June 8: Lausanne and Ouchy; Lake Geneva
Dear All,
Good afternoon to all of you, as I write surrounded by the music of Debussy and and the sounds of the animated street below, which is about to get doused by rain. The hotel we are staying in, Hotel des Voyageurs, was renovated in 2015 and is in an Art Deco building. It is in a pedestrian zone in the center of Lausanne, next to the Flon Metro Station, which Cathy and I used twice this afternoon.
Lausanne lies on the N shore of Lake Geneva or Lac Lemans, as it is called in French. The southern shore of the lake is in France, and the northern shore is centered around the city of Lausanne. Much of the N shore forms part of the canton of Vaud, which joined the Swiss Confederation in 1803. Lausanne is often categorized as Switzerland’s San Francisco—steep hills tiered above the lake, blue water, and the white-capped Savoy Alps.
Vidy, near Lausanne, was a focus of settlement from Neolithic times onward. It was there that the Romans founded Lousonna in 15 BC. During the 4th c., the lakefront site was abandoned for a better-defended site on the heights above. This site is now Old Town. Lausanne’s university was founded in 1540 as the first French-language center of Protestant theology, but the city remained rather obscure until Napoleon took away Vaud from the canton of Bern in 1803 and granted Lausanne the status of the capital of Vaud.
Artists, Romantics, and adventurers flocked to Lausanne and the adjacent town of Ouchy in the 19th c., turning the place into a genteel spot on the Grand Tour of Europe. By the turn of the century, Lausanne was hosting a thriving group of expats and boasted English churches, boarding schools, a cricket pitch, and a football field and English library serving afternoon tea.
After breakfast, we had a guide take us through Old Town Lausanne. It is centered around two squares: Place de la Palud and Place de la Riponne, site of the Palais de Rumine, a grandiose, late 19th c. Renaissance structure adorned with lions, angels, and pink marble (it opened in 1904 and in 1923 it played host to the treaty formalizing the end of Ottoman rule in Europe).
The cathedral rises above both squares on a hill, and there are some fine museums nearby. On a par with the greatest of French Gothic architecture, the Cathedrale Notre-Dame is considered to be Switzerland’s finest Gothic building. The foundations were probably laid in the mid-12th c., with construction continuing from 1190 until the cathedral’s consecration in 1275. Despite extensive renovations and alterations before the Reformation, and the loss of altars, screens, and most of the statuary, paintings, and glass during and after the Reformation, the cathedral is still the epitome of grace. The Choir houses some beautiful 13th century choir stalls, and on the S side there is a glowing Rose Window.
At 11:00 we were back at the hotel for a lecture about French-speaking Switzerland by Mary Brunisholz, which engendered a lot of questions and theories. Once she had ended at 12:30, we were on our own to pursue our interests. Cathy and I took the metro down to Ouchy, on the shores of Lake Geneva. I had traveled to Montreux, Vevey Ouchy and Lausanne when I was last in Switzerland in 2002, but had not stopped anywhere. This time, Cathy and I walked the promenade and followed Lake Geneva around to views of the swanky hotel Beau Rivage, and a few seconds later, the Museum of the Olympics and the Campagne de l’Elysee, which was sporting two photography exhibits I wanted to see, as well as the gardens surrounding the Campagne and the Olympics Museum.
A word about Ouchy—as of the 12th c., it was a small fishing and trading port. In the wake of trading came travelers and tourists, which increased in number with the launching in 1823 of the first steamboat in Switzerland, linking Geneva to Ouchy.
Our first stop was the Campagne d’Elysee, which took a while to find, as the Olympic Museum received a lot more signage in comparison. This was previously an elegant and stately home dating back to the 18th century and now housing the Photographic Museum. There were two exhibits running there: one of “Art brut”or “Raw Art” created by the French artist Jean Dubuffet, depicting extreme mental states, unconventional ideas or fantasy worlds. The other exhibit was “Life in color” concerning the color photographs of the French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, who is known for his black/white photos but rarely for his color photographs. I really enjoyed this collection, and Lartigue’s philosophy of photography fit mine to a tee. I quote from his “L’oeil de la memoire” (Havana, 1957):
“Will they know how to obey me, these color photos, so new that they can be entrusted with all our illusions—illusions of losing nothing, of capturing everything and keeping it all? Will they tell the whole story, these photos that I pile into my suitcase without seeing them? After they are developed, will they know how to bring back to life the fragments of what I see, look at, hear and breathe at this very moment? Deep down I know that the answer is no but I try not to look too deeply. So we just keep walking, having fun, observing, and during that time, my camera does the best it can.”
Great quote! After seeing the two exhibits, we stepped next door into the Olympic Museum grounds to have lunch at their cafe: a salad and a wrap of chicken and vegetables, with a breathtaking view of Lake Geneva. We roamed more of the grounds inside and out, took photos, and walked the promenade, then took the metro back to Lausanne-Flon, our stop for the Hotel des Voyageurs. We found a little toy shop which was fun to discover and admire. I am now writing this, while Cathy has gone across the street to a salon college to have a haircut and shaping done. She had been thinking about it, but I nudged her to actually do it. I can’t wait to see the outcome. Otherwise, a great day in Lausanne. Tonight another wine tasting of the wines from this region of Switzerland, and dinner—both again at Les Trois Tonneaux, which we visited yesterday. A red-letter day! Tomorrow off to Basel. As ever, SV.
Good afternoon to all of you, as I write surrounded by the music of Debussy and and the sounds of the animated street below, which is about to get doused by rain. The hotel we are staying in, Hotel des Voyageurs, was renovated in 2015 and is in an Art Deco building. It is in a pedestrian zone in the center of Lausanne, next to the Flon Metro Station, which Cathy and I used twice this afternoon.
Lausanne lies on the N shore of Lake Geneva or Lac Lemans, as it is called in French. The southern shore of the lake is in France, and the northern shore is centered around the city of Lausanne. Much of the N shore forms part of the canton of Vaud, which joined the Swiss Confederation in 1803. Lausanne is often categorized as Switzerland’s San Francisco—steep hills tiered above the lake, blue water, and the white-capped Savoy Alps.
Vidy, near Lausanne, was a focus of settlement from Neolithic times onward. It was there that the Romans founded Lousonna in 15 BC. During the 4th c., the lakefront site was abandoned for a better-defended site on the heights above. This site is now Old Town. Lausanne’s university was founded in 1540 as the first French-language center of Protestant theology, but the city remained rather obscure until Napoleon took away Vaud from the canton of Bern in 1803 and granted Lausanne the status of the capital of Vaud.
Artists, Romantics, and adventurers flocked to Lausanne and the adjacent town of Ouchy in the 19th c., turning the place into a genteel spot on the Grand Tour of Europe. By the turn of the century, Lausanne was hosting a thriving group of expats and boasted English churches, boarding schools, a cricket pitch, and a football field and English library serving afternoon tea.
After breakfast, we had a guide take us through Old Town Lausanne. It is centered around two squares: Place de la Palud and Place de la Riponne, site of the Palais de Rumine, a grandiose, late 19th c. Renaissance structure adorned with lions, angels, and pink marble (it opened in 1904 and in 1923 it played host to the treaty formalizing the end of Ottoman rule in Europe).
The cathedral rises above both squares on a hill, and there are some fine museums nearby. On a par with the greatest of French Gothic architecture, the Cathedrale Notre-Dame is considered to be Switzerland’s finest Gothic building. The foundations were probably laid in the mid-12th c., with construction continuing from 1190 until the cathedral’s consecration in 1275. Despite extensive renovations and alterations before the Reformation, and the loss of altars, screens, and most of the statuary, paintings, and glass during and after the Reformation, the cathedral is still the epitome of grace. The Choir houses some beautiful 13th century choir stalls, and on the S side there is a glowing Rose Window.
At 11:00 we were back at the hotel for a lecture about French-speaking Switzerland by Mary Brunisholz, which engendered a lot of questions and theories. Once she had ended at 12:30, we were on our own to pursue our interests. Cathy and I took the metro down to Ouchy, on the shores of Lake Geneva. I had traveled to Montreux, Vevey Ouchy and Lausanne when I was last in Switzerland in 2002, but had not stopped anywhere. This time, Cathy and I walked the promenade and followed Lake Geneva around to views of the swanky hotel Beau Rivage, and a few seconds later, the Museum of the Olympics and the Campagne de l’Elysee, which was sporting two photography exhibits I wanted to see, as well as the gardens surrounding the Campagne and the Olympics Museum.
A word about Ouchy—as of the 12th c., it was a small fishing and trading port. In the wake of trading came travelers and tourists, which increased in number with the launching in 1823 of the first steamboat in Switzerland, linking Geneva to Ouchy.
Our first stop was the Campagne d’Elysee, which took a while to find, as the Olympic Museum received a lot more signage in comparison. This was previously an elegant and stately home dating back to the 18th century and now housing the Photographic Museum. There were two exhibits running there: one of “Art brut”or “Raw Art” created by the French artist Jean Dubuffet, depicting extreme mental states, unconventional ideas or fantasy worlds. The other exhibit was “Life in color” concerning the color photographs of the French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, who is known for his black/white photos but rarely for his color photographs. I really enjoyed this collection, and Lartigue’s philosophy of photography fit mine to a tee. I quote from his “L’oeil de la memoire” (Havana, 1957):
“Will they know how to obey me, these color photos, so new that they can be entrusted with all our illusions—illusions of losing nothing, of capturing everything and keeping it all? Will they tell the whole story, these photos that I pile into my suitcase without seeing them? After they are developed, will they know how to bring back to life the fragments of what I see, look at, hear and breathe at this very moment? Deep down I know that the answer is no but I try not to look too deeply. So we just keep walking, having fun, observing, and during that time, my camera does the best it can.”
Great quote! After seeing the two exhibits, we stepped next door into the Olympic Museum grounds to have lunch at their cafe: a salad and a wrap of chicken and vegetables, with a breathtaking view of Lake Geneva. We roamed more of the grounds inside and out, took photos, and walked the promenade, then took the metro back to Lausanne-Flon, our stop for the Hotel des Voyageurs. We found a little toy shop which was fun to discover and admire. I am now writing this, while Cathy has gone across the street to a salon college to have a haircut and shaping done. She had been thinking about it, but I nudged her to actually do it. I can’t wait to see the outcome. Otherwise, a great day in Lausanne. Tonight another wine tasting of the wines from this region of Switzerland, and dinner—both again at Les Trois Tonneaux, which we visited yesterday. A red-letter day! Tomorrow off to Basel. As ever, SV.
Just went to go see a Rhodes Scholar presentation by one of Gwen’s friend today who did one of their New Zealand + Australia offerings. Looked like a great did. So nice to hear you getting a mixture of guided tour as well as time on your own. Glad you’re having a great time!
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