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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2022 16:16:24 GMT
On an unexpected whim, I decided to go to Lausanne for a couple of days this week. Since it was not planned ahead of time, both the train and the hotel cost more than I normally pay. For once, I didn't really care. I even took the train in 1st class. Of course, when you improvise, you generally screw up on various things. Even though I had carefully prepared my usual equipment, guess what? I didn't have my camera! So I had to take photos with my phone, which was a major disappointment. I am very clumsy with my phone since we have never become friends, and since it is a cheap phone, the photo quality is not great. Oh well, nobody looks at these photo reports anyway. I took the metro just one station from the train station to the location of my hotel at Bron. It is a very short distance, but the tourist office told me that the metro was the only logical way to go, especially during the extreme heat. "If you walk, you have to go u^p to the top of the hill and then go down the other side," the lady said when I asked for a map. The metro just goes through the hill in two minutes, so it was 2.30 francs well spent. And the hotel was next door to the metro station, no hunting around. Unfortunately, Switzerland being Switzerland, the people are very s l o w so you can't check in before 16:00 (I don't really believe that the Swiss are slow, but such a late check in time seems abusive to me. I don't even like all of the places around Europe that make you wait until 14:00. In France you can almost always check in at 12:00.). But I wanted to see my hotel since I had read so many conflicting reviews about it. Some of you will approve of the fact that I was finally going to the MAD House.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2022 16:33:22 GMT
I decided to stay around the hotel for awhile, at least until 14:00 and try my chances then. I didn't have any real baggage or I would have gone there immediately to drop it off. My little backpack wasn't even weighed down with a camera.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2022 18:13:45 GMT
I climbed the very steep stairs to the upper level of the roadways. It turned out that the historic viaduct was being renovated but they had also built a temporary pedestrian walkway out of scaffolding. My memories of past visits to Lausanne totally failed me. One time I went to see my friend from Zürich who was staying in the social housing occupied by his parents (who were absent). The father had a chain of bakeries but went bankrupt (yes, it happens even to the Swiss). I had been to their house in Lenzburg which was very impressive, and this new place was not impressive at all. Anyway, my friend had given me super precise instructions on which bus to take to get there and where to get off. I had the vague impression that the bus went over this viaduct, but nothing seemed familiar after all these years. No problem -- I wasn't going anywhere today. It was really high up! There was an interesting roof garden to see. And I was at the same level of the rooftop bar as the MAD House, which made it seem useless to go there, since it was above nothing. However, I could also see part of the cathedral up there.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2022 18:43:15 GMT
I finally went to the hotel and of course they said that I could not get a room before 16:00, but I fully checked and was given the Lausanne Transport Pass, already printed and dated with my name. It allows unlimited transportation on the metro and buses as well as the regional trains for the Canton of Vaud. Considering prices in Switzerland, this was fantastic. I immediately took the metro to the lake since I still had more than an hour to kill. They love countdown clocks in Switzerland, clock capital of the world. So here is the Olympic clock. There weren't many people in the street due to the temperature of 34°. There was a little wading pool for toddlers so that they would not drown in the lake. And here at last was Lac Léman. That's France on the other side. Ferries cross the lake constantly as well as going to Montreux or Geneva. One amazing detail is that the steamers from the beginning of the 20th century are still in service. The modern and old ferries dock next to each other. Ah, here is my transport pass, probably not valid on the ferries, but I need to check that.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 4, 2022 19:58:35 GMT
Photos are fine. The Zurich tourist transit pass included a nice hour and a half ride on Zurich Zee with a stop in Thalwil for lunch, nice way to waste a couple of pleasant hours.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 4, 2022 23:56:34 GMT
I'm curious to see more. The pictures are fine -- much better than any I take with the phone. But I thought Lausanne would be super ritzy which, so far, it is not.
I read the caption above the 6th lake picture as, "...the streamers from the beginning of the 20th century are still in service", a "fact" I quickly rejected, thinking it was about the little pennant flags. Then I looked at boat that has the flags & re-read the caption. Then it really was an amazing detail!
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2022 5:20:47 GMT
People were trying to stay cool, but it was hot even close to the lake. It was certainly better out on the boats. Parts of Lausanne are really quite lovely. It was time to take the metro to the hotel and unload my stuff at last. In the room, I emptied the backpack and guess what I found at the very bottom under my clothes -- my camera! I celebrated by taking a photo of my square black toilet. The wash basin was also black and impractical. I wasn't buying the place, so things like that don't matter for just a couple of days. I did not use this chair. Everybody wants a mounted animal head above their bed. And then it was time to go out again. The corridor has plenty of things to look at while you wait for the lift.
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Post by bjd on Aug 5, 2022 7:30:56 GMT
That hostel is doing what it can to be cool but I just can't get excited about Switzerland.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2022 10:32:50 GMT
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Post by htmb on Aug 5, 2022 13:10:07 GMT
You have such a great eye for detail. I love the photo above with the “bridge" over the street because it also nicely pictures the structure on the right with all the plantings. Lausanne is such an interesting city. I hope to go back there someday. Looking forward to more of your report.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2022 14:54:01 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2022 15:14:56 GMT
Even though I am not as much a fan of fireworks as I was in my youth, I felt that it would be insulting to the city of Lausanne and to the entire Confederation of Helvetia if I did not make an effort to join their celebrations on their national day. I have actually seen Swiss national day fireworks in the past, but that was in Geneva in 1971. Where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2022 16:40:19 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Aug 5, 2022 22:54:35 GMT
Super, great photos. Love the gardens on the concrete pillars. Quirky hotel, it looks interesting.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2022 4:23:08 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2022 14:36:24 GMT
The next morning Switzerland was back to normal. I had two major items on my agenda, but they will be discussed in different reports, so I will just show you a few things that fell through the cracks in between if that's all right.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2022 15:35:27 GMT
Ouchy was the old village along the lake, now absorbed by Lausanne. The Lausanne-Gare metro station is the only one at a steep angle because of the hill. All of the signs look crooked when you are standing there. They are completely redeveloping the train station area, so there are barricades everywhere. I still remember how long it lasted in Zürich. These look like coastal apartments, but actually these just overlook the train tracks! I didn't have time to visit the newest museum in Lausanne - Elysée Photo. The design reminds me of the crack in Amelia Pond's bedroom in Doctor Who. This random art installation in the arcades facing the train track intrigued me. It made no sense, but that's okay. I decided to take a different metro line (there are only 2 and the moment with #3 in construction) just to see where it went. No fewer than 3 stations serve the University of Lausanne (bravo for that), but here is the end of the line. It was just an ordinary suburb, but there was also a train line going to the main station. clearly not a nasty suburb at all On a wall, I saw that they had not planned for this to be a metro line at all but a tramway line. This might be full when the university is in session, but it was not the case today.
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Post by htmb on Aug 6, 2022 15:44:53 GMT
I always wondered how to correctly pronounce ”Ouchy."
Loving these photos. There’s much to see in Lausanne. I’d forgotten there was more than one metro line, and certainly hadn’t realized a third was under construction.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2022 16:05:50 GMT
It's pronounced just the way it's written: Ooshee .
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2022 16:29:01 GMT
Yes, good report as ever.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 7, 2022 10:46:29 GMT
I stopped in the train station for a little while to just people watch on a bench and let some swet dry. But the next morning it was time to go. Seeing the lake in the distance kind of made me want to stick around a bit more. Almost time for the TGV Lyria to Paris. And now I'll have to get around to making my other reports about Lausanne....
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Post by htmb on Aug 7, 2022 14:21:44 GMT
Nice report, Kerouac.
One thing I really appreciated about Lausanne were the outdoor escalators that connected some of the steep streets.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 8, 2022 16:46:15 GMT
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Post by lugg on Aug 8, 2022 21:19:23 GMT
Just caught up ... some great photos , camera and phone too. Parts of Lausanne appeal to me - really around the lake but enjoyed seeing your other photos too. yes your hotel does look MAD and the fireworks look fun.
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