Orange | schwingeninswitzerland

We have developed a few favorite Swiss brands. Visitors favorite is always Mövenpick. After tasting Mövenpick ice cream, we had a visitor come back to the apartment and spend several hours doing a search to find out where she could get it in the US. Unfortunately, it’s not available there (another reason to visit Switzerland). They do export and you can find it in 30 countries around the world including Russia, Finland, Australia and Singapore.

Mövenpick has an astounding number of unique flavors with exotic ingredients like handcrafted Swiss caramel, fine French Cognac VSOP and vanilla seeds from Madagascar. They introduce new “Limited Editions” flavors for each season. Think cinnamon in the winter, exotic fruits in the summer… It’s not just the amazing flavors that make it exceptional. All products are made without artificial additives, flavours or colors. The quality of the dairy is phenomenal. Describing it as incredibly creamy doesn’t even begin to do it justice.

While the Swiss Chocolate flavor is good, the best flavors are the creamy ones. Our favorite is Creme de Gruyères (heavenly sweet Swiss cream with crunch bits of real Meringue inside). It’s so good that you are in real danger of sounding like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally when you taste it. Other top flavors are Crème Brulée and Tiramisú.

They have over 30 varieties, other flavors include:

Pistashio (another one of my favorites)
Cocoa & Orange
Pink rhubarb,
Cognac VSOP,
Caramelita (Caramel is a favorite of his),
Mousse Aux Poires (pear mousse),
Scottish Single Malt Whiskey,
Absinthe & Amaretto,
Swiss Apple, Edelweiss,
Almond & Vanilla,
Stracciatella (very yummy),
Mirabelle,
Apricot,
Panna Cotta with Raspberry,
White Peach, and
Raspberry.

You can find Mövenpick in Europe at roadside kiosks (highly recommended for lakeside strolls), Mövenpick restaurants (worth going just to check out the insanely large and fancy menu of ice cream), other fine establishments and Co-op Swiss grocery stores (yep, we’re stocking the freezer if you come visit).

Mövenpick was originally produced in the kitchens of high-end Swiss restaurants. Eventually, they built factory in Bursins, then moved to a larger facility in Rorschach. In 2003, Nestlé (in Vevey) acquired the brand rights for the Ice Cream category, but keeps it as an independent unit (classifying it as Super Premium) in their in order to maintain the brand’s knowledge, innovation and quality.

Mövenpick doesn’t just make ice cream. In Switzerland, they make yoghurt, chocolate and coffee. We’ve heard from German friends that they sell wonderful jams and salad dressings there. I’ve heard they also do wines. They also have hotels ?!? Yes, you read that correctly. In case you’re wondering, they are high-end too. As you might have guessed, they also serve a phenomenal breakfast.

Magglio, the Luger and Sneaky Pete took a road trip to the south of France with us. After stopping at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we headed to Orange, France. It is a town in Provence that is famous for its Roman amphitheater and its triumphal arch (Arc de Triomphe) built by Augustus. It was a cute, convenient place to stay on the way further south.

Signs of the town’s Roman heritage are everywhere.

Just in case you weren’t informed of the city’s Roman heyday, they have these bronze medallions the sidewalks to let you know. The pigeons did not seem suitably impressed with their home. In the photo below, they seem to have been using this alcove for their personal loo for centuries. That is one giant mound of pigeon poo.

The amphitheater is really well-preserved. It is a similar size as the one in Arles, but better preserved. It has wonderful acoustics and is still used for concerts.

We took a nice walk around the amphitheater before having dinner inside it. Sometimes restaurants in amazing locations are gimmicky, overpriced or have bad food. In the amphitheater, we had a wonderful meal in this amazing venue. Amazingly, most of the people there were locals. We couldn’t believe that we were eating inside a Roman amphitheater…very surreal and way cool.

The Luger and Sneaky Pete at the dinner table

After dinner, we took a stroll through town to see the arch of triumph. Having done the research, this is how I explained why it was built. Orange was a major crossroads. People were passing through this town that once ruled over Holland and England. In 25 A.D., in honor of the Gallic Wars, Augustus built this arch in honor of Rome’s victory in the Gallic Wars. Essentially, it was a giant billboard that said “look what we did to these guys, do you want a piece of this?”