Date Night

Last night we went on a date to a concert at the Lausanne cathedral – we saw Giampaolo Di Rosa, from Rome, who is apparently an international rock star in the organist world.  He’s also a pianist, composer, researcher and professor with a doctorate in music – and looks surprisingly young with a big mop of curly hair.

The setting and acoustics were incredible – we were facing the front of the church and the world famous organ.  The organ in the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Lausanne is the only one of its kind in the world and has over 7000 pipes.  The music ranged from light Mozarty pieces to a heavy baroque, want-to-cover-your ears “Adams Familyesque” style.  He ended the concert with 15 minutes of melodious and light improvisation that left us wanting more (except for the uncomfortable chairs).

Speaking of rock stars, we had been to another concert at the cathedral two weeks before to hear our friend, Francois Maniez, from Vourles (the French village near Lyon where we lived 10 years ago) sing with the Ensemble Var’s Musica for the last night of the Festival de la Cité Lausanne.  This time we were facing forward and the sound of the three voices filled the cathedral – almost like a musical bath.  Francois was kind enough to come and talk to us after the concert.  We felt like we had a backstage pass to meet the stars.  Here’s a little sample of their music:   http://2012.festivalcite.ch/programme/spectacles/ensemble-vars-musica/

We finished the evening by taking the elevator at the Metro Bessières down to the Rue Centrale, past Globus (a fancy grocery store in the heart of Lausanne that helps us know where we are), to a trendy area of Lausanne called Flon.  It was bustling with people – helped by the warm evening after a 90+ degree day.  We went to Nomade  (www.restaurantnomade.ch) a vinothèque restaurant that we had seen on one of our many trips to the Controle Des Habitants.   We had eaten before the concert so we went for a glass of wine and some dessert.  I think it will become one of our favorite restaurants in Lausanne.  We had some delicious French and Swiss wine, an appetizer – a small bit of chèvre in a thin pastry cup, with figs and honey,  followed by poached peaches with balsamic sauce.  The peaches were served with a “crumble”- layered almond cream and a paper thin layer of chocolaty crust, with a side of the most heavenly scoop of cinnamon ice cream.  When our pleasant and friendly waitress said, “a la prochaine” she was right, we’ll definitely be back.

The Morning Ride

Back home in Menlo Park, both Doug and I go out on "Morning Rides" with our riding groups, so we've been looking for that perfect sized ride that can be done first thing in the morning before work. We've been following the Swiss bike routes, and making up some of our own.  Yesterday I took my camera out with me to share what we see on a typical ride.

Our favorite regional route

The route starts to look like this 3 miles from our house

Farms, barns and fields

We go through several forests along the way 

And small villages

Sunflower fields - with self-service stands

Finishing the ride with a descent into our neighborhood

The Eiger Sanction - Interlaken and Grindewald

One of our first excursions outside of Lausanne (while we still had a car) was to Interlaken and Grindewald to see the Swiss Alps.  Doug and I grew up in Colorado, so we thought we knew what to expect, but we were blown away!  The photos don't capture the grandeur of these mountains (Eiger and Jungfrau) - they go straight up from the valley, as do the towns and chalets.   On our next excursion we'll take a cog train to the top and start our hike from there - this was just a little taste of what's to come...

First Visitors - cathedrals, castles, cows, and cheese - oh my!

We had a great weekend with our first visitors - first my cousin Dean, who brought the nice weather with him on Saturday afternoon, and then Diana (a former work colleague from Ravenswood) and her friend Tesslay on Sunday and Monday.

The wooden Sauvabelin Tower  (which we can see from our flat)

Views from the top

On Sunday we toured the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, the centerpiece of Lausanne, an imposing medieval cathedral that still has a watchman call out every hour on the hour from 10pm to 2am - C'est le guet; il a sonné l'heure ("This is the nightwatch; the hour has struck").  Lausanne is built on a hillside, so all the streets go straight up,  and to get to the cathedral you have to go up over 150 stairs, but the views at the top of Lake Geneva and the Swiss and French Alps are stunning.

After touring the cathedral, we walked around the old part of Lausanne. The city is usually so vibrant with outdoor cafes and people walking everywhere up and down the hilly cobblestone streets - but on Sunday, there's nobody! The Swiss custom is to spend Sunday with your family and friends, so most of the stores are closed (including the grocery stores - which takes some getting used to). So we went to Ouchy, the last stop on the Metro at the Lake Geneva waterfront (that's where everyone was) and and hiked all along the shore to Pully, just to the beginning of the Lavaux vineyards. When we got back home we said our goodbyes to Dean, who had to get back for another week of work in Germany.

Lake Geneva (at Ouchy)

On Monday, Diana, Tesslay and I decided to hike the Chemin du Gruyère, and tested out ordering our tickets online (worked beautifully - such an efficient railway system they have in Switzerland).  We had an amazing day - hiking in the gorgeous countryside by castles and cows, tasting and buying Gruyere cheese, and touring the Maison Cailler to see how chocolate is made, followed by unlimited samples.  I never thought I could have too much chocolate, but yes, it's possible!

Exploring the countryside

Doug had our bikes out of their "suitcases" and back together within two days for our first bike ride north of Lausanne to Yverdon, a beautiful town just south of Lake Neuchatel, about 25 miles north of Lausanne.  We followed a route suggested from a ride on the internet, but have since discovered that Switzerland is covered with organized bike routes (national, regional and local) that are well marked (for the most part), and keep you off the main roads.  We get plenty of hill riding as the roads getting out of Lausanne give us quite a workout!

Saturday Market in Yverdon