Caroline and the Chocolate Factory

After the first couple days in Lausanne, adjusting to the time change, and absorbing as much information about our new country as we possibly could, Hannah and I were excited to spend the first day of the weekend just getting ourselves settled. However, that plan was thrown out the window when Natalie came knocking on our door telling us, “Let’s go to the Chocolate Factory! Oh and we have to leave the house in 5 minutes to catch the train!” I mean, how could Hannah and I turn down chocolate? Switzerland is the land of chocolate, after all!

We grabbed our cameras, skipped breakfast (who needs that when you can stuff your tummies with chocolate?), hustled to the train station to buy our tickets and hopped onto our train. Off we went through a beautiful landscape…

…to arrive at the Cailler Chocolate Factory!

There was an hour wait until our tour started, but we kept very busy looking at all of the different types of chocolates deciding which ones we wanted to buy.

I wanted to buy a bar of every single kind, but we all decided to wait until after the tour to buy our chocolate because there is a tasting at the end of the tour! That way, we would know for sure which ones we just had to have!

The first part of the tour was a bit about the history of chocolate. And we learned a few fun facts like how for her last drink before heading to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette asked for Hot Chocolate!

And then came the fun part – smelling the different types of cocoa beans, watching a particular chocolate bar called Branchs made, and of course the tasting!!

^^Chocolate chopped into perfect little “Branches”

^^Coated in a melted chocolate and nut mixture
 ^^Packaged up in blue, green, and red labels

^^The finished product

We tried every single kind of chocolate that they had as samples. And oh they were so so so delicious! They just kept getting better and better the more we tried. However, by the last leg of the tasting, we didn’t think we would make it. (And this was when we had about 12 more to try) Surely, I thought, if I continue to eat each one, I will throw up. But, somehow I made it through. It was tough and I never thought I’d say this ever in my life…but at that moment I didn’t even want to look at chocolate ever again.

Okay, so, remember how I said that we would wait until after the tasting to buy our chocolate bars? Well, we were too sick to our stomachs because of all the chocolate that we left the factory without any souvenirs of chocolate. But, don’t worry, by the next day we were up for it again and we headed over to the convenient store where they sold Cailler chocolate bars and each bought our favorite flavor.

So, here’s the tip if you ever find yourself at the chocolate factory, take it slow. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Bring some water with you to wash it down and cleanse your palette. Taste one and then step to the side to let the crazy ones (like me) speed right on through putting the next piece of chocolate in their mouths as soon as they swallow the previous one. Enjoy yours and then go back for the next one. Repeat the process until you get to the end! There is no time limit on how long you can be in there. You could be there all day long trying as much as you would like. The only rule is you can’t take the tastings out of the room.

And there you have it…Caroline and the Chocolate Factory! The End.