Lausanne (11/21/1982)

Sunday, November 21, 1982 

Train day pass

When I woke up, it was foggy and there was a note from Marsha saying she got in at 3:50, so instead of waking her at 9:00, I waited until 11:00. We caught the 12:33 train to Lausanne. As we passed Lake Neuchâtel, the fog lifted. In Lausanne it was sunny and clear giving glimpses of the Alps above the rooftops, the first time I have seen the Alps in Lausanne. Arrived about 13:45 and walked across the station to the Metro, buying half-price tickets for 30 Rappeln/15 cents to get to the Centre Ville station. Once there, we took an elevator up to the level of the Grand Pont (1839-44, an arched viaduct 180 m/591’ long). We crossed this bridge, looking down on the streets way below, to a place called Bel Air to see the so-called skyscraper Bel Air Métropole (1931, designed by architect Alphonse Laverrière). It was about 20 stories tall!

We turned right on Rue Haldiman, passing the Église réformée Saint-Laurent/Reformed Church of St Lawrence (1719), with its Baroque façade. Continued to the wide Place de la Riponne dominated by the Palais de Rumine (1898-1906) in Italian Renaissance style.

Palais de Rumine

It houses the university library and several museums. We entered to find ourselves at the bottom of a staircase. We walked up past offices, past the level of the library, to the Fine Arts Museum, which was closed while they set up a new exhibit. On the next level we turned right into the Archeological & History Museum, containing all sorts of bones and fossils, and seashells. Many of the fossils were painted, large ones in black to highlight the impression, and many smaller ones in several primary colors to show various levels, or to indicate separate entities. In a further room there were excavated prehistoric relics, as well as relics from the Burgundian and Roman eras. The golden bust of Marcus Aurelius is a copy, like the one in Avenches. On the left side of the building was the geological museum with its stones and relief models of various mountains in Switzerland. There were more fossils and seashells, and an exhibit of mammoth bones found in the Jura. Up the stairs to yet another level with the zoological museum filled with taxidermied animals of every type, a collection to be envied by most zoos! A smaller room at one end showcased local animals and at the other end was a comparative anatomy room of animal skeletons, dissections, fetuses, etc. Leaving the museum we passed the chess and checkers players to walk down Rue Madelaine. At Place de la Palud, we came upon the Hôtel de Ville/City Hall (15-17C) with its Renaissance façade decorated with flowerboxes.

Hôtel de Ville/City Hall

The narrow and cobblestoned streets were decorated with evergreen garlands and trees. In the square was a Fontaine de la Justice/Fountain of Justice, and it appeared people were standing and waiting.

Place de la Palud Fontaine de la Justice

Above a commercial store was a scene and clock done in metal plates. At 15:00, silently two rows of soldiers and statesmen figures filed by, then a ring of dancers circled five times. That was it.

Mechanical clock

We climbed the Escaliers du Marché/Market Stairway, roofed over with tiles, up and up and up until we reached Cathédrale Notre Dame Cathedral (1175-1275).

Escaliers du Marché/Market Stairway

We sat outside to admire the Montfalcon portal with numerous sculptures, then entered the narthex with rounded lateral apses. The sculptures and mural of the life of Mary seemed to be under renovation. We entered the main church, and to the right was supposed to be the muniment room, a sort of strong room to keep valuable documents. We found a niche with a white vase, and behind it was the door to a room where souvenirs were sold. We walked down the south aisle, passing rare wooden carved stalls with “fine” (tall and skinny) figures on the arm rests. Along the way we noted stout columns alternated with groups of varied-sized pillars. In the south transept was a rose window titled “Imago Mundi/image of the world” showing the elements, seasons, months, and signs of the zodiac. It was colorful but very difficult to pick out the various themes. We ambulated around the ambulatory to see tombs and peek into the choir stalls. On the left of the choir was a sarcophagi tomb of Otto of Grandson (Switzerland) who made it big in England. Back at the beginning of the north aisle was the Chapel of Maccabees in which were intricately carved stalls of the Flamboyant style. Outside we circled the cathedral to the Apostles or Painted Portal, and it was devoid of any decoration. At the terrace overlooking the city, we could see mountains showing between the buildings. We went down the stairs past a small garden to the Museum of History of the Ancient Bishop’s Palace, in the tower of the Episcopal castle. This housed the Cathedral Museum including a treasury with reliquaries, lots of chalices/goblets, vestments, processional crosses, etc. There were exhibits on different architectural styles, a video about stained glass windows, and a model of a metalworker’s studio. Finally back on the first floor, we saw a few of the sculptures from the Apostles portal and a photo showing how it should look with the prophets on the left and the Evangelists with Sts Peter and Paul on the right. At the top were reliefs of the death and resurrection of Mary, and in the tympanum was the coronation of Mary, unique in that Christ is readying to crown her. We walked north of the cathedral to see the Château St Maire with its Florence-like architecture.

Château St Maire

An artist was sketching it. We then walked down Rue Cité Derriere with all its wrought-iron signs.

Rue Cité Derriere

View of the Alps

From in front of the cathedral we saw the mountains above the city rooftops. We walked across Pont/Bridge Bessières and down to a small park that had a limited view, next to the Place St François with the Église St-François/Church of St Francis (1272). Took the rack railroad Métro all the way down to Ouchy for 50 Rappel/centimes/25 cents.

Métro ticket

The sun had set, but you could still see the snow-covered mountains across Lac Leman/Lake Geneva. In the other direction were the pink, rose, and salmon backlighted silhouettes of smaller mountains. We saw the Château d’Ouchy and took the Métro back up to la Gare/train station. We checked out menus of restaurants near the station, but they were too expensive. So we went to the train station’s first class “Buffet.” Marsha had Coq au Cognac and I had chicken and rice with a white sauce. Marsha’s coq came with potatoes (cooked with ham bits) and cannelloni beans. We stayed in the warm restaurant until 18:50 and then caught the 19:10 train to Biel, arriving at 20:20.

Wednesday, November 24, 1982

Biel sunrise