Swiss Stop #3 - Lausanne

Laurent, who was my best friend and roommate in Australia, is the man who introduced me to the wonderful world of traveling. He took me out of my shell on my first big trip away from home. Together, we trekked up and down the East coast of Australia during our Easter break from Uni. We sang songs in the car, ate chicken with our fingers, giggled until our stomachs hurt, and we even saw the late Steve Irwin, may he rest in peace. He also made me camp in the car and sleep in unusual places. We slept on the beach in wet sleeping bags, in a hammock-like bunk bed in a dirt floored tent the forest (Gagaju), and on the bedroom floor belonging to a teen stranger (Gavin)... Laurent introduced me to the world of backpacking. It was a magical semester, living with a vibrant and happy soul like Laurent. So, as you can imagine, it was a pleasure to visit my great friend on my tour through Europe.


I stayed with Laurent (pronounced LAH - HAU) at his apartment / parents house for seven days. His family lives in a beautiful home on Lake Geneva, which they built themselves, in Lutry (near Lausanne), the French part of Switzerland.

I met his beautiful girlfriend Lydia (who looks like Katie Holmes/Sandra Bullock) and his dynamic family of eight. His household was a whole lot more colorful than the Brady Bunch--Four boys, two girls, eight cats, three lizards, packs of rats (to feed the lizards), one parakeet, and a partridge in a pear tree. I loved having a place for dinner at the table of eleven. It's not the typical American family, albeit it's not the typical Swiss family either, but a happy home indeed.

His mother, Martin, is very smart. She makes the older kids cook dinner one night each week. Laurent cooked a special Swisss fondue for me--I still cannot believe these people consider bread, cheese, and pickles and full meal! What happened to the pyramid of foods? Anyways, it was delicious!


It was great to finally meet Laurent's little sisters Charlotte, who is adopted from Haiti, and Jade, who was adopted from Vietnam. Jade, at the tender age of fifteen, was a sweetheart, and we bonded over a few discussions about kitties and crushes. I also fell in love with the four new kitties, but I was disappointed to be reminded of my stupid allergies.

We started our week together driving all the way to Zurich for a party. Again, sleeping in an unusal place: a University office hallway.

We also went to a Halloween party!
Don't get the wrong idea, they DO NOT celebrate Halloween here...not really. Halloween is more of a commercial holiday in Switzerland. But, Laurent knew how much I loved Halloween and he made his association organize a costume party on my behalf! jk.
I was happy to bust out my bellydancing costume and souvenir from Turkey.

It was a shame that Laurent had to work all week, ah yes, the same thing happened when he visited me during Christmas and New Years week two years ago and I could not get a day off. Still, I entertained myself quite well with several day trips.

As Lausanne is the official World capital of the Olympics, I visited the Olympic Museum and enjoyed the visual markings of the high, long, and triple jumping records.



I took a scenic train ride through the colorful peaks and valleys to Gruyères, where I saw the cheese making process and the Gruyères castle and village.



I also toured Montreaux's Chilion castle and the popular town of Vevey.

Everday, I always managed to get lost (which is annoying when the trains run on the hour), but, I always found my way home to Laurent's each evening, just in time to watch a few episodes of Nip / Tuck.

Until next time, Au revoir Laurent!

Up next: One last visit with Chiara. To the Matterhorn!