Good Afternoon,
The results are in! Although, there may be a slight bias as I failed to include the annual Burger Championship in the list. For those of you unfamiliar with this early summer milestone, imagine Top Chef at the Chalet where the only rules are “make a burger.” Previous years have included a fondue burger, thanksgiving burger, and even a dessert burger! Truly a gastronomical delight! But as with so many write-ins, Burger Championship was not the champion. Instead, the honor goes to…
**Drum roll**
Of course Fête à Gryon (Gryon Festival) won in a landslide, with over 50% of the vote at press. I have only had the pleasure to attend Gryon Fest once, but I have to say that I agree with the masses. I was in Gryon during the summer of 2008 and was able to amble down the hill a few times throughout the beautiful Alpine weekend to enjoy jambon et fromage crêpe, bon tomme, a cold beer, live music, and fellowship among travelers and locals alike.
I believe that is what made Gryon Fest such a unique experience for me. So often, traveling is an experience shared among travelers and the occasional local ex-pat. Yet, in Gryon, as in villages throughout Europe and the World, the local festival encourages residents to become tourists in their own town, to enjoy the fruits of their labor and friends old and new.
I remember the Friday afternoon of Gryon Festival, walking through the town with a few friends and running into the local butcher, a large man with moustache and most often seen with a meat cleaver in hand. Until then, my experience with this man was to order steak, bacon, and horse while chatting in broken understanding, him in English me in French and each of us politely correcting the others pronunciation and grammar. Yet on this summer day, we meet as community members. We talked as best as we could, shared a beer and a laugh, and parted ways as better friends in those few moments than nearly a year of our episodic relationship had made us.
As the afternoon faded to a cool evening, I sat and watched frivolity unfold before me. I think that night more than any of the other 600 or so nights I have called Gryon home, I felt like a part of the community rather than a visitor. Gryon-Fest more than merely a celebration is a chance to truly immerse in the community and understand what makes Gryon such a marvel.
However, I have recieved saddening news. For reasons currently unknown, we have heard from the Tourism office, that there will be no Gryon-Fest in 2010. The organizers have decided to pursue other opportunities, and no one was available to continue their good work. The community does offer other celebrations and we invite you to join us throughout the summer to visit or revisit Gryon-Villars. Hopefully, 2011 will bring brighter news for Gryon-Fest and us all.
As we approach the weekend that would be home to the Fête à Gryon, in homage to the (temporary) end of a traditional and legacy, please leave a comment with your favorite Gryon Fest moment (family friendly…and not the kind of family friendly that happened on family night!).
Pegasus
***Don’t forget everyone, with the transition to the new Facebook Page; we lost a TON of pics. So scour your hard drives, reload, retag, and share those photos on the new page!***
Chuttt, don’t tell I wrote….
I was visiting your website because I think that Chalet Martin is where my daughter is right now and I was curious.
Ten years ago, when she was 18 and on her first “world trip”, my daughter and her best friend left to work in Germany at the World Fair. After they finished their contract, they backpacked for 2 months. After Prague, Florence, Venise and others, one decided to go to the beaches of France and the other, the mountains of Switzerland. Marie-Claire ended up in Gryon one late afternoon, tired, probably a bit disoriented but really excited.
The next day she writes me that she has just woken up in heaven! She felt so close to heaven in Gryon. My e-mails to her while in Gyron were adressed to my angel.
Well, the happiness that Gryon brought to her life never seem to have faded. Ten years later, married, on her official honeymoon, Gryon became her choice again.
Now she is a young woman travelling around Europe with her husband before work begins ….. they ran away with the circus – Le Cirque du Soleil!!
Danièle
Montréal, CANADA
PS: I saw your blogs and I thought this may be a good one.
What a great story! Yes your daughter and her husband just headed off (what a lovely couple!) and I believe they have plans to try and make it back over the winter for a quick ski weekend.
Although there was a loss of teeth, blood and other bodily ‘bits’, there was still so much gained from such a small and tightly knit community festival. Gryon Fest 10/10!!!
We are all sad that there is no Gryon Fest this weekend! Of course the most memorable night has to be when the next morning three people (won’t mention any names) woke up with facial injuries. I think it was the Police that said to Matt the night before …”what’s wrong with your people?”