Spring Break, Part II - Lausanne

Dear Kari:

Friday 19 March 2004

After a few hours in Geneva, we took to the road to Lausanne. In addition to utilizing maps and reading traffic signage we had a Garmin StreetPilot GPS to help us get around. Traffic in Geneva was quite snarled as the streets are narrow and the roads seem to wind in all different directions. But eventually, we got out of the downtown area and were on our way to Lausanne.

We parked the car at the Lausanne train station parking lot and walked over to see the St. Francis Church.



After that, we walked back to the train station to meet up with my friend, Michele, who lives in Bern. She took the train to Lausanne to meet up with us.

We went to have dinner at Le Pinocchio at Avenue de la Harpe 16.

Then we went to the Cathedral of Lausanne which is home to a brand new organ and we enjoyed a concert. Most things in Switzerland run on-time. We arrived at the Cathedral concerned the concert had started as we arrived 15 minutes after the stated start time for the concert. There were about 50-70 people enjoying the concert. Fortunately, on this occasion, they were very un-Swiss and we got tickets and seated with more than a few minutes to spare. Below is a photo after the end of the concert as people cleared out.



After the concert, Michele was kind enough to take over the wheel of our rental car and allowed us jet lagged travelers to just chat with her while she got us to her flat in Berne.

Travel tips:
* If I traveled solo, I probably would have got around with trains and other forms of public transport. But since there were three of us, using a car was more economical and much more flexible. Switzerland discourages car ownership with high gas prices ~ $4/gallon and parking meters.
* Speaking of parking meters, once on the ground, be sure to get some local currency and coins as everywhere you park a rental car you will need to feed parking meters

More to come...

Be well,
Rene

go to part III