EU after 12 years (4): H. R. Giger in Gruyeres

I had three goals in mind when I was planning for Switzerland. Driving at night, the way I explained in a post earlier, was certainly not one of them! Here are (or to be correct, were!) the three:

First, going to the H. R. Giger Museum and possibly pay my respect to him by visiting his grave, in Gruyeres. Secondly doing a hike near the town of Montreux, or specifically hiking Rochers de Naye and finally seeing Villa des Roses in that town. The hike of the little mountain near the town of Montreux was changed to the hike of Le Moleson in Gruyeres but I was not able to see the Villa of the Roses. 

Giger's simple yet greatly designed tombstone in the nearby church cemetery. The museum has placed a small card in French and English asking not to put anything on the stone.

Hans Ruedi Giger was a Swiss artis behind the design of the most terrifying monster of the science-fiction world, the Alien. I wanted to go to the museum for the past 2 year when I accidentally realized the museum located in this small village of Switzerland. The question that I could not have found the answer for is why he ended up in Gruyeres while he was from the town of Chur which is 300 km away and he passed in Zurich which is 185 Km aways! 

The museum is great and unique and definitely worth watching. It's small and located in an old building in the village. It doesn't require much time to see all of the objects on display, perhaps a little more than 1 hour. I saw families with little kids in the museum, perhaps because they felt obligated to do something and since this is one of a very few limited things that the families can do in the village, they were doing it. The museum has a store but I didn't buy anything or perhaps I should say I didn't find anything to purchase that fits a guy like me! I don't wear caps and hoodies and I certainly don't were short sleeve T-shirts! Rings and jewelries are out of question but a nice jacket would have been considered but I'm happy that I had the excuse to avoid spending Swiss Franks on some merchandise! 

I took a stroll down the village after that. This is the place that you don't see visitors and tourists. A very nice a clean village with big houses and grassland with cows and also deer! I went down to a main road and came back up. There's a castle or fort on the top of the village which you need to pay admission to get and that's how it's supposed to be but having paid for the museum, I skipped that and instead went to nearby church with a small and very clean and beautiful cemetery attached to it. That is where H. R. Giger is rested. I asked the museum guy and he told me with his strong accent where I would find the grave. I first didn't want to enter the cemetery because it is fenced but then I said what's the worst that could happen? I will tell whoever questions me what I'm looking for. I started looking at the tombstone and here he was, away from everyone, at the corner with a small shrub of Tomatoes grown on his grave: H. R. Giger! No photo, nothing else. Just his name and the days he was born and passed. It was much easier than how I found the two Japanese artists two years earlier. I, first wanted to take a couple of tomatoes and taste them but I thought I should leave them there! 

A Xenomorph model hanging from the museum's ceiling

The next day I tried the Bar. It's actually a very small bar with not more than, I would say, may be a total of 10 tables and a counter, of course. The design is amazing. I ordered a couple of very simple things because I'm generally, not all the times, afraid of spending money just to be there and be able to take a couple of pictures. I asked one of the girls about the ownership of the bar and she said that his wife owned it which means his second wife but the girl, herself looked like Giger! My bill was about CHF 18 or something, I can't remember but she agreed to get € 18 which was in my favour I told her. She grabbed the money and put them in a sort of wallet-purse! I know regret that I didn't buy anything from the museum just for the sake of buying something and didn't order more in the bar but that's how always I am. I don't do things and then later regret that! The thing is I would like to visit Switzerland so perhaps I stop buy and do what I wanted to do this time! 

(Photo, top: One of many portraits of Giger on display in the museum)