On Friday, at the end of vacation, Papa took off from work and we went on a family excursion. We packed 3 adventures into one day, so I will divide them into 3 parts, so it isn’t too long of a read for one sitting. We had heard from friends that the Caillier chocolate factory near Gruyere was a great place for kids, so we started our outing there. We knew it was going to be a great day when we saw this in the parking lot.
Alexandra was in heaven, and the rest of us were just laughing our heads off. I mean, honestly, how could you not?
Even though it was a school holiday, being fall time, there were no crowds to deal with at all. We were able to start our tour almost immediately, and even though we were a small group, they still did it entirely in English for us. So nice. The tour consists of several different rooms explaining the history of chocolate. When it is time for you to leave one room and go to another, an automated door opens up in a wall. It’s a very well designed system, but the hidden doors suddenly opening did give our kids a shock.
That, mixed with the creepy music and strange flashing lights made them very freaked out in the first room. Guess we won’t plan on visiting any Central American jungles soon. 🙂 Look at some of their faces!
I do want one of these plants, though.
These paintings were pretty funny, the eyes moved around.
Finally we got to more modern times. Look at all these cool, old chocolate bunny molds. I wish they had some of these for sale in the store.
And of course, they have to explain how chocolate really IS healthy. 🙂
Something I thought was really cool about this particular factory, is that all the milk is brought in daily by the local farmers. They say that good fresh milk is one of the reasons why their chocolate tastes so good. 🙂
They don’t actually show the room, or where it is in the factory, but there is a screen showing you the live feed from the security camera located in the room where they secret recipes are stored in a safe. Very cool.
They don’t let you into the actual factory due to health issues, although according to an old film we watched in the theater, they certainly used to! But to give you a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes, they built a working machine inside the museum so you can observe every step of the chocolate making process.
The best part is that they end up on a big tray for you to stuff your mouth full with! Mmhhhhmmmmm! Fresh chocolate is soooo good.
Poor Sophie couldn’t have any of these chocolates. They were covered in hazelnuts, and she is allergic, just like Papa. 🙁 But wait, there is a whole room around the corner just filled with chocolatey goodness you can eat! The official tasting room, where there are absolutely no limits, none, zilch on how much you can stuff into your mouth. Awesome!
Sarah and Noah were determined to eat one of every different kind. That was quite a daunting goal. Look at all that delicious brown goodness waiting to be consumed.
It all tasted so good. 
Until, suddenly, it didn’t anymore. Turns out that after about 6 pieces each, we were done. Noah and Sarah included.
We hung out in the theater for a while, and then strolled through the shop. I was kind of bummed they didn’t have any seconds for sale, like at the Lindt factory, but the kids still had fun picking out postcards. Some were even mailed to friends. 🙂 And then we went outside to work off all that chocolate before we got in the car to head to the second part of our adventure. 
The kids apparently had forgotten their chocolate stomach aches, because they all thought a giant cup of hot chocolate sounded delicious. I like mine with extra Noah. 🙂
If we ever get any visitors (more hints, hints) we will definitely take you here. It was a fun, delicious experience.