I have four day weekends every week but this past week I also had off Tuesday and Wednesday because of Carnaval so I took advantage of the longer break to do some travelling. Family friends of ours (the Toutains) who I babysat for for years, just moved to Switzerland last summer and I was lucky enough to visit them on scenic Lake Geneva. I arrived on Thursday night and was fortunate that they were gracious enough to have me until Tuesday. On Friday, I explored a little on my own. I took the bus from their little village of Paudex to the center of Lausanne, about 10 minutes away. Lausanne is a very manageable little city that is beautiful!
I arrived into the city a little after 10 am armed with a map and a guidebook. After wandering around aimlessly for a little just taking in the town and the scenery, I decided to see the sights. I first decided to head over to the Cathedral since there were other interesting destinations on the map near the Cathedral. The nice thing about Europe and the cathedrals is when you have a cathedral as a reference point, it’s typically pretty to see it from a distance. So I made my way up the (fairly steep) hill to the Cathedral and enjoyed the breathtaking views of Lake Geneva and the Alps.
Right next to the Cathedral was the Historical Museum of Lausanne which didn’t open until 11am. As it was only 10:30 I decided to explore nearby and see what else I could find. I almost didn’t go into the Cathedral because in Europe, after a while and many Church and Cathedral tours later, they start to lose their appeal. I’m glad I did though because although the interior architecture wasn’t spectacular, the stained glass windows had been redone in the 1800’s and were beautiful.
I also found the Chateau St. Marie, which unfortunately is an administrative building for the city and is not open for visits, but the exterior was still lovely. I finally made my way back to the Historical Museum and went inside to learn all about the city. It was very interesting since I really had never studied much about Switzerland before so this was quite informational. All of the displays, however, were in French, which I do not speak. After the first few displays I found brochures for the displays in English, but for the first few displays I was able to deduce the general idea since French is a romance language very similar to Spanish. I was quite pleased with myself and how well I thought I could understand French, but I was promptly brought back to earth when I stopped at a little café for a bite to eat. I had a petite sandwich with brie, tomato, lettuce and mustard which was delish! However, I hit a bit of a snafu when I ordered something to drink. I was looking at the hot beverages when I saw lait. I thought of café au lait and I knew that I liked that, and it was cheap. Unfortunately, café would be a key word in that order, so I was initially surprised and then felt like a complete idiot when they brought me a cup of just warm milk. Oh well. In the café I consulted my guidebook for other interesting sites to visit and set out to wander the streets some more. I happened to pass by a plaza with a cool clock right on the hour as all of the pieces were moving, what luck! After feeling I had seen all there was to see in the center of Lausanne, I decided to make my way to some of the destinations more on the fringe of the city.
Lausanne is considered the Olympic Capital, or Capitale Olympique as it is home to the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters and the Olympic Museum. Unfortunately the Museum is closed for all of 2012 for renovation but the park surrounding the museum was open, so I was able to explore. There were a ton of interesting sculptures that had been given to the IOC by other countries’ Olympic Committees, and there was the container holding the Olympic Flame. Unfortunately I missed the display at noon with the Olympic anthem, but such is life. I finally made my way back to Paudex and the two boys took me to see the lake at sunset, it was a great first day in Switzerland!
