Bakery Knecht

Boulangerie A.R. Knecht was on the corner of Rue Coq d'Inde and Place des Halles in the center of the old town.The place is now a bar which also serves coffee in the morning.

We lived on Coq d'Inde for some years. I could see the bakery if I leaned out of my 4th story window and looked down the cobble stone street to my right. In the morning after I had progressed from a state of sleep to semi-consciousness I would pull on my clothes, stumble down several flights of stone stairs and walk sixty seconds to this boulangerie. Though we later moved into an apartment a little further away I still often made it here in the mornings. There is something comforting in a daily routine.

The boulangerie had a normal Swiss assortment of delicious tarts, rolls and breads that prejudices you against the average North American sliced bread for the rest of your life.

Pies, Tarts, Rolls and Breads

Counter Service, Boulangerie-Knecht

Most customers bought their daily loaf of bread, rolls or croissants at the counter and are off about their business.

In the back of the bakery was a little seating area of about seven or eight tables where you can sit down with a cup of coffee and croissant or anything else you happen to spot behind the glass counter as you enter the Knecht.

Serving Coffee

Counter Service, Boulangerie-Knecht

I have been visiting the boulangerie for so long I am nearly as familiar as the door knob or the kitchen sponge. I walk in, sit down at a table with a newspaper, book or my laptop and without my saying a word the waitress brings out a bowl of cafe au lait and a chocolate croissant. You can't find bowls of coffee everywhere. At most Swiss coffee shops and Restaurants, you are served the normal Swiss-size cup of coffee, which amounts to little more than a sample.
A bowl of coffee gives you enough coffee in the morning to really get the gears turning. And, when you get half way through the bowl of coffee and the chocolate croissant you start feeling that life is not really so bad after all.