As mentioned, Switzerland is a landlocked country bordering a handful of countries. From Geneva, you can be in France within 10 minutes, Italy in an hour, and from Basel and Zurich you are close to Germany, Leichtenstein, Austria. To an American this is just nifty. I mean, honestly, the most common border to an American is a state border, and crossing from California to Nevada or Massachusetts to New Hampshire is not nearly as thrilling as driving across a Swiss border to another country! When you cross a Swiss frontière, suddenly you enter another culture with another language, another way of making very good espressos, another set of road signs that you don't understand. Crossing a U.S. state border, you mostly find speed traps.
The first house I lived in was in a small village between Geneva and Lausanne. In this small hamlet, there was a marie, or town hall, a boulangerie(no self-respecting village would be without one) and a douane, or border guard. We lived one mile from the French border and could easily drive to and fro between Switzerland and France to our hearts' content. On Sundays we would shop the open air market in Divonne-les-Bains, purchasing fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, roasted chicken, artisan cheese, paté and foie gras. We would then head to the local tearoom and recharge ourselves with a luscious croissant d'amandes and cappuccino before crossing back over the border to our home in Crassier.
When I first arrived, I loved casually inserting into a conversation with friends or family back in the U.S. that I had just shopped for groceries that morning in France, or that I would dine that evening in a French countryside auberge. My friend Kingsley arrived from the U.S. to visit me, and one of our first outings was to walk to France. Now, mind you, this was not the most scenic walk to do in the area, but, by golly, what a good story to talk about after. We nonchalantly waved bon jour to the Swiss border guards as we strolled past their guardhouse and casually glanced at the decidedly empty French border guardhouse (the guards were most likely fortifying themselves over a 2 hour lunch break) and then voilà! We were officially in another country! We trudged on to our destination, a simple café in a French village where we ordered Salade aux Crottins de Chavignol, a glass of wine and the French version of very good espresso. We then walked back over the border and still are, clearly, talking about it.
My friend Deb came to visit from the U.S., and emboldened by our frequent forays into France, we decided to drive to Milan from my house - a mere 4 hour drive. Oh, what fun. We laughed and marveled at our 3-country route (Switzerland to France to Italy) as we exited the Mt. Blanc tunnel and arrived at the French-Italian border. I showed off my improved French language skills as I greeted the French border guards, and accelerated right past the Italian border guard preparing to view my passport. As Deb and I continued chattering away (most likely about Italian shoes), I noticed a very angry guard in my rear view mirror running after our car and shouting, I presumed, Italian epithets at me. I stopped, displayed my non-existent Italian skills, tried to smile and figured he was just as rattled by my perceived audacity as I was by seeing a drawn gun in his hand. (This border crossing story has not been as frequently re-told.)
Salad of Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese Crostini
Salade aux Crottins de Chavignol
Serves 4
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Assortment of mixed greens such as friseé, arugula, lambs lettuce, mustard greens
8 slices peasant bread (pain paysan) or baguette, sliced on the diagonal
4 Crottin de Chavignol (small French goat cheese balls), halved horizontally
Whisk oil, vinegar, garlic together in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Preheat broiler. Brush bread slices with olive oil. Broil until golden brown. Remove from oven and place goat cheese halves on each bread slice. Return to oven and broil until cheese turns golden and bubbly.
Toss salad greens with dressing. Arrange salad leaves on individual plates. Top each serving with 2 slices of bread with cheese. Grind fresh black pepper over salad.
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