July 30, 2022 - Lausanne, Switzerland

I just spent the last two fabulous days with my friends Nadia and Monalito in their wonderful city of Lausanne.  I met Nadia about 7 years ago when she and her husband had moved to Pittsburgh from Lausanne.  Her husband worked for Alcoa and Nadia was going through a certification course at the Art Institute while I was tutoring her in English, and their daughter Liza was just 10 years old.  We became good friends.  They moved back to Lausanne 2 years ago.  Liza is now 17!

Upon arrival from a long day of travel Thursday (I’d gotten the bus in Mussy that morning at 6:30am, stopped in Troyes for the day, then went to Paris to pick up the high speed train to Lausanne), Nadia picked me up at the train station and took me to my AirBnB.  Concerned that I wouldn’t have had dinner and it was rather late, she brought a whole bag of groceries as well - a variety of cheeses, meat, bread, chips, water, and chocolate.  Another example of Food in Gratitude - being immensely thankful for the gift of food (this time) by a friend.  I was fortunate to find a spacious AirBnB that had a wonderful view of Lake Leman (more often referred to as Lake Geneva) and the mountains right from my living room/dining room window.

My first full day there, it was a little foggy and rainy.  But, as the saying goes, “one bad day in Paradise is better than a good day anywhere else”.  Nadia showed me around the city and we walked down by the lake.  We also visited the Cathedral of Lausanne.  The Alps are actually behind that fogginess above the shoreline, but it was so overcast, you couldn’t see any of them.  However, by the end of the day…they were back, as you’ll see in more photos.

To the right of the fountain, on the wall, is something similar to a german Glockenspiel.  On the hour, it becomes animated with a train that goes by and dancers that pop out of windows.

The Cathedral of Lausanne is noted as the spiritual capital of French-speaking Switzerland, constructed during the 12th and 13th Centuries, and consecrated in 1275 in the presence of Pope Gregory X.  It became a Protestant Cathedral in 1536.  For the last 600 years, between 10pm and 2am, the city’s night watchman stands at the top of the Cathedral’s Bell Tower and shouts out each hour to the residents below. And for the first time in that 600 year history the current caller, who began last year, is a female.  I was most impressed with the stained glass windows - I believe them to be some of the finest pieces of art I’ve seen in my travels.

Other pictures of the cathedral:

 

And a few more city pictures:

We had a fondue for lunch:

By the late afternoon/evening the sky had cleared and we were back by the water in an area called Ouchy for dinner.

This pile of twigs will be set on fire on Monday evening and set adrift on the lake for their National Day.

I had a huge vegetable salad with crevasses (tiny crayfish).

On Saturday morning we all met for coffee at Cafe des Artisans and did some more exploring of Lausanne and the Saturday Marche (market).  At some point in the early afternoon we stopped for a quick, small Charcuterie board and drinks.  But what they brought was huge, so it was more than enough to tide us over until dinner.  Note the small olive looking things that have stems.  I’d had them a couple of other times before, but had no idea what they were.  They are not olives, as they have very small seeds inside and not a pit.  Nadia told me that they are Italian capers.  What?!  They are delicious and VERY unlike the capers I’m used to having back home (which I don’t like).

Monalito and Nadia had a special evening planned, so I rested in the late afternoon back at my AirBnB.  They picked me up at 6:15pm and we drove up the winding road along the lake called the Wine Road.

And we stopped for an amazing dinner at one of the restaurants along the road in the midst of family owned vineyards.  The wine we had with dinner came from the very grape vines growing below us at dinner.  We all had the perch for dinner which came from the lake.  I had the peach purée with crumble, and a vanilla nougat sauce.  Monalito had some kind of chocolate creation that had a berry filling.

On the way home we saw a spectacular sunset.

I also took a photo of the map of the whole area and what you could see from that vantage point.

The evening was one of the highlights of my trip!  It was so wonderful to catch up with Nadia and Monalito and I was very sad to say goodnight.  Hopefully, we’ll see each other again soon - perhaps back in Pittsburgh.