So, here we are in Switzerland.

Switzerland is all about lush green valleys with quaint little houses dotted all over the hillside, and cows with bells, and cuckoo clocks, chocolates and trains that run on time. I am pleased to say that it is all those things, but it is also about big cities, freeways, peak hour traffic and busy streets.

But I digress. Getting to Lausanne from Bruges last Friday was a full day of train travel, firstly to Brussels, a change of train to Paris, and then another train to Lausanne. As it happened, the last of those trains was actually late due to some maintenance work along the way, and the French rail company offered everybody on board the train compensation in the form of travel credits. A novel idea that could send rail operators in Oz broke. The other interesting travel fact is that hotels in Lausanne are required to charge a room tax to all overnight guests, but, in return you get free travel on the entire metro transport network for the duration of your stay in the city. Another novel idea for travel operators in Oz.

The old town in Lausanne becomes a huge street market on Saturdays with lots to see and do, outdoor cafes, street musicians, jugglers and snake charmers (I made up that last part). We walked, we ate, we visited the compulsory cathedral, we rode around on the free transport, we climbed wooden towers for spectacular views (except that the cloud cover has been so heavy you couldn't see a thing) and then we had Belgian beer and tapas because we had some spare capacity in our bellies.

Lausanne street market - Saturday morning

Nougat stall at Lausanne street market

Palace of Justice - Lausanne

Sauvabelin Tower - Lausanne

Couple of local friends

Sunday was a rail journey to Montreux, which is just up the road, and the reason we went on the train was because it was pouring buckets of rain. Visitors to this lakeside mecca for the rich and famous soon discover that not much happens on a Sunday, and especially in the rain. We did manage a visit to Chateau Chillon before embarking on another train ride to an even more expensive enclave for rich folks at Gstaad, where everything was still closed, but we could see from the price stickers in the shop windows that we were saving more money as a consequence. Lunch in a quaint little Swiss restaurant was ultimately the best way to enrich the local economy, and we were fortunate enough to have selected the favourite restaurant of a famous movie director now living in Switzerland because he can't go home.

Fancy-shmancy hotel in Montreux - we didn't stay here!

Castle of Chillon - Montreux

Underground at Castle of Chillon

Gstaad - Sunday off-season

After hob-nobbing with the rich and famous at Gstaad, we took the train back to our humble abode in Lausanne - the Hotel Aulac - on the shores of beautiful Lake Geneva.

Hotel Aulac - Lausanne

Our next post will be about The Glacier Express experience, and then one or two from Lucerne, after which it's home to toast and vegemite and a decent cup of tea and coffee.

D2