Lausanne - Part 1

Lausanne (loh-san or some pronounced as 'low-zann') is Switzerland's 3d most visited place after Geneva and Zurich, and is the 5th largest city. This hilly city (definitely offers a good workout for your calf and thigh muscles with all the climbing) has one of the country's grandest Gothic cathedrals and yup, the Olympic Museum is here too, where it houses the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Not sure if you could see the Olympic logo on the train station building.

When I read up some info on Lausanne, this place apparently had some some influence in the works of writers like Dickens, Byron and TS Eliot (who wrote The Waste Land here)

The journey to Lausanne passes by Bern and Fribourg which takes about 2.08 hrs, the maximum duration I could take I suppose, cos I was a little queasy after the journey. Not sure if it's the journey towards Bern or the mountainous route near Fribourg.

Lausanne is rather city-like with much much more traffic than Zurich. The moment we stepped out, we were kinda lost despite having a map on hand. The street names were in French and the signages weren't as big and clear as the ones you see in Zurich. The street names are usually called 'Rue de something' unlike Zurich's 'strasse' and 'platz'. Need some getting used to to the cultural differences.

As it was still early before the check-in time which was at 2pm, we decided to explore around before heading down to the hotel.

It appears that the people here aren't as helpful as the people in Zurich. No one approached to offer help when the 2 of us were struggling with the map and most of them don't speak English. Still, we managed to find our way eventually.


Trying to figure out where the cathedral is and on our way, we saw a huge area being cordoned off by the police. And we realised that it was the cathedral that we wanted to visit.



Uncle Tan tried to ask this police officer who only shook his head and indicated that no one is allowed to go through this area. I suppose he don't speak English. Despite the police sealing the area, we could still see some pedestrians trying their luck and walk through the area and one teenager even tried to argue with a policeman.

When we asked one of the onlookers to find out what was happening, we were told that the police had received info of a suspected bomb in the cathedral. However, they said that it was nothing serious as the police 'didn't look stressed' and it was probably a 'Swiss joke'. I was rather amazed by their blithe unconcerned attitude. But perhaps it really didn't look like it was a real threat for when we managed to walk to the other side of the cathedral, the main gate was not out of bounds and people were just walking past it.




As we walked and walk with the chilly wind blowing, our tummies sent out the hunger pangs signal.


Saw a shop by the road and went in to check it out. It was a cosy little shop with 2 ladies taking orders. Wanted to order the 'Max' sandwich which had chicken with curry but was sold out. So we ordered a normal chicken sandwich and a mini pizza. The mini pizza tasted good thou the bread of the sandwich was a tad too dry. A simple lunch like this cost us CHF 12 in total.

Time for desert!

We chanced upon a shop selling macaroons which apparently is from Paris, where they are supposed to originate from. The size is slightly bigger than the ones sold in Sprungli. We bought about 5 different flavours to try - mint, vanilla, lemon, milk choc and caramel (which is the favourite flavour according to the staff). Cost about CHF10+ for a pack, not cheap huh.

Uncle Tan said the Sprungli ones taste better. Well, I can't tell the difference cos I'm not really a macaroon fan cos I still find them a little too sweet for my liking. I still prefer chocolates :)

The caramel-flavoured macaroon

After a carbo-full lunch, we head off to the old town for a walk.

As you can see, the buildings in the old town are built on slopes (steeper than the ones in Zurich). Imagine the ups and downs we have to go just to walk through the old town.

There were quite a number of street performers or buskers and they are all very talented. We saw one playing harp at the main train station which is really music to the ears and he even had his own CDs for sale. This guy here who used glasses and water to make music had attracted many onlookers.

Unlike some of those we saw in our MRT tunnels, particularly the neighbourhood ones, seem to try to 'pin jia' or putting on a facade. There's 1 uncle who plays a guitar (you'll never understand his lyrics nor would you hear more than 4 chords of his strumming) who would usually appear at either the TPY tunnel or the AMK tunnel. I shall try to capture his pic one day. He stays at my block by the way.

Uncle Tan booked a 3D2N stay at Hotel Albatros Navigation which is located at Ouchy (pronounced as 'oo-chy'), overlooking Lake Geneva. Lausanne is a pretty centralised place if you want to travel to other places like Geneva (about 40 mins train ride), Montreux, Chillion, Nyon, Evian-les-Bian (yup, that's where the mineral water Evian comes from and it's in France) etc.

Not this hotel of course ;p definitely way beyond our budget but it sure looks majestic

This is the hotel we're staying...er behind the trees. It's a 3-star hotel, with basic shower facilities, a spoilt hairdryer, a working safe, no mini bar, 2 single beds and a TV with not-so-good reception but fortunately still able to view the soccer matches. It has 2 windows but with one having the curtains forever drawn as opposite the hotel is an apartment where the windows are directly facing us. Fortunately we have the other bay window which had the lake view.

According to Uncle Tan, this is actually a business hotel so the rates are standard regardless of when you book. Other non-business hotels would be cheaper if you book way in advance. For 3D2N, we paid about CHF 370, inclusive of breakfasts and transport tickets during your period of stay where you can take the busses to the city/old town for free.

Btw, if you need warm/hot water, it's best to bring your own kettle along as most hotels in Europe do not provide coffee/tea-making facilities. And do remember to bring along your adapter AND the base plate cos my dear Uncle Tan brought only the kettle without the base plate. So he had to buy minteral water from the supermart. Well, it was then that I 'learnt' to like their sweet non-sugar sparkling water, which is refreshing. Uncle Tan bought the house brand mineral water which cost only 30 cents for a huge bottle. He didn't realised it was gassy until he opened it. But to me, it was a pleasant surprise hehe ;)


This is the manual lift which is common in most apartments where you need to open the door of the lift. And this is the size of the hotel room.


Showing the motion of the hotel lift which is also similar to the lift at our apartment.


Our hotel is just opposite the lake which offers a very pretty view. Reminds me of Marine Cove.


Not only the people are less friendly, even the swans here are aggressive. I've never seen swans biting each other's neck in Zurich but over here as I tried to feed them, they actually chased each other away and bitting each other's neck. Naughty swans...so we stopped feeding them. Too aggressive.



Finally, I can eat ice-cream on a hot day :)


From Ouchy, you could take boat rides to destinations around Lake Geneva such as Evian-les-Bains (40 mins), Montreux (1.5 hrs) and Geneva (3.5 hrs).

Can't imagine that this is a lake huh? It's so huge that it can pass off as a sea.

Hehe, asking Uncle Tan to do my favourite pose...but his expressions kinda weird ;p


The Olympics Museum

Behind us is the Olympics Museum. I suppose Mr Teo and his YOG team would have made a trip here on their visit to meet the IOC people.

It occupies quite a big area and is within walking distance from our hotel.








The pillar had recorded all the olympic games from the onset except for the 6th, 12th and 13th games which I believed was the period of the 2 World Wars.


Uncle Tan challenging a naked runner ;p


Holding the Olympic fire...

It was quite a walk to the entrance of the museum. We went in to take a look as there was a souvenir shop at the entrance. We didn't go into the museum cos the exhibits were on China's history and stuff...a pity...for those who know me, you'll understand why.

When we left, we saw another route leading to the entrance, a much more convenient and faster way thou you'd miss some of the exhibits and statues if you take this route.

Don't this reminds us of our HDB flats?

They sure have lots of nice flower shops around in Switzerland.

The streets of old town in Lausanne.

On our way back, we passed by a Jap restaurant and decided to tabao their udon and rice for dinner whilst we watch the soccer match in our hotel room. It was quite yummy and authentic. When we went there, they were still having their dinner at around 6ish. So we waited for them to finish dinner before we giving our orders. The lady boss is a Chinese, somewhat sounded like a Singaporean and there was a Swiss guy, whom we believed to be her hubby.

Wana make a guess how much this chicken udon cost? It's CHF 22. Well, given the generous amount of chicken they have given, it was quite worth it and that I hadn't taken any Jap food for a while, this one sure satisfied my craving. The rice wasn't that authentic thou and cost CHF5. Oh well, what to do, I'm a rice barrel ;p

Day time is pretty long in Switzerland in summer time and it only gets dark by 9pm or so. This picture was taken via our bay window. It was quite relaxing to sit by the window, admiring the view.

The only con about this hotel is that it's near to the road, hence it can get a little noisy as we didn't leave the window close (erm no air-con for your info, only heater).

After each soccer match, you could hear the horning of cars as the fans drove past and the cheers of the fans who had supported the winning team and you could even see some of them dancing along the street.

It became quite cold as the day end and fortunately the comforters were able to keep us warm albeit a little small.