, German, and English describing the process. There was also a continuous slide show, and depending on which side of the factory you stood, you could hear the narrative in one of those three languages. Took the 10-minute uphill hike to the old town of Gruyères, entering a fortified side door and going up a block to the cobblestoned Place du Bourg/Castle Square.

Place du Bourg/Castle Square

During the summer it’s for pedestrians only, but even today there were no cars; a ghost town of shuttered buildings with overhanging roofs and wrought-iron signs. Le Belluard was the main gate leading towards the Château de Gruyères. I passed the Maison de Chalamala (jester of Count Peter IV who played the flute and the chalumeau/pipe, hence his nickname Chalamala) with its finely carved stone window frames.

Maison de Chalamala

Château de Gruyères

The castle was closed until 13:00, so I walked to the large Chapelle de saint Jean-Baptiste/Chapel of St John the Baptist which was surrounded by a cimetière/cemetery.

Cemetery of the Chapel of St John the Baptist

Because it was snowing, I couldn’t see into the valley with Lac de la Gruyère/Lake Gruyères formed by the Rossens Dam, nor see the peak of the Mont Moléson.
I passed an old man guarding the town toilets as he ran to tell someone they couldn’t park in town. I saw some neat carved wooden cream ladles at a souvenir shop, but they were ridiculously expensive at 45-50 CHF/$50. A trickle of tourists arrived, so I followed them to the Château de Gruyères, buying a 2 CHF/$1 ticket.

Château de Gruyères ticket

In the courtyard you had a view into the snow-free valley surrounded by hills covered by snow-frosted evergreen trees.

View from the castle

The taller peaks were hidden in the clouds. The rooms of the castle were decorated in a variety of styles, from the bare feudal kitchen with a fancy grandfather’s clock, a boldly painted drawing room, to a refined room of antique furniture and paintings. One hall contained the mourning capes of the Order of the Fleece, used for funeral Masses. There were also tapestries and everywhere you could see the Gruyère herald, a crane. I returned to the train station where a tour bus in the cheese factory parking lot had “Southern Farm Tours” painted on its side in English! Caught the 13:47 train to Palézieux, arriving at 15:00. I changed to the 15:06 express to Lausanne, arriving at 15:30. It was pouring rain, so I caught the 16:00 train to Biel, arriving at 17:15. The sun was peeking out and the billowing white clouds were almost as impressive as mountains!