Bittersweet Boudry!

I have to admit that I have bitter sweet feelings about my last trip. It's great that I've gotten to see so much these past few weeks but it's sad that I'll be leaving it all soon! I took the Route de Colombier and followed it through until it turned into the Route du Vignoble. I then followed it to the left as it turned into Route Cantonale, made a right on Route de Grandson and I was in Boudry! My first stop was at the Restaurant Hotel de Ville to drop all of my stuff off and then off I went! I also decided that since it was my last trip that I was going to eat anything and everything that I craved. Best day ever.

First I craved a big breakfast so I stopped at a cafe and grabbed a cafe au lait with some delicious Burli bread and some scrambled eggs. Burli bread is a sourdough small bread that is usually served at breakfast or BBQ's and I ate about three of them. Don't judge, I do not care today. It was so worth it and probably the two pounds I gained just at breakfast. I wonder how much I'll weigh at the end of the day? And how could you not want to eat this?

After stuffing myself I quickly set out on my journey. Boudry is known for it's prehistoric villages so I thought I'd start there. The first thing I saw were a lot of neolithic stilt houses that were built all around Lake Neuchatel. They were primarily used to prevent against flooding but also it helped to keep little animals from getting in as well. As I was walking around, some lady came up to me and asked me if I was a tourist (come on! I was only taking a few pictures!) and asked if I had been to the Gorges de l'Areuse (Areuse Gorge) yet. I told her I had not so she kindly gave me a few directions and off I went!

It was also one of the most stunning hikes I have ever been on. It's technically a three hour hike but I didn't want to hike all the way to the next town like some of the hikers so I just climbed to the highest point of the gorge called the Champ du Moulin. The path leading up to it is narrow but once you get there it's extremely gorgeous! There are high cliffs on either side of you as you make your way down the path. Look at this view! And with the fall foliage it makes it even more spectacular!

At the end of my hike, I decided to go to the nearby Boudry castle. This and the hike have definitely been one of my favorite parts of the trip. The castle has been converted into a wine museum! I think I'll just live here. It's completely dedicated to Neuchatel wines and is surrounded by vineyards. They had wine tasting in the cellar as well so I got to sample quite a bit (and get a little giggly in the process)

All of this traveling today made me extremely hungry and unfortunately for me I forgot to pack any snacks! Good thing I hiked so much today I probably burned off a gazillion calories so I can pretty much eat what I want the rest of the day. On my way to find a nice restaurant, I stopped at a cute patisserie and ordered a raspberry filled shortbread cookie. With my sugar high rising with every step I took, I finally found a nice restaurant to celebrate the end of my travels. I found Maison du Pervou to be extremely charming and I ordered a dish called Teigwaren, which is a vegetarian pasta dish and a large glass of Cabernet Wine. For dessert I ordered a generous slice of chocolate cake garnished with milano cookies. Heaven! What a perfect way to end the night and my amazing journey. It couldn't have been any sweeter. Thank you all for sticking with me! I hope you enjoyed my trip as much as I did!

http://www.isyours.com/e/photo-gallery/swiss-castles/boudry-castle-vineyards.html
http://www.about.ch/culture/food/index.html#CH_Pasta

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/860879.jpg

http://www.about.ch/culture/food/index.html

http://www.theswissbakery.com/store/i/is.aspx?path=/Shared/ProductImages/TSB-Breads/Burli.JPG&lr=t&bw=400&bh=400
http://www.villamoncalme.ch/moncalme/img/Gorges%20AreusePont(B).jpg
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/through-the-areuse-gorge.html

Colombier!

As sad as it was to leave La Chaux de Fonds this morning, I didn't have to travel very far to get to my next destination. Colombier is in the canton of Neuchatel . I found my hotel pretty quickly, and while it certainly wasn't what I was used to in terms of elegance, it's was cute in it's own way. I stayed at Le hotel de la Couronne which is on Rue de Vieux-Moulin. It reminded me of a cottage. What do you think?

Once I was all settled in I set out to go and and explore Colombier! Of course I had to make my daily round of coffee and pastries, so I found a cute little cafe and got my cappuccino and beignets. It makes me feel better to have beignets because they're lighter than traditional donuts so I don't feel as bad when I eat them. I just keep telling myself that. Anyway, my first stop of the day was Colombier Castle. It was so beautiful! It's definitely a little bit more medieval than some of the other castles I've visited. Apparently, one of the largest Roman era villas was excavated in 1840 from underneath the castle which I thought was kind of weird. No wonder it's so dang big! It had to hide a lot of people. It was also built into a peristyle design which means there is a huge garden smack dab in the middle of the castle with water fountains and all sorts of pretty shrubs. It's looked the same way since the sixteenth century! Since 2004 it has been used as an infantry training center

I decided just to grab a nice salad for lunch and take it to the shores of  Baie d'Auvenernier and have a day of fun in the sun. So I lathered on the sunscreen, slipped into my bikini (I told myself it still fit the same since I had last worn it) and bombed into the lake. It's on Switzerlands Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites along with the rest of the town of Colombier. It felt so relaxing  to not have to constantly be on the go, so I just floated and let the sun warm my body. I got cold after awhile, so I headed back to the beach and slathered on some more sunscreen before getting my tan on. I unfortunately fell asleep and woke up around five o'clock with a painful sunburn on my back. So I dragged myself up and threw back on my clothes and caught a taxi back to my hotel to get ready for dinner. I got a good picture though before I fell asleep! Isn't it beautiful?

I then went to dinner at Restaurant l'Aparte which is on the road à Robinson and I ordered a glass of cabernet, fondue au fromage (my favorite) and Rosti Vegetarian, which is basically vegetarian hash browns. Weird, I know! But it was so delicious. I then wandered around the block for a little bit to find some chocolate (I know, but I couldn't help it!) and I found a cute little cafe that sold chocolate and I was in heaven. I bought a Toblerone truffle tarte to take back to my room. I have no regrets.Would you after this picture?

So my day was pretty much awesome. I can't wait to see what my next adventure brings!

 http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/small/58128120.jpg
Colombier in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
http://www.laparte.ch/index.php
http://uploads.notempire.com/images/uploads/Choc_truffle_tart_FG.jpg