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We found our tour guide at the Tourist Information Office in Ouchy (down the hill from our hotel) and along with 4 others boarded a nice private small bus and were driven around Lausanne to visit the IOOC headquarters, Roman ruins from when the city was first established, then into the heart of the city to visit the Place St Francois, Place de la Palud (we had dinner the night before here), learn about the River Flon being “driven” underground, saw the Bernese built Gymnases Cantonaux where Protestanism was taught in 1650; then a visit to the Cathedral where we saw an old arch which was a tunnel through the cathedral. The Cathedral was established by the Catholics in the 13
th century, it was a typical gothic construction but when the reformation took place, all of the references to relics and religious entities were destroyed; what remains is a very stark but beautiful cathedral. It was as we were overlooking the city from a balcony that I was asked to take a photo of another traveler and while doing so, the guide and all left us . . . . we couldn't find them and went into that mode of “how
do you find a group that has left you behind in a crowded city”?All of this was on foot and being a beautiful Saturday we walked past the two large open palais where makets were taking place, one being the Palais de Rumine which is a collection of libraries for architecture, geology, history, art and more. We returned to this later on to see the collection of art by Valoise.
We left the tour to return to the market where we bought olives, cheese, fruit and macadamia nuts for a picnic then took the Metro to the end of the line : Croisettes with a commanding view of the city, lake and alps. From there we walked down to a bus stop and hopped on to a stop where I thought we'd be able to see Le Chocolate, a wood structure but we never found it but we had a nice walk and eventually came to a place where we could venture into the forest. Toni wanted to visit the the Hermitage which we managed to find but it was closed so from there we walked back down to the Metro and went back to
the hotel to relax.
Around 7pm we took the Metro down to Ouchy to walk around the port and enjoy the scenery. We wanted a first class experience so we stopped for a glass of champagne and chablis at Beau-Rivage Palace and then stopped at the Hotel du Port but they were fully booked so we went across the street to the Chateau d' Ouchy and enjoyed a grand dinner with a ½ bottle of fine French chablis (it tasted as good as any chardonnay). After which we slowly made our way back up the Metro to try to find glaces but nope, so we checked in the for evening and read.
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