Farms for sale in the Swiss Alps. A farm in the Alps or how Abondance cheese is made
Villars is a resort in the Swiss Alps, where you can find something to your liking both in the warm season and in winter. Botanical trails, oven-melted cheese, apricot liqueur, après-ski palm bar, Ollon vineyards and best views in our guide to Villars.
In the photo: vineyards in the vicinity of Villars
The pastoral resort of Villars is sprawled on a natural balcony of the Vaudois Alps at an altitude of 1300 meters. Below is Lake Leman (or Geneva, as they used to call it) with Lausanne (), Montreux and Vevey, where you can go at any time if you miss city life.
In the photo: Swiss Alps, the landscape of the environs of Villars
And here, at the height, everything was discovered for which it is customary to love the Swiss Alps. At any time of the year - piercing fresh air and a view of the tops of Mont Blanc, in summer - wooden houses with flowers and meadows with well-fed cows, in winter - picturesque snowdrifts.
In the photo: lake and mountains in the vicinity of Villars
Villars can be reached by bus, but we recommend taking the narrow gauge railroad(from about 45 minutes, from Montreux and Vevey - 30 minutes). The train is like a tram and travels exclusively scenic spots and forest dwellers like roe deer can easily come out to stare at you.
By the way, due to the exceptional care for nature, Villars is considered one of the most environmentally friendly places in Switzerland. For winter holiday Villars were once chosen by Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Duchess of Westminster, the Royal family of Belgium, Roger Moore, Phil Collins and Sophia Loren. And when David Bowie moved from America to Lake Lehman in the 70s, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards visited Breteuil for skiing.
LATE SPRING, SUMMER AND BEGINNING OF AUTUMN
In the warm season, Villars is good primarily for walking. Wander through the mountains and forests, along the pastures and smell the alpine flowers and herbs. The resort has about 300 kilometers of hiking trails and 50 km of mountain bike trails. Row hiking trails designed to explore flora and fauna, they were developed in collaboration with the University of Lausanne and biologists.
In the photo: pastures in the vicinity of Villars
Unity with nature is addictive. As our new acquaintance, dear Guy Chanel from the Villars tourism office, said, he used to live in Lausanne, but then moved to the mountains, breathes Alpine air every day, drinks coffee with a mountain view and is very happy.
Ecotourism can be continued by exploring vineyards and farms. Ollon is famous for its vineyards, which are worth admiring during the green seasons.
By the way, Ollon hosts the estates of two wine celebrities of the region - winemakers Bernard Cave and Pierre-Alan Meilland. Look for Bernard Cave and Pierre-Alain Meylan wines in restaurants, especially the reds Pinot Noir, Gamaret and Gamay, whites are traditionally Chasselas. Swiss wines are excellent in quality and taste.
In addition, until mid-autumn (the farms are closed for the winter) there is the opportunity to visit one of the Villars cheese dairies to see how to prepare Etivaz, the crown variety of the canton of Vaud.
VILLAR IN WINTER
Villars is one of the important Swiss ski resorts, with a total length of 125 km of pistes. The resort has a long season, which lasts from December to March.
The most pleasant time is February and March, when Europeans come to the resort: everything is open, snow and sun are abundant. The ski area includes Villars, Breteuil, Grillon, Le Diablerets. It was there that Grace Kelly, the Belgian royal family, Roger Moore and the Rollers honed their skiing skills.
In the photo: train on ski resort
If skiing does not appeal to you, then we inform you that many people go to Villars for the entourage of the Swiss Alpine resorts: sunbathing on a sun lounger overlooking the Alps (remember Audrey Hepburn at the beginning of Charade?), Après-ski cocktails, raclette and apricot liqueur after a frosty day.
For those who do not dare to master skiing, you can go for a walk in the mountains on snowshoes, accompanied by an instructor, as well as frolic on sleds or ice skates.
We asked Villard's regular about best places in winter:
“A favorite place to start an Après-ski is Le Bar Chez Jimmy with palm trees, music and sun loungers for the mountain beach. There is a beautiful view from there and it is very pleasant to have a glass of wine or champagne before descending to Villars. Eating in the mountains is L'Etable.
Photo: dessert from Eurotel Victoria with alpine flowers
There, the chef prepares dishes with the addition of alpine herbs and flowers. In December, a new location (in the Hotel du Lac) opens a cafe by the Australian chef Cookie Bar & Restaurant, which makes a successful mix of European and Asian cuisines. "
Photo: Eurotel Victoria's chef is collecting herbs
Let's add about the excellent hotel Chalet Royalp & Spa: with a terrace overlooking the Alps, spacious designer rooms in the style of wooden chalets and a spa center of 1200 square meters, which won the World Luxury Spa Awards and N ° 1 Spa Hotel by Trip Advisor's Choice.
GASTRONOMY
Visit Villars in the summer, be sure to eat fish from Lake Leman (trout and perches) and dishes with freshly picked herbs and flowers. In winter, a solid mountain cuisine awaits - fondue, local mushrooms in melted cheese, cold cuts, raclette and Vacherin Mont-d'Or. This type of cuisine is best tried in traditional establishments, ideally in some house on the top. Fondue is more or less known, but let's dwell on the last two dishes in more detail.
To make raclette, the head of cheese is suspended over an open fire, and when it is melted enough, cut into pieces and put on a plate. Raclette is eaten with pickles and boiled potatoes.
For Vacherin Mont-d'Or they take cheese, which is sold in a special wooden basket. The basket is wrapped in foil, white wine is poured on top of the cheese, a couple of garlic cloves are stuck in and placed in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. The finished dish is eaten with bread or potatoes in their skins.
The Swiss follow the rule for all dishes with melted cheese - you cannot drink them with water, only wine, otherwise it will be difficult for the stomach to digest food.
Photo: Pierre-Alain Meylan winery
Taste the excellent local wines from Ollon any time of the year, and if you need to warm up, come in handy apricot or pear vodka (Abricotine and Williamine). Traditional desserts are meringues with double Gruyere cream and chocolate fondant, also served with heavy Alpine cream.
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Lyudmila Egorshina- Lyudmila Egorshina is a former columnist for the Afisha magazine and a host of travel, culture and fashion columns at elle.ru. She has traveled half of the world, but has a special inclination towards the culture of Asia and Italian cuisine.
The Swiss Alps is one of the most sought-after resorts in Western Europe... It is here that famous top models, show business stars, politicians and oligarchs come to ski.
Switzerland is a country that is famous not only for its highly developed and stable banking system, but also for all kinds of natural beauty. Here is just a unique area that combines cleanest lakes, endless valleys, snow-capped mountains covered with virgin forests. All this natural beauty is intertwined with magnificent architecture and artwork.
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In the vicinity of the village of Châtel (Haute-Savoie, 3 km from the Swiss border, this is a ski resort) there are 38 farms, which mainly produce cheese. The Tourism Office organizes one farm excursion once a week.
The name of the cheese "Abondance" (Abundance) comes from the name of the Abondance valley in the Haute-Savoy, where the monks of the Abondance Abbey began producing cheese in the fifth century. They also bred the breed of cows. In 1381, Abondance Abbey was chosen as the official supplier of cheeses to the table of the conclave meeting to elect the Pope. More than 1,500 kilograms of Abondance cheese were sent to Avignon. At one time, this cheese even served as a coin.
Abondance cheese has been protected by the AOC certificate since 1990 and is now produced on 60 farms. It is made all year round, but the best is made from milk of summer milking.
The farm has 35 Abondance cows. These cows are small, brown, with a point around the eye, adapted for life in the mountains. 
The cows are milked twice a day, the milk is poured into a copper vat, the enzyme is added, heated, it sour for a day, and the consistency of liquid cottage cheese is obtained. Then they take a special linen rag, put this cottage cheese into it and put it in a mold under the press. It turned out to be five heads of cheese. When it lies down for a while, the rags are changed to dry ones and left under pressure for a day. 
The pig is fed with the remaining milk. 
After lying under the press for 24 hours, the cheeses are taken to the cellar and placed on special spruce boards 
.
There are about 400 heads of cheese in the cellar. All have markings: date, manufacturer's number. Green means farm cheese. 
Further, attention, each head of cheese (about four hundred!) everyday turn over. The head weighs from 7 to 12 kg, depending on the amount of milk produced. At the same time, some are coated with coarse salt, and some are washed. 
For three months the cheese lies in the cellar, then it is handed over to the cooperative (lack of space), and there it ripens for another three months, then it is sold. In summer, cows graze in the mountains, on the ski slopes. The farmer lives at this time in a second chalet in the mountains and makes cheese there. There are only two people working on the farm - he and his wife. No vacations, no weekends, no trips, but he said that he really liked his life and did not need anything else.