“Here's the secret for our famous Swiss chocolate," says Michael Lees.

   We're touring the Villars Chocolatier in Fribourg, Switzerland.

   "For milk chocolate, we use brown and white Swiss cows. For dark chocolate, only milk from black and white cows." Mr. Lees is kidding of course. But the legendary chocolate recipe does call for Swiss milk and Swiss beet sugar. No subsitutues.

   Another critical ingredient—top quality cocoa beans. I wander through the chocolate factory, reading signs on giant vats. "Venezuela," "Madagascar," "Equador," "Ghana," identify cocoa beans roasting into sublime flavors. Yellow and blue boxes of finished candy proclaim, "Un Monde de Plaisir," a world of pleasure. Leave me here to die, I am home, sweet home.

   "At Villars, we create 10,000 tons of chocolate a year," Lees proudly tells our group. "We have customers in Asia, Europe, North America, even the Middle East." He shows us a huge wooden machine called "Hermann Bauermeister," shaking violently. "This is where cocoa bean husks are taken off," Lees says. "Over in this room, liquid chocolate is dried into flakes, then mixed with powdered Swiss milk. Don't believe those TV commercials where liquid milk is poured into chocolate," he laughs.

   The 120 degree aroma around me is like a chocolate sauna. I'm growing weaker by the minute. What will happen when I actually taste a sample?                                      

   On a motorized belt, hundreds of yellow wafers topped with sugared egg whites are drenched in liquid chocolate, cooled, and wrapped in festive gold foil. I'm surrounded by bars, balls, cones, and hearts of fresh chocolate. Like "Lucille Ball" gone mad at the candy factory, I think about stuffing my cheeks, my purse, my pockets......

Lees interrupts my daydream.

   "Our Villars gift shop has every chocolate flavor and shape you can imagine, Sharon."

   A kid in sugar heaven, I select 20 bars of Villars Chocolate Noir with orange peels. That should hold me for a week.

    Sated on chocolate, we skip dinner. The next morning, we relax on a quiet train ride into Basel, one of Europe's most beautiful cities. I gaze at a serene countryside- farmhouse balconies cascade with bouquets of pink geraniums. Windows framed with blue shutters are adorned with lace curtains. Fields await planting of potatoes and tender haricots verts. Sweet faced black and white cows munch lush emerald grass, creating their unique milk for Switzerland's famous chocolate and cheese.

   In Basel, we amble in and out of shops overflowing with fragrant cheeses, decadent pastries, and flavorful breads. Three hundred years ago, Basel was the first city in the world to establish a public art collection. We stroll past fountains, admiring Borofsky's amusing "Hammering Man" sculpture. Basel has thirty eclectic museums, like The Museum of Ethnology, and The Doll's House Museum. Foundation Beyeler, a private art museum, has superb collections of Monet, Cezanne, Stella, Rothko, Giacometti, Mondrian, and Klee.

Inside cheese shops, Warren delights in tasting Emmental, Raclette and Gruyere, as well as unpasturized cheeses that U.S. customs won't let us bring home. Pastry shops lure us inside for decadent slices of six layer cake and aromatic coffee. Day by day, we grow and get fatter. Who cares? We're high on Swiss chocolate, Swiss food, and the dazzling beauty of this lovely country.

   Our final evening in Basel, we dine at Restaurant zur Schuhmachernzunft. Decorated with grand flower arrangements, historic city photos, and flickering candles, owner Maja Schneiter overwhelms us with hospitality. We relish tender medallions of venison in gravy, roasted chestnuts, and tiny apples stuffed with persimmon seeds. Thin pink slices of smoked wild boar are complimented by red cabbage and buttery spaetzle. A wedge of dense Earl Grey chocolate pie arrives for dessert. Presenting her homemade jam as a gift,  Schneiter bids us goodnight.

   "What's your most memorable restaurant meal-anywhere in the world?" I ask my fellow traveller, Rose Levy Beranbaum. Author of "The Bread Bible," she dines often at five star restaurants.

   "The best meal I've ever had was at Alain Chapel, near Lyon, France," she says.

Marguerite Thomas and Paul Lukacs, food/wine/travel writers from Maryland, recall a memorable dinner.

   "The best meal of my life was L'Esperance in Burgandy," Paul smiles fondly. "But dear," Marguerite reminds her husband, "what about our meal at Michel Bras?" 

   Perhaps someday I'll dine at their favorite restaurants. But I'll always cherish my evening at Restaurant zur Schuhmachernzunft. Can't pronounce the name, but I hope Schneiter will reserve me a table for my next visit.

If You Go

•Switzerland Tourism, The Swiss Center, 608 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10020.

•web:www.MySwitzerland.com. Telephone: 212-757-5944.

Transportation

Discover Switzerland by train, bus and boat with an all-in-one Swiss Pass.

 Swiss Travel System. web: www.sbb.ch/sts.

 Where to Stay

 Hotel de l'Ours, Rte de l'Ancien Pont 5, 1786 Sugiez Switzerland (near Fribourg); www.hotel-ours.ch.

Hotel Hilton, Aeschengraben 31, 4002 Basel Switzerland, www.hilton.com

Basel Tourismus, Schifflaende 5, 4001 Basel, BS, Switzerland.

e- mail: k.duerrenberger@baseltourismus.ch   (Kathrin Duerrenberger)

Restaurant zur Schuhmachernzunft, Hutgasse 6, 4001 Basel (Tel: 41 61 261 20 91. web:www.schuhmachernzunft.ch).

© 2008 Sharon Spence Lieb and Warren Lieb

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