Friday was our tour around Lausanne. We woke up, and after getting ready went upstairs to their kitchen where the family was enjoying a peaceful breakfast. They were SO wonderful giving us free breakfast! We had a very traditional breakfast of bread and jam (called tartines). Isabelle has to go to one class, so we headed to her campus and she showed us around some first. IT is literally located right beside this massive lake that is facing the mountains. It was beyond beautiful. They get to see this incredible view inbetween classes! Or while eating their lunch in the cafeteria! Wow. Her sister, Marianne came along, and after Isa parted for her class, Marianne began to give us a tour. We took a nice walk along the water looking at the swans and ducks that gather in various groups along the shore. And walked out on a few small piers to soak up even more, the immensity of the lake and mountain view. After that, we went to town! Lausanne is not massive, but it has the perfect mix of history and modernity. Very very technologically advanced stuff (transportation, buildings) and yet some of the roads, a massive cathedral, and other buildings, kept intact the original Swiss vibe. So we met Isa a few hours later and went and got some Chinese food for lunch.
Now pause. Everything in Switzerland is expensive. The exchange rate right now is on par with the dollar pretty much (and they have the coolest 5 swiss franc coins) but their prices are insane. A ‘cheap’ meal is 13 swiss francs. That is not cheap! Most places you pay on average around 20 swiss francs or more. However they get paid more and their minimum wage is higher too so it balances out, but still, crazy.
After lunch we wandered around town some more then went to a different part of the lake. It had a massive pier and a small port where there were some ferries. And we just soaked in the view even more. And as it was getting dark by that point, we wandered through the Olympic museum’s park (with a lot of famous statues by famous artists) then stopped in a local cafe for the most delicious cappuccino i’ve ever had. Oh my gosh. SO good. Then, back to their home.
Their mom, the sweetest woman ever, had prepared the most delicious dinner EVER. She had made this meat dish with one meat, wrapped in another meat, wrapped with these onions and mushrooms, then finally wrapped in a pie crust and cooked. Then it was cut into slices, mmmmmmmm. Along with that was rice, salad, and for dessert, a homemade meringue with this strawberry cream sauce. Holy cow, Chelsea and I were eating heaven.
That evening we just relaxed, and I read some classic French children’s books/comics that Isa showed me. Still on the difficult side to understand even though they were children’s books! Haha. Then Sleepy Time.
Saturday was perhaps my favorite day, as it included more mountains, a chocolate factory, and fondue! So we left their house the next morning with Isa, her brother, her friend, Chelsea, and I. We were driving now (the brother drove) and we drove for about 45 minutes into the mountains! There we stopped at the Cailler chocolate factory. You could literally smell the chocolate as we walked up to the doors. Yes. Smell the chocolate. We got student discounts and headed in for our tour. Which mostly consisted of the history, then we got to see some of the production lines! And after, a tasting J. I thought it was just going to be like one piece. But no, they had a line of all of their major chocolates, milk, dark, white, filled, etc. And we could try as many as we wanted! I just tried little bites of each one and I could not even make it all the way around before I was feeling completely stuffed. So good though. It was perfect because after tasting all of them, we headed to the store where we could buy our favorites! SO MUCH CHOCOLATE.
After that we headed even further into the mountains to this small town where we parked and went on a hike! Now this was a bit impromptu as we did not really dress accordingly. But we wanted to see the mountains. So we walked. Up and up and up, trying to reach the snow. We failed. But got an amazing view by the end!
After we headed into a different town to get lunch. It was packed in the town. They were having a massive marathon and the entire town was outdoors. SO fun! We got to get the feel for a warm Swiss town as there were bake sales, bands playing, signs everywhere. Then we popped into a restaurant and got some delicious traditional fondue. MMM. It was cheese fondue and we dipped bread and potatoes in. We all 5 shared it and it was a perfect amount! Then it was time to head home. Such a fun day! We were not hungry when we got back, and the mom was getting ready to go to a play, so she left dinner on the stove for us when we got hungry. So Isa, Chelsea and I watched a french film that is super famous over here “L’auberge Espagnol” which is about a French guy who goes to study abroad in Spain and encounters a wide mix of cultures and people there. A while later, dinner, which was a rice and meat dish, and after, sadly it was time for bed.
The next morning we woke up, had this delicious homemade bread the mom makes every Sunday, and then she graciously took us in her car to the train station! SO sweet of her considering we could have taken a different train to get to the main station and saved her a trip. We could not thank the family enough for their hospitality, and as we took our 4 hour train ride back to Paris, Chelsea and I often commented in amazement at the weekend we had just had. Probably the best so far.
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