Tradition
This weekend many of my compatriots were partaking in the October ritual of Thanksgiving, feasting on turkey, mashed potatoes, baked yams (mmmmm), brussel sprouts, carrots, cranberries and pumpkin pie (mmmm) and I hope each of you had a surfeit of food, family, and things to be thankful for. Here in La Suisse, they have traditions as well, but it is more of a season than just one day. On Saturday we drove up to Gryon, dumped Roscoe at the flat (because I haven't found any wee hiking booties for his lil paws), tied on our hiking boots and hiked from Solalex

to Anzeinde.



This is what it looks like on a map:



It's about an hour or so of climbing (a little longer for those of us that need to stop and catch our breath and let our heartbeat return to something that doesn't resemble tachycardia) and the view is spectacular. After the walk down (another hour or so) we treated ourselves to the traditional autumn Swiss Feast: Chasse at the Refuge de Solalex. I have mentioned chasse on this blog before, but this was perfection. All the game (cerf, chevreuil, lievre) was local, cooked perfectly and accompanied by the tastiest carmelized marons, tender baby brussel sprouts, pears poached in red wine and followed by a digestif of chilled abricotine. I think the Swiss have figured out a few things in the last couple of millennia, despite the lack of pumpkin pie.