Thursday was my birthday, ample excuse to take the day off, jump on the train, and go dip my toe in a town that my chérie has been telling me I'd love.
Lausanne is midway along the north shore of Lac Léman, about 33 minutes by train from Geneva. It was first settled by the Romans, who of course had only sandals, slaves and chariots to take them from café to boutique to art museum, and in fact you have to wonder how often the chariot horses tipped over backwards while trying to clip-clop up the steep cobblestone streets. Those horses would be pissed off to know that, today, Lausanne is the only city in CH with an underground metro.
But I walked, following my nose up the winding streets and lanes. Before long I'd stumbled upon one, two, three, four little independent bookstores selling used and antiquarian books.
Lausanne's got religion too with Switzerland's grandest gothic cathédrale.
But religion is where you find it.
Lausanne is midway along the north shore of Lac Léman, about 33 minutes by train from Geneva. It was first settled by the Romans, who of course had only sandals, slaves and chariots to take them from café to boutique to art museum, and in fact you have to wonder how often the chariot horses tipped over backwards while trying to clip-clop up the steep cobblestone streets. Those horses would be pissed off to know that, today, Lausanne is the only city in CH with an underground metro.
But I walked, following my nose up the winding streets and lanes. Before long I'd stumbled upon one, two, three, four little independent bookstores selling used and antiquarian books.
But religion is where you find it.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. But please allow to correct me: the fastest train (i.e., not stopping) between Geneva and Lausanne is 33 minutes. If you just on any train, it's most likely to be a 40 minutes ride.
ReplyDeleteMerci Jo! I've corrected it.
ReplyDeleteGood. I was also thinking about something else. The Romans settled by the lake only, where it's flat... Sorry to ruin the amusing though of the horses struggling with in the slope...
ReplyDeleteIt's only in French, but here a "map": http://www.lausanne.ch/view.asp?domId=64133&Language=E
If you ever come back to Lausanne, there are a few roman ruins in Vidy http://wapedia.mobi/fr/Fichier:Lousonna_site_ag1.jpg and a roman museum
http://www.lausanne.ch/view.asp?domId=64132&language=E