A Well Kept Man

Tomorrow is the biggest event of my time here in Switzerland so far...it is La Désalpe Festival in St. Cergue. The Dés-what? Let me explain as I undoubtedly will have pictures after this weekend to regale and amuse you in a future post. As the season has officially transitioned to autumn, the farmers must bring their cows down from their mountain pastures to the farms in the valley below. This festival provides the city folk a chance to rekindle their country roots by participating (if you wish) or spectating the cows descent. Cows will be decorated with bells, flowers, and headdresses, as will the cowherds (farmers) in their special Bredzon outfits. They will parade the cows through the streets and down into the villages below (I have read online you can help if you want, but you should bring disposable shoes for reasons involving digested food). We will ride a train up in the morning (the festival starts at 8 am sharp) and spend our time watching this even which runs through lunchtime.

I have learned there will also be a parade of Bernese Mountain dogs, alpenhorns & yodelers (they won't be parading as far as I know, just horning and yodeling), and other festival activities such as eating Swiss delicacies and trying not to stand out as Americans. Our friends (and former across the street Minnesota neighbors, that just happened to move to Germany for a year after we told them we were moving to Switzerland for a year...coincidence?) Katie and Tom are making the trek down from Bamberg, Germany (6 hours away) to join us on this exciting day. I look forward to showing off some wonderful pictures of me doing something exciting cow-related.