Lausanne

Mom and I arrived in GVE then took the train directly to Lausanne. From the Lausanne train station we took the Metro up into the Old City to our hotel (Hotel Crystal - totally recommended - free internet, spectacular rooftop dining terrace, fabulous breakfast and wonderful central location).

Being Thai (our beloved King grew up in Lausanne), we looked for a Thai restaurant so we could catch up with the local Thai community. Lo and behold we met a Thai living in Lausanne right across the street from our hotel at the Chinese grocery store (she was shopping for groceries). We introduced ourselves and she invited us over for dinner. Yay!

Violating the promise I made to my husband to NEVER accept a ride from a stranger (especially while traveling), we jumped into her car and allowed her drive us to her restaurant (Restaurant Phuket, 6 Closelet between the train station and Ouchy) where we had an AWESOME dinner and introduced to her husband, their son and other Thais. This lovely family spent the next 4 days showing us around the Lake Geneva area (including a trip to the Thai Buddhist temple in E Challenz.)

The following day, we went to the Saturday's farmers' market in the Old City (AWESOME) picked up a tree and some roasted chicken, then headed to the buddhist temple in E Challenz with our loot (that's what the tree and chicken are for - offerings to the monks;)

Lausanne is divided into 2 sections - the Old City and Ouchy, which is on the shores of Lake Geneva. We prefer the Old City, although the lakeshore in Ouchy is quite beautiful and definitely worth a Sunday (when Switzerland shuts down) afternoon picnic-visit.

Mom and I also hit Lausanne Cathedral, but since I'm boycotting the Olympics (due to allowing China to host last summer) we didn't visit the Olympic Museum.

We used Lausanne as our base in western Switzerland, and had the intention of taking day trips to Montreux, Zermatt and Berne. We only managed to visit Berne because we had a such a lovely time in Lausanne. Its an awesome city.

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Part of trip: Switzerland

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