Day 8 – Lausanne (3)

After visiting the Lausanne Cathedral we walked further up the hill to the Château Saint-Maire.

The Château was built between 1397 and 1406 on bishop's orders to serve as their residence.  Currently is is used as the seat of the cantonal goverment of Vaud. 

Château Saint-Maire

Château Saint-Maire

Against the Château building is a statue of Major Davel.  He was a rebel who in 1723 called for the end to Bernese domination and to become the 14^th canton of Switzerland. Unfortunately he was captured and executed.

Major Davel

Then we walked down with the Escaliers du Marché stairs to Place de la Palud.  The Escaliers du Marché is a covered flight of steps and was built in the 13^th century.  At the Place de la Palud we saw the 17^th century Rathaus (Town Hall) and copy of the Fontaine de la Justice (Fountain of Justice).  Laurent Perroud and his son Jacques sculpted the column and the statue in 1584-85. The originals are held in the Lausanne History Museum.

Mom getting water from the Fountain of Justice

Rathaus

We walked with cobble stone roads through more of the old town.  The buildings are beautiful.  We started to walk back to the station.  Along the way we stopped to take photos of the view of Lake Geneva. 

View of Lake Gevena over the buildings of Lausanne

We also went to the post office to buy stamps and send a post card.  Then we walked down the steep hill to the station.  Our train departed at 16:45 and we arrived in Bern at 17:50.  The landscape changed a lot from the mountains to flat fields with crops growing in them.  Bern station was very busy. 

Waiting for our train at Lausanne Station

We met Erik and Ariane at the Bern station and walked to a restaurant.  We ate pizza while the two cyclists had salad.  Afterwards we walked back to the station and took a tram to Sonja’s flat.  Sonja is one of Ariane’s friends.  We met her when she came to South Africa for the wedding.  She was so nice to let us stay with her for a few days because she stayed with us in South Africa. 

Me and Mom

Ariane and Erik