After 3 flights and 24 hours of travel, we finally made it to Lausanne, Switzerland, where we will be living for the next year. The world has changed in unimaginable ways since we lived here 8 years ago, when we documented our lives in this Lost in Lausanne blog. Back then the tagline was “Cycling, cows, cheese and chocolate” to which we should add “Covid.” Our experience during this pandemic will be quite different than the idyllic year we had back in 2012.
The San Francisco airport was uncharacteristically quiet, and you could almost sense the fear in everyone’s eyes for even contemplating flying right now. Two people ahead of us in line were turned away from their flights because of the new European travel ban that had come into effect the day before. We were expecting to have only a handful of people on our flights, but they were all surprisingly full. For the past 4 months we’ve been pretty isolated in San Francisco, so it was a shock to be around so many people. We wore masks on the plane, and in the airports, taking them off only occasionally to eat. I even drank with a straw tucked under my mask. We’ve been here 2 weeks now, so we feel lucky to have avoided Covid-19 during our travels.
Being in Lausanne is like being in another world after coming from San Francisco, where masks are ubiquitous both on the streets and in the stores. We rarely see people wearing masks here, although a week ago, Canton Vaud started requiring masks in all stores due to a small uptick in cases. I got my haircut for the first time in 4 months, and with both my hairdresser and I wearing masks, I was happy to discover that I can still communicate in French through my mask. We talked about the pandemic, and the possibility of a “2eme vague,” or second wave, which my hairdresser seems to think is inevitable, even in Switzerland.
Nearby Mon-Repos park
Doug and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to be able to be in this beautiful country this next year, but also worry about our sons and family that we’ve left back home. We love our new apartment in the Mon-Repos neighborhood, in a 1900s building with parquet floors that creak, high ceilings and tall old-fashioned windows. Our favorite part of the apartment is the small terrace that faces a courtyard of other 1900s style buildings with their wrought iron balconies and shuttered windows. I’ve made friends with the crows who come around to see what we’re doing on the terrace, or when we add some new flower pots and herbs – they are nosy and clever birds, pretending that they aren’t really watching us when while we eat.
We’ve arrived to mostly glorious, sunny summer weather, which from living here before we know will only last a few more months, so we’re trying to take advantage of it and get out on our bikes. It’s been fun to rediscover our old routes, and start our rides from a new part of town. Our first cycling foray out was to the Lavaux vineyards west of Lausanne, with breathtaking views of Lake Léman and the Alps across the lake. We just got back from a two-day bike trip to Interlaken, riding along the Thun lake with my old friend Debbie and her husband Jean-Francois. We are pinching ourselves that we are able to be here.
