Lausanne

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Kate's annual KBS conference was in Lausanne Switzerland this year. We flew in and out of Geneva and took a direct train from the airport to Lausanne. The Lausanne train station was just a few short but steep blocks downhill from the conference hotel - the very modern Hotel Alpha Palmiers.

We stayed in the conference hotel and, while Kate was at the conference, I explored the city and surrounds. The picture at left is the Pont Bessieres with the Cathedral behind it. Below you can see the underground tram coming through.

We had some visitors -- my university chum Martin, who lives in Germany, came for a day (he came to the conference dinner and dance) as did our neice Eva who was working a summer job at Vimy Ridge in France. She was able to travel by train through Paris to meet up with us. That's a bit of a struggle as you have to negotiate the city to get from one station to another.

Lausanne is a beautiful old city on Lake Geneva. There's fairly intensive viticulture nearby along the lake shore which I explored by foot and return by boat. Kate, Eva and I took a ferry across the lake one day to Evian (of Evian water fame). Another time we took the train together to Montreux and then a cog train up the mountain side to Rochers de Naye.

There's an Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Martin and I explored that together -- there's some fantastic sculptures in an outdoor garden. We also went to the Cathedral together. It is pretty impressive with lots of carved gargoyles and such. The nearbly old town sprawls with many very old structures still in place. The town is built on a steep hillside so there's lots of interesting lanes and alleys to explore.

It's an interesting city with lots to explore. We had fun and it was really nice to meet up with our neice Eva and old chums like Martin. There are, of course, all of Kate's international chums we see on these travels.