Spring Time in Savigny

The long winter has officially ended here in Switzerland, ok so maybe I am a bit late with my post, it ended about 3 and half weeks ago.  One thing is for sure it was a long winter for this Florida boy.  Actually, it was a long winter period.  Amy's from New York and she even commented about the length of the season.  The snow started in mid  October and covered the back yard until late March.  Here in Savigny we are at about 853 meters, (sorry to my non-metric American readers, that is 2,979 feet) the snow line is at about 800 meters.  Therefore, in the winter, when it rains on Lake Geneva we are usually getting snow up here.   

Spring comes very quickly, like I said we had snow on the ground in March and by mid April we had Tulips in bloom.

From Swiss Spring April 2009

Here are some other signs Spring has arrived here in Savigny.    

The cows come out to pasture after a long winter cooped up in the barns.

From Swiss Spring April 2009

The green houses and fields have been planted.

From Swiss Spring April 2009

Zoe gets to hang out in the trees. 

From Swiss Spring April 2009

The horses are let out in the pastures to graze, resulting in Amy resuming her manure duties.


The boys can begin swimming in the creek across from the farm again.


And we trade in the mittens and cross country skis for spandex and bicycles.

From Swiss Spring April 2009

Finding a New Rhythm

Here in the Romande region of Switzerland, food and drink take on a significance greater than mere sustenance and hydration.  One quickly recognizes the differences in perspective between this region of Europe and the US. The most obvious difference is the emphasis or even obsession with quality over quantity. You won't find the "Cheese Cake Factory Trough" style portions nor the mega thick 56 oz steak. Instead you will enjoy modest portions of local perch from Lake Geneve, fresh seasonal vegetables and grass fed beef. As mentioned in my earlier post, local cheeses and artisan breads accompany  

just about every meal. Another significant difference is the dining experience. Patience is revered and meal time is to be taken leisurely, sit down style, with friends or colleagues.  Yes just like every where in the world you will find the 

ubiquitous "Gold Archers" of McDonald's and Starbucks, but they are the exception not the norm. You will rarely see people eating in their cars or walking around with a cup of Starbucks coffee. A "cafe" is to be taken in a cafe with friends (and often times a couple of cigarettes...that is another blog). Here there is a rhythm to dining-out. At first this "rhythm" seems very slow and often frustrating for those of us use to the North American style restaurant model, where to survive waiters have to turn as many tables as possible to make a living off of their tips. Here the leisurely tempo of the meal is expected  and the wait staff are paid a salary or livable wage that doesn't require them to hustle for tips. The first impression upon arrival is "wow the service here sucks, I have been waiting 15 minutes to pay my bill", but in reality it is just a different perspective. a waiter would never bring you your bill without being asked, as this would be perceived as very rude. A meal here, even in the most modest of restaurant, will take at least 90 minutes. The rhythm goes something like this: We start with an "appertif" (a drink) almost all lunches and dinner begin with a glass of beer or wine (the drinking age here is 16). This is followed by your "entree" or salad, then the main course with another drink, next the dessert, then the coffee. Interestingly, here you don't take your coffee with your dessert, I received a very strange look from my waiter the first time I asked for coffee with my dessert. As if he were saying "Puffffff... monsieur this is not the rhythm, please follow the rhythm".

What is it about this rhythm and why such reverence for food, drink and the meal time experience? If you excuse my broad generalizations and unsubstantiated opinions, I will hypothesize. The Swiss have a strong culture of agriculture, and being such a small country much of the population is in close proximity to the food they consume. Two fifths of Switzerland lies in the Alps where cultivation is not possible, therefore farm land, crops and vineyards can be found in, around and close proximity to population centers. Over 40% of Switzerland's land area is cropland. Although only 5.5% of the Swiss work force work in the agricultural industry, most of them either live, work or commute near a farm, a vineyard or some cropland.

This is unlike the US where our vast plains in the west and midwest produce the majority of crops and live stock. The closest I came to seeing my food produced is during cross country flights at 30,000 feet. I think it is the proximity to the food production, the ability to observe the rhythm of the harvests and the close ties to their culture of agriculture that give the people of this area the appreciation the wonderful food and drink of the land. After 6 months here, living and working amongst the fields and cows, I too have come to appreciate this rhythm.

(Above: A wheat field next to my office, across the road they are growing corn)

Life in Switzerland June 2008

It is hard to believe we have been here for almost 6 months already.  After more than 4 months in temporary corporate housing we moved to our own place in the small farming village of Savigny.

LIFE ON THE FARM:

We are renting a 3 bedroom apartment in an old farm house built in the late 1800s.  It is a wonderful place surrounded by rolling hills, farmland and fields of wild flowers  Most of our neighbors are dairy farmers with milking cows, goats and sheep.  The dairy farms here are muc different than the industrial dairy farms in the US.  Most of the Swiss dairy industry is supported by small family run farms with no more than a couple dozen cows per farm.  Each village has their own milk collection point where the local farmers can sell their milk to the local cooperative for processing.   The cows here have it good, they spend the spring an dearly summer in the lower lands and then move up into the mountains to graze on flowers and herbs later in the summer.  Angeline, the owner of the farm where we live, was a professional horse jumper and trainer.  Now she boards 16 horses here on the farm, we have met most of the owners as they come to ride a few times per week.   Angeline is dutch, in her mid-fifties and pretty much runs the farm herself.  She is up at 5am muking out the horses' stalls hualing feed and shoveling manure.  Click here to view more pictures of the farm

SWISS FOOD AND DRINK:

As we live in the south west section of Switzerland, known as the French or Romande region, we have an opportunity to enjoy a wide range of great cheeses, breads and wines.  Like the dairy farms, the vineyards are smaller family run operations.  This section of Switzerland is known for their white wines.  Before arriving here I was not much of a white wine drinker, but the dry crisp wines produced here have made me a big fan.  Obtaining Swiss wine outside of Switzerland is pretty difficult, since the Swiss consume more wine than they can produce.  We live about an hour train ride from Gruyere, known for their cheese, we spent this past Easter visiting the fromagerie and learning about how they make their world famous Gruyere cheese...oh yeah we did our share of sampling.  Probably the food I love most is the bread.  The bread here is amazing...I don't think I can ever go back to store bought sliced bread.  The small village bakery is walking distance from the farm, so we have fresh bread every day! Yum!  Click to view more pictures of Gruyere.

TRANSPORTATION:

The Swiss are incredibly efficient.  The public transportation system, although highly subsidzed, runs extremely well.  My first experience taking the train...I am sanding on the platform waiting for the train to arrive at 8:04.  The clocks on the station platform have second hands, and sure enough just as the clock is striking 8:04 the train pulls up.  I thought thsi was a fluke, but it was not, this happens 95% of the time.  The trains are clean, timely and fast...oh yeah and a bit expensive, it will cost you twice as much to take the train or bus as it will to drive.  However, it will also take you twice as long to drive your car.  The roads here are tiny, even the highways (known as motorways / autoroutes), are two lanes each way.  If there is an accident the Swiss Police close the highway and the alternate route usually takes you on some one lane farm road that snakes through the hills and villages, doubling your commute.  Aslo, the city streets are set up to give the priority to the buses.  There are specific bus lanes that cars are not allowed in.  This allows for the buses (which are powered by electricity ) to run as efficiently and as timely as the trains, while making it inconvenient to drive your car.  It is smart governing...if you want people to take public transportation, make it as easy as possible.  If you want people to not drive in congested areas make it a pain in the ass.  So other than commuting to work, we try to walk, bike or take public transportation.  

BIKING: 

The Europeans are obsessed with the bicycle.  From commuting, to recreation, to racing, it seems like everyone owns and rides a bike, it is engrained in the culture.  It is common to see a two year old child on a small pedibike (a small wooden bike without pedals) that the child straddles and pushes with their feet.  You rarely see a child over the age two being pushed in a stroller...they are usually pushing themselves along on these miniature bicycles.   There are bike lanes every where and drivers are very courteous to cyclists (unlike LA where Amy had a Coke bottle thrown at her during her bike commute to work).  From the farm it is easy to get out on the small farming roads and ride for hours without seeing more than a dozen cars.  We have made a number of trips on our bike...we will get up early choose a destination like Bulle, Bern or Fribourg and ride there, have lunch and then take the train home.  In early June we road 180 km around lake Geneva.  Bike racing is amazingly popular.  The Pro Teams race almost every day some where in Europe.  We spent 5 days in May following the Tour de Romande.  This week is the Tour of Switzerland and next month is the grand daddy of them all the Tour de France.  In between there is the Tour of Italy (aka Giro Italia), the Tour of Spain (Veulta Espana) and many others.  Click here to view more pictures.   and here for even more cycling pictures.

SUNDAYS IN SWITZERLAND:

If you ever come to Switzerland and arrive on a Sunday, you will think you travelled back in time.  The Swiss have held on to the strong tradition of resting on Sunday.  Most Businesses (except bakeries and restaurants) are closed on Sundays, so you better plan your shopping for Saturday.  Sundays are amazingly quite, with everything closed there is no reason to get in the car, therefore the streets are pretty dead as well.  Sundays are a time of rest and recreation in Switzerland.  The lake is usually jammed with people walking or enjoying a picnic.  The hiking trail s and bike paths are full of families enjoying the day together.  And with the long days (it is light here until 10:30 pm ) you will see people on their verandas grilling out and sipping wine.  Our Sundays usually consist of a long bike ride in the Swiss Alps or along the Rhone River.  Click to view pictures of Sundays on the Farm.