Rossinière, Switzerland. (April 11)

After our stop in Gruyere, we reached a little higher in the mountains an alpine village called "Rossinière". It's worth the stop to look at a special house. This so called biggest chalet in Swizterland has 115 windows.

The Grand Chalet, which was originally known as the Great House, remained in the Henchoz family until 1875. In 1852 it was converted into a hotel and guest house that was graced by figures of great standing such as Victor Hugo and Alfred Dreyfuss.

Then one day in 1976, another great man, by the name of Balthus, stopped there to take tea. The Franco-Polish artist was instantly bewitched by the house and made up his mind there and then to buy it. And that was when the current phase of its history began.

The chalet gradually became a kind of shrine to Balthus's work, to which his countless admirers flocked. These included Henri Cartier-Bresson, the legendary photographer, and his wife Martine Franck, Alberto Giacometti, the actor Richard Gere, the singer Bono, the Dalai Lama, and classical musicians such as Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta.

One special guest was rock superstar David Bowie, who interviewed Balthus on a couple of occasions for specialist art reviews in Britain: Bowie was not only a friend of Balthus but a connoisseur of his work too.

Gruyère, Switzerland. (April 11)

This week end felt like summer so we decided to take a drive to Gruyères. Gruyères stands in the midst of the Fribourg green pre-Alpine foothills. The castle, one of the most prestigious in Switzerland, towers majestically above the medieval town. In case you're wondering, yes, the town gave its name to the cheese.

Gruerius, the legendary founder of Gruyères, captured a crane (in French: “grue”) and chose it as his herladic animal inspiring the name Gruyères.

We chose this week end to avoid the crowd but we couldn't help taking pictures of the cheesy touristy swissish items we can buy in Gruyères.

Then in the middle of the town when we least expected it, we stumbled upon the HR Giger museum. In 1980 HR Giger, a Swiss artist, won the Oscar the Best Visual Effects for his participation in the film "Alien". The deco. in the restaurant of the museum was quite special as well.

Since I can't end this post with some Alien stuff. Here is one more pic of this lovely place!