I have finally arrived and begun to settle into life in Lausanne, Switzerland. After an informative, yet fascinating, 3 day tour of the city, and time on our own to explore, the 42 of us are transitioning well. Lausanne is a city of 125,000 people, and it does still feel quite large to me. Although we are getting a good sense of the layout of town, there’s still much to discover, and then, of course, determine where the best places are to grab lunch, un café du lait, or a comfy chair in which to study and spend time.
The city is on the shore of Lake Geneva, and, therefore, a little hilly. We walk an average of 45 minutes a day, either running errands, finding lunch, or venturing into another part of town, whether it be Ouchy, the waterfront, or the Vielle Ville (the old part of town with the cathedral and cobblestoned streets).
We’ve only been here for six days, but the fact that we’re not simply vacationing here really hasn’t sunk in yet. Ranging from organ concerts in the cathedral, trips to lakeside towns, and walking tours of chateaus, our itinerary has been varied and interesting. Our initial trips to the grocery store have been made, and after speaking with the employees there about choosing the best laundry detergent, our French is slowly being developed with the interactions we make during the day. I am on the lookout for a family here in Lausanne, so I can spend some time with them and really give myself an opportunity to become comfortable speaking French.
I find myself seeking out parks and time in our backyard garden at the hotel where I can relax, read, write, and reflect on the week we’ve already spent here in Lausanne. The parks are havens for me especially because I want to take full advantage of the sunny weather we’re having, and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life before we’re relegated to studying and hanging out indoors when the cooler weather arrives.
The produce and bakery items are fresh here, and when I weave through the streets on my morning “wake up the city” runs, I can see (and smell) the boulangers setting out their pastries and loaves of freshly baked breads for customers to purchase on the way to work. Our hotel does provide a continental breakfast, le petit dejeuner, shall we say, for us, and I am pleased to report that we have a wonderful array of fresh bread, aromatic cheeses, and hand-picked apples from our back garden to help start off the day well.
The city is on the shore of Lake Geneva, and, therefore, a little hilly. We walk an average of 45 minutes a day, either running errands, finding lunch, or venturing into another part of town, whether it be Ouchy, the waterfront, or the Vielle Ville (the old part of town with the cathedral and cobblestoned streets).
We’ve only been here for six days, but the fact that we’re not simply vacationing here really hasn’t sunk in yet. Ranging from organ concerts in the cathedral, trips to lakeside towns, and walking tours of chateaus, our itinerary has been varied and interesting. Our initial trips to the grocery store have been made, and after speaking with the employees there about choosing the best laundry detergent, our French is slowly being developed with the interactions we make during the day. I am on the lookout for a family here in Lausanne, so I can spend some time with them and really give myself an opportunity to become comfortable speaking French.
I find myself seeking out parks and time in our backyard garden at the hotel where I can relax, read, write, and reflect on the week we’ve already spent here in Lausanne. The parks are havens for me especially because I want to take full advantage of the sunny weather we’re having, and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life before we’re relegated to studying and hanging out indoors when the cooler weather arrives.
The produce and bakery items are fresh here, and when I weave through the streets on my morning “wake up the city” runs, I can see (and smell) the boulangers setting out their pastries and loaves of freshly baked breads for customers to purchase on the way to work. Our hotel does provide a continental breakfast, le petit dejeuner, shall we say, for us, and I am pleased to report that we have a wonderful array of fresh bread, aromatic cheeses, and hand-picked apples from our back garden to help start off the day well.
This video is from the organ concert held in the cathedral. It's a brand new organ, complete with 7000 pipes and 100 stops. Pretty cool when the music fills the entire church.
If you'd like to check out more pictures of mine, (including some other things I've been doing that I haven't mentioned in this post), I have a web photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/baldjojo/September .
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