Eating in Lausanne

OK, I haven't been checking my blog for new posts and it appears that you've already discovered that the weather in Lausanne will be in the 70s while we are there. The lows are still in the 50s so I won't go in shorts.
I'm checking out affordable don't miss eateries -- not the michelin starred ones. There ought to be lots since Lausanne has a high student population. Hey! Do you think we are "hip" enough to go to the Cave du Bleu Lezard? Should I bring my black skirt? Ooof. Their prices don't seem to be student prices. Maybe we'll have to go for dessert. This sounds good:
Mojito glacé au lime, menthe et rhum blanc. Oh gosh, everybody is using this phrase in their restaurant descriptions so I'm afraid it is canned: "hip café-restaurants like Le Café Romand and Nyff Nyffenegger". I wonder if we qualify as "hip" if we went to college during the hippie era?
The Cafe Romand has fondue feasts, mussels, choucroûte (sauerkraut), sausages and, according to Fodors, the prices are cheap (why don't they have a cent sign on keyboards?). I like their website with the old film, probably from the turn of the century (20th, not 21st) - since 1951 they say (don't you all of a sudden feel ancient?). Their menu begins with a lot of ham and egg dishes. I remember in Vienna in 1969 that was all we could afford because we were running out of money. I've printed out the Cafe Romand menu so I can identify the dishes and make an "informed decision".
Then there is " À la Pomme de Pin" which is reviewed in Frommers and has
roasted pig's trotters served with rösti. Fernando might like that... Or we could go to Pinte Besson and have horse steak grilled and served on a slate stone -- or maybe not as it is closed in August according to Frommers but the restaurant's website doesn't mention that. But at least I wouldn't feel so old: it was founded in 1780. They serve Saucisse aux choux, et son papet vaudois (Traditional dish of the “Canton de Vaud”, Leek served with a local sausage made of pork and cabbage.)

Or we could eat in the train station and I could have a Grimbergen beer. Or maybe a Feldschlösschen. Or we could eat in the food court at the Manor Department store.

Music

Look at this...there is an organ concert in Geneva at Cathédrale St.-Pierre at 6 p.m. on Saturday. and the carillon at 5. The organ looks spectacular, but I haven't figured out whether the concert is free. And we can check out the free concerts at the cathedral in Lausanne on Friday nights. If we can still stand after the vineyards.

The extended weather looks great

Don't know if this link will hold, but the extended weather forecast for Lausanne is great!

Of course, Mitch says, "That's what it says now!"

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/extended/SZXX0017

Bicycle Tours

I was looking at the summer schedule from the Lausanne Tourism site and ran across these bicycle tours that the Baladeurs offer in Lausanne and Vevey.
These are the two that they have while we are there, on Monday and Tuesday:
---- Balade à travers l’histoire des femmes
Lundi 25 août – 19h00
Guidée par Stéphanie Apothéloz – Auteures : Nadia Lamamra et Corinne Dallera - Centre efg – études et formation sur le genre
Départ : Lausanne Roule – Place de l’Europe 1b (sous les arches du Grand Pont)
Par le Centre efg – études et formation sur le genre
Cette balade propose de sillonner Lausanne en abordant les thèmes centraux de l’histoire des femmes. Car si presque aucune rue ne porte un nom de femme, elles ne sont pas pour autant absentes du passé de la ville.

---- Le jeu de piste des musées
Mardi 26 août – 19h00
Par les musées de Vevey et La Tour-de-Peilz – Coordination : Musée du Jeu
Les musées… Vous connaissez peut-être ces bâtiments, mais avez-vous pris le temps de les regarder plus en détails, que savez-vous de leur histoire ? Suivez le jeu de piste, il vous réserve quelques surprises…

Lausanne Roule is sponsored by McDonalds and they have a very nice page on the bicycle trip along the vineyards. Oh good, I just saw that the Lausanneroule website had an english version.

Swiss Weather

The Gruyere website has a webcam for checking out clothing and weather. Everyone is wearing jackets so it must be chilly. It looks overcast and at 3 pm it was 23 degrees in Geneva. I still can't relate to centigrade. I need a little widget on my blog to convert to fahrenheit. My dashboard widget says it is 67 F in Lausanne. The Swiss weather website has webcams and it is very cloudy everywhere except in the Ticino down by Italy, where it looks beautiful.

Bulle

Bulle is in the Gruyere region of Switzerland, not far from Lausanne, and I ran into these "thematic hiking paths". How could you resist paths called "poor people's path" or witches' path? The Fribourg website says that in July and August there is a folk market every Thursday. Is that in addition to the produce and crafts one that Rick Steves talks about every Tuesday?

Caveaux

We are checking out the wine cellars along the shore of Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Montreux (Lavaux) and they all seem to be nightspots, open from 5-9 pm. Perhaps that is so people bike sober.

The Bernese Oberland

Penny sent us a link to Sam Cotton's flickr account with lots of photos of Switzerland. It makes you want to go up into the Alps right away. Many of the photos are from the Bernese Oberland so I looked to see where that was and, according to Rick Steves, there is a train, the Golden Pass, that goes from Geneva to Zurich via this area. In fact, the section we probably want is the section from Montreux to Zweisimmen. Then we could get off at Zweisimmen, take a hike and then go back to Montreux and Lausanne. We'll have to check out the logistics. And the costs.
So if we consider the swiss rail flexipass for 2 or more persons, maybe that would work. The roundtrip from Lausanne to Zweisimmen would be 74 Swiss Francs in second class, 124 first class. The chocolate train appears only to be first class and is $91 US roundtrip. Does that mean it wouldn't be available using the second class rail pass?

And then there were three!

No, folks! No news from Jen, yet. This is a news bulletin that Penny is tagging along with Cathy and Fernando to explore Lausanne and the "Swiss Riviera." It's about time to add another chapter to our travels after Istanbul and Barcelona. And Penny is going to have to start training to develop her stamina, not to mention her legs. Here is a picture of us in Istanbul in 2000 (when we were young-er)

Check out the LAUSANNE GUESTHOUSE

I was poking around on TripAdvisor for Lausanne and read the reviews for the Lausanne Guesthouse which is much more reasonable than the Regina and doesn't sound half bad. Did you check it out....you would have a kitchen to share as well? And laundry facilities!
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=LAUSANNE+GUESTHOUSE
and they have doubles with private and semi-private bathrooms
http://www.lausanne-guesthouse.ch/indexe.html
It would make you feel young again!

Swiss Riviera

It looks like I will have to bring a bathing suit:

http://www.swiss-riviera.com/

Or maybe a wet suit.

When will you have time to sleep?

Let's see....You'll be there a week...you have jet lag, a conference, and at least a month's worth of hiking. Oh my, oh my!

Via Jacobi

Oh my, Penny, the Hiking in Switzerland site has information on the Via Jacobi, the St. James pilgrimage. So that means we can pick up the Camino de Santiago in Switzerland! Who would have thought.
Here's more information http://www.viajacobi.ch/

Rochers-de-Naye

I wonder if the Grand Hotel seen in this postcard is still there.

Here is some information on Rochers-de-Naye: "an imposing rock formation above Montreux offers simply stunning views of Lac Léman and the surrounding Alps". You get to it via a cogwheel railway that leaves from the Montreux railway station.

Rochers-de-Naye is the starting point for hikes and also has the La Rambertia Alpine Garden, where around 1000 various colourful and sweetly scented species of plants from all over the world are on display. (Maybe I can find something that will grow in Pittsburgh!)

• Montreux Vevey

It appears that Friday and Saturday are the days to do the wine trail. Monday through Wednesday almost all of them appear to be closed. It is too bad we are traveling on the weekend!

Lausanne Weather

Obviously we have to keep track of the weather since we have to know what to take. With 2 stops on our flight to Geneva, our luggage is 3 times more likely to be lost so we absolutely have to carry it on which means we can't take anything but the essentials. Just like on the Camino.

• Lausanne Weather from meteosuisse

Where did the French ever come up with "meteo" for weather? I guess it means measure...

This morning I took the giant leap and bought our airline tickets. For a price from Expedia (the cheapest rates). Now I'll have to continually check online to see if they go down. But the hours were reasonable and the layovers long enough but not too long. We'll be leaving Saturday night, August 23rd at 5:30 pm on US Air to Philadelphia and then on to Dublin. From Dublin we take Aer Lingus to Geneva, arriving at 3:10 pm on Sunday (sounds long, doesn't it?). On the way back on Sunday, August 31st we take Swiss Air to Zurich at 7:40 am (sounds early doesn't it) and then US Air to Philadelphia and then home to Pittsburgh.

Montreux & Lausanne

You mustn't forget to visit Montreux where Mitch says he wants to retire (1/2 hr by train). You'll have missed the jazz festival, but c'est dommage!

Look up the hiking routes on Switzerland Mobility http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/holidayoffers/page-Tab_Activities-Activities_SchweizMobil-320588.html

As far as breakfast I think all the Swiss and German hotels have great breakfast buffets.
You should also (according to Mitch) take a historical tour of the city, and visit the museum at the International Olympic Headquarters. He'll look up the name of his favorite chocolate shop in Lausanne so you don't miss that, and he doesn't know a thing about markets!

Oh my there are lots of things to do on the lake, too. Maybe a couple of weeks?
P.S. It's very hilly and makes Pittsburgh look flat

Lausanne, Switzerland

Fernando has a conference (Eusipco 2008) in Lausanne, Switzerland in August so this is a good place to collect information even if I don't go. IsYours.com has a section on Lausanne, which they call Switzerland's San Francisco (it is sounding more and more inviting...). It is located 37 miles from Geneva's airport on the northern shore of Lake Geneva.

• Lausanne Tourism
• Bed and Breakfast Switzerland
  
• Swiss Geo (mapping site)
• Eusipco map of Lausanne with hotels
• Transit map of Lausanne
  

Here are some 3 star hotels:

• Hotel Regina - This had the best reviews in Trip Advisor and Venere
  
• Hotel AlaGare - This is a Minotel with a big Swiss buffet breakfast and traditional Swiss dining rooms.


• Lausanne Guesthouse
  

Camino Day 15 - Saturday 5/12/07 Madrid

Camino Day 16 -Sunday 5/13/07: Madrid

Camino Day 17 - Madrid to Pittsburgh

I have decided to redo the postings so that they appear Chronologically. But do I start With the latest or the earliest? Day 1 or Day 17?

Camino de Santiago in Hindsight

Since i never got around to publishing our account of the trip in a timely fashion, I am in a quandary over exactly how to go about it. I think that tonight I will put in all the dates as headings and then edit them to add the content.