Gruyères: Cailler Chocolate Factory

Well, 5 minutes from Gruyères in Broc (pronounced BRO, as we learned).

Best parts of the Cailler Chocolate Factory: FREE ENTRY and ABUNDANT FREE SAMPLES. :-) There wasn't much to see (a mildly entertaining movie in French with clips from the 1950s of a family visit day at the factory), but then, this long, glass display counter, laden with little chocolates of every kind: light and dark, with almonds, hazelnuts, creamy, crunchy, praliné, mousse, in different shapes. Yum. We were the only people there at the time, so we asked the lady behind the counter to describe almost every one to us, and tasted one of everything that appealed the most - we shared with each other so as to conserve room for more different tastes. We considered going back again the next day for round two on our way out of the area...but didn't. We might have actually bought some chocolate from them (the ones with whole almonds on top were the top hit), but a busload of tourists were standing in line, so we didn't. It's not as if we can't buy it in a regular store around here anytime.

The purple chocolate mixer was sloshing around some good-looking chocolate, but I am sure it was only for display purposes.