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9 April 2024
I came to Gruyères to find peace. I must say it has been a success. I woke up this morning feeling completely at peace after sleeping 10 hours. Studying Japanese got me interested in Shinto which means I have to study Buddhism to understand that interplay, so I've finally embarked on that quest. I started my morning by reading some more of Oxtby's excellent book on eastern religions. Yes, I know that religion is a deep pool of nonsense, but it's also humanity's attempt at understanding the world through analogy, through stories. The Japanese word for speaking, hanashimasu, literally means to make stories.
I arrieved here two days ago and, of course, began with fondue. It was evening though, so I spent my time with books and planning my hike the next day. I've done quite a bit of the #4 trail across Switzerland, so I wanted to try the #3. It's definitely more intense. The trail from Gruyères westward starts off downhill as it must from a city on a hill, but that quickly switches to a steady uphill into the mountains. It's nearly 1000 meters of climb up to the base of Moléson, mostly through cowfields and broken forest. A couple kilometers before the great rock of Moléson there is a small cabane to take a break and refreshment at. The grandmother running the place was a spitfire and had her young granddaughter do most of the service. I can't remember the last time I ordered a beer from a twelve-year-old. There's nothing like pushing yourself physically, not sure if you're lost because there's no phone signal, and then discovering this oasis.
Moléson is an impressive rock that towers over the local Alps and I don't think I'd want to climb. Maybe Paula could convince me though. The #3 trail traces around the northern edge, and as such still had plenty of snow. To add to the fun there are regular rockfalls. The trail was strewn with rocks the size of my torso and after I passed the most dangerous area I heard a loud noise and turned back to see a rock the size of my head fly across the path I had just crossed and continue down the mountain. Yikes! I ran into some gentleman heading the other direction soon after and warned them of the danger.
The downhill is just as long as the uphill, but hard on the kness rather than the cardiovascular system. Les Paccots turned out to be something of a ghost town this time of year, so I continued on to Châtel-St-Denis to find some food. 24 kilometers en toto, and definitely harder than most days on the Camino (#4 in Switzerland). Then it was back on the train to Gruyères.
Back in Gruyères, my goal for the evening was not to fall asleep before 10, but I failed. Still, I surprisingly slept in until after 7. If only I could hike 25 kilometers every day. The Château opened at nine, so I had time to read and break fast before checking out and heading up there. The castle is an artistic timepiece, with rooms decked from each century. This was offset by the incongrueous inclusion of shitty modern art in many of the rooms: a tapestry blocked by garbage, a dining room table covered with a giant piece of crunched up aluminum foil, etc. But the town has a history over the past two centuries as an artistic colony. The other two museums in town showcased Tibetan art and metal Alien sculpures. Like from the movie Alien.
Provacative?
At lunch I discovered the greatest hack to French restaurants: à disrcetion. They translate it in English on menus as "at discretion", which is meaningless. Like they might bring me food at their discretion? On, no. What it means is all-you-can-eat. I have never eaten so much fondue...
