After a whole lot of talking and a small bit of planning I found myself on a flight to Geneva last week. I was finally returning to Switzerland feeling a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Could I get by on my rusty french? would I recognise Lausanne? would my return stir up unpleasant memories of one of the loneliest years of my life? What would I eat?. The last one is a worry whereever I go, Im kinda a pain in the ass but my suitcase had a substantial quantity of snack packs of oat crackers and almond butter so I probably wasn't going to starve.
I arrived in Geneva airport before noon on Monday and was a little too pleased with myself when I successfully got myself onto a train to Lausanne all by myself. It wasn't too complicated. I bought a ticket from a machine and then followed a bunch of well placed signs. The views on the train journey were beautiful and I was fizzy with excitement by the time I stepped off the train on the platform in Lausanne. Thanks to google I knew where to get the metro, in what direction and where to get off. I was very glad I had researched this in advance as I had no internet since I landed and I honestly would have been a bit too clueless for my own good. Once off the metro I did need to ask for directions and get a tourist map of the city to locate my hotel but I still felt very pleased with myself by the time I checked into my hotel. Once in my room I connected to the wifi , unpacked all my stuff and had a quick snack. As you do.
Once I discovered my room came with a fridge and hob plus some basic cooking utensils I made a pitstop a local supermarket where I marvelled at the selection of cheese and chocolate and the fact that you could buy tiny macaroons (you're not in Dunnes stores now, Laura) and spent a good few minutes trying to work out what oats were in french (only because anything with wheat if bought accidentally would have me very ill). I was a little less impressed with how much everything cost me but none the less I hurried back to my hotel eager to get going exploring the city.
I'm sure that like anywhere, Lausanne has seen quite a lot of changes in the last 17 years but for me what struck me most was how familiar the city was. I had a feeling of deja vu walking the streets and trying to work out how much of the city I remembered and how much I had imagined in years gone by. While walking the streets it all started to come together, the mountains and lake peeking through as you walked around the city, the views from the cathedral, the arty flon district.
And that's how day one was spent, walking the streets and drinking in the memories from my past and smiling at stupid things lost in reminiscing. I was lucky with the weather on day one so I sat reading in an outdoor bar until it was time for dinner. I went to a place called mad cow for a veggie burger and fries before retreating to my hotel to rest and plan for the following day.
On day two I was up earlyish after realising I bought the wrong adapters and found myself traipsing around the city in the rain trying to get something for charging my phone and ended up paying more than Id like (a recurring theme during my stay in switzerland) for a charger in the tiger shop. I headed back to my hotel, already soggy from the rain wondering what I would to entertain myself on a day like this. Once ready for the day I caught a metro to Ouchy (at this point I realised my hotel could give me a card that gave me free city travel) and set about exploring the lake front. It was a less enticing experience in the pouring rain and certainly not the ouchy I remembered but I bravely walked along the lake trying to see some of the views that weren't entirely obscured by rain clouds, I stopped off in a cafe for a very nice buckwheat crepe with gruyere cheese and some pretty awful coffee to get out of the rain before making my way back into the city.
Once back in the city I stopped in a proper chocolate shop, as part of my authentic Swiss experience and then found my way to another coffee shop to drink more bad coffee and read my book. That book finished and I made a pitstop back at my hotel to get out of the rain, get a new book and try and drum some idea of something I could be doing within city limits that was vaguely touristy. I found a park nearby that probably would have been a lot nicer if it wasn't quite so rainy and declared myself having reached my tourist limit for this kind of weather, I took shelter in a bar in the flon and furiously scanned my guidebook for inspiration on the following days agenda. It was quite unlike me to get that far with no actual plan and I'll be honest and say I was feeling a bit panicky. I just needed someone to let me know where, not too far from Lausanne was good to visit. I spent probably an hour drinking tea and then on to another bar (for the wifi) drinking a water I didn't really want and trying to cobble together a plan. I settled on montreux as a destination of choice and then went out to dinner. I got a veggie burger and fries in a different restaurant and some awful apple cinnamon drink I ordered by accident. Switzerland much like France doesn't really cater to vegetarians so my options for food were limited at best. I retired to my hotel after dinner to further research Montreux and happy with the pictures I relaxed, I had a plan for the next day.
Day 3 rolled around and Hallelujah we had clearer skies. After a day of lashing rain I was happy to see some sun peeping through. I packed a bag of possible things I might require for my day out and to make sure I would stand out as tourist (jokes) and headed off excited to see Montreux. After two days in Lausanne it was nice to be going somewhere in which I had no memories. as to be expected the train journey was stunning and I was possibly the most excited passenger on the train, having to restrain myself from asking other passengers how they could possibly be on their phones when the view outside the window was this spectacular. I quickly found my way to the lakefront and only had brief detour to the shopping district ( I spotted Zara) before returning to my walk and some of the most spectacular views I had ever seen. Chatteau du Chillon is located 4k from the town and the views along the lakefront put every other walk I have ever been on to shame. I don't know how I didn't end up with more photos. Just before I reached the castle I stopped for a snack (from my bag) and just about missed a downpour sheltering beneath a tree. I sat there reading and just enjoying the quiet until the shower passed. I am a terrible tourist so I didn't join the hoards in a castle tour but was content instead to take photos from outside, even though I had wait in line while an a group of tourists set up a hilariously elaborate photoshoot on the waterfront. Content I had captured the castle from every possible angle I began my return walk to Montreux, it was just as beautiful. At this point I still had no plan for the following day but I was contemplating a ludicrously expensive tourist experience called the chocolate train. That turned out to be booked out which I took as a sign but then I remembered a thermal baths I had visited when I lived here last and so a plan was formed. I headed back to Lausanne to offload at my hotel and find somewhere for dinner plus work out if it was possible to reach lavey les bains without a car. I ended up having dinner in yet another restaurant serving veggie burger and fries but for once it wasn't a fast food place and I got my very first nice meal since I arrived.
And so my final day in Switzerland had rolled round and I woke late and dragged myself out of bed hastily packing a bag full of swimming gear and deciding I would grab breakfast on the go. Breakfast turned out to be a coffee in Starbucks while looking up travel information but before long I was on a train to a town called st Maurice. It was maybe 20 minutes beyond Montreux and once again I was blown away by the views. I arrived in this tiny town with time to spare before my bus left. It was nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains that looked distinctly alp like but to be honest my geography is a bit fuzzy so I didn't want to declare them so and have someone who knows more about these things than me tell me they were infact a totally different range of mountains so instead I just took in the views. Once I went looking for food I discovered most of the town was shut due to a religious holiday I had been unaware of and this also affected the bus times but I bought an ice cream and made myself comfortable in the sun wondering would I make it to Lavey les bains at all. over two hours later a bus trundles along and a short while and extremely scenic bus drive later I find myself landing in Les bains des lavey. Once dressed in Swimwear I made my way down a set of steps into the pool which delightfully hot and found myself outside surrounded by mountains. Outdoors we had a selection of pools to choose from and jacuzzis and beds built into the pool where you could lie directly onto water jets. Inside they had a spa area and a selection of Saunas. I made to sure to try everything out. Although I only ended up trying two of the Saunas because I realised in the nick of time the hottest one was filled with naked old men and suddenly the photo of a swimsuit with an x through it made sense. By the time it was time for me to leave I was very relaxed and a tiny bit sunburnt. My return to Lausanne was a smoother journey and I changed back at my hotel before heading to Ouchy in the sun for my final evening. I was bloody starving by the time I got there and I think that was why I accidentally ordered a salad with a giant wedge of goats cheese and forced myself to eat half of it so as not to make a scene as the only other possibility seemed to involve mr bean like hijinks and surely it would be more embarrassing to be seen attempting smuggle a whole goats cheese into my handbag. Once fed I went on a final sunset walk along the lake before returning to my hotel to pack, satisfied in the knowledge that I had made the most of my return visit to switzerland
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