L'Auberge du Cheval Blanc

One of the many adventures me and Lisa lived since we came to Switzerland was our stay at the Auberge du Cheval Blanc (Peney-le-Jorat). At the auberge, one can eat fresh meat brought in by the local hunters, from deer to rabitt, veal, horse, etc. The first time we went there – not even knowing that would be our address for nearly one month – together with our friends Julia and Carlos, was a challenge to the senses: the food (fillets de perches, crème brulée), the wine (“les chevaliers”, swiss) were magnificent and the money we paid for it was entirely justified…expensive but worth it.

Due to our bureaucratic complications and the inflexible rental market of Switzerland (it is not possible to rent second-hand, everything is regulated by agencies) and after wandering in different hotels in the center of Lausanne, the opportunity of staying and eating at the Auberge du Cheval Blanc at reduced prices came as a salvation to our economy…not only we would pay less but we would eat good food!

However, despite having a large living-room/bedroom, we were right above the restaurant on the first floor, where most of the employers/cook/families also lived…and many burlesque episodes started to happen…

We soon discovered that a marijuana plant situated in the backyard was losing leaves quite rapidly and one day we even found someone cutting them out of the plant: the cook himself! Sometimes, the smell of pot was so intense, we would stay inside the room! Still today we are not sure our behaviour was affected by simple inhalation of the air around us…The manager of the restaurant, a woman in her 60+, owner of at least 2 plastic surgeries, had a strange gaze and smile every time we met (this is what lifting can do to you, looking “high” all the time…), one of the female waiters was having an affair with one of the clients, a german sheppard dog was many times on the loose inside the restaurant and would “welcome” you with honors…

In the last night, after paying our stay to the manager and enjoying one last delicious meal in the restaurant (I am now convinced marijuana enhances cooking performance), the personnel/family threw a HUGE party downstairs which got out of control and lasted until 06.30 – until we woke up once again to the sound of “Without You” by Mariah Carey in high volume. Descending the stairs, I found the manager on the floor alone with the german sheppard, visibly drunk…sad, but at the same time, crazy! These people celebrated us leaving the auberge!!! Nuts!!!

Curiosity: L’Auberge du Cheval Blanc is also the name of a operette (small opera) by Ralph Benatzky, an Austrian composer, which was extremely popular back in the 1930’s. Since the 60’s, the opera fell in obscurity but some CD recordings exists like the one on the picture. Our auberge actually looked similar to this one, very rustique, hiding many stories inside it…