Day 2: The city of Hills...Lausanne

The night of July 29 must have been a restless night because I awoke long before 7 am in the bed perpendicular. Yeah, kind of funny to think about since the bed was only a double bed. Got up and took a hot shower to work out the kinks and prepare me for a long day of walking.

Hopped the train to Lausanne, the city of hills. After viewing the public bus map, I stopped by St. Francois church. This church was at one time part of of a Franciscan convent built around 1270. Now it sits nestled among the financial district. After viewing the church, I decided to spend some time in a public garden just enjoying the morning. The problem with getting up so early and catching an early train, most places aren't open yet by the time I get to where I'm going. I don't mind. It gives me a chance to sit and witness the start of a new day.



After watching a mother and her child in the public park, I took a bus to the Plaza de la Riponne. Here vendors were setting up for market day. The main building in this plaza is the Palasi de Rumine. This building houses several museums: Fine Arts, Archaeology, Natural History, Geology and Zoology. The inside of this building was spectaular. The staircase to each floor was made of marble and had enormous marble columns on each side. The building was done in the style of Italian renaissance architecture and was built in 1900.



Not far from the Plaza was the Escaliers du Marche. This covered walk way lead to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. The Cathedrale was built between 1150 and 1275 and is regarded as the most beautiful Gothic building in Switzerland. 232 steps lead to the belfry and on top of the tower a watch keeps time and cries out the hours from 10pm to 2 am as it has for over 600 years. Beautiful carvings graced the entire church.



At the front of the church was an atrium where there were tombstones marking the resting place of souls within the walls and floor of the atrium. At the back, a massive pipe organ sat silent in the loft. I spent several minutes just walking up and down the church aisles. All the statues, carvings, stained glass windows, and other craftsmanship were amazing. All the time and money spent in doing all these ornate decorations had me thinking. How alive was this church? Was all this done for show, for tradition or was it done out of love, respect for God?











After leaving the church, I headed down Rue de la Barre and came across Chateau St. Marie. This building was built between 1397 and 1427 to serve as the Bishop's palace. Currently the Chateau is being used as an apartment building. Not such a bad apartment if you ask me.

I headed back to the Plaza and market day was in full swing. Vendors selling breads and other baked goods, cheeses, meats, fruits and veggies along with clothing had overtaken the plaza. Using what little french I knew, I bought some cheese, a nice pastry, and some fruit. I decided to walk back to the financial district and catch a bus to Ouchy.

At the port, I grabbed a paddle steamer, one of the few that have been cruising Lake Geneva since 1904, and headed to Evian, France. Since I arrived close to lunch time, many stores along this picturesque town were closed. I did a little shopping for my mom and sister and spent time just relaxing along the waters edge before I had to catch the boat back to Ouchy. After returning from Evian, I walked around Ouchy before heading back to the station to catch a train back to Geneva. While on my ride back to Geneva, I started planning day 3 of my Switzerland Adventure: Neuchatel and Bern.