Onto Lausanne! Le 28 Septembre.

I am so excited to head to Lausanne! I traveled along Lake Geneva on Route de Lac which is a more scenic route than the highway. It's on the southern end of the Swiss Alps and has the most amazing view in the world! I am staying at the Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace and this was my view as I had breakfast on the patio. C'est magnifique!

My first stop is the Lausanne Cathedral. It dates back to 1275 and was never fully completed. It's named after the Golden Virgin which is a beautiful statue of Mary the virgin mother. Lausanne is the only city in Europe that continues the tradition of daily night watching to make sure the cathedral doesn't catch on fire. I thought that was a great tradition to still uphold. Here's a gorgeous picture of the inside! I loved how the organ was in the center!

I was feeling a little tired so I stopped at a local bakery in town (I know, I have a sweet tooth but this is vacation!) to see what Lausanne had to offer. I traveled up Rue Central which is a major street in the city and stumbled upon Marie's Chocolaterie and Confiserie. I wanted everything in that bakery. I ended up ordering a small bag of beignets which are powdered sugar fluffy french donuts and a cappuccino. After I trekked a few blocks to find a bench by the Flon river which is the river that runs through the city near Rue Central to relax and enjoy my donuts and coffee.

I had to make sure to wipe off the powdered ring around my mouth and dust some sugar off my fingers before I started for my next destination-Collection de l'Art Brut. This is definitely not a normal art museum. The art displayed here is what the locals refer to as "outsider" art because it's not made by well known artists. Some of the works are by people who live in psychiatric hospitals, assisted living, and some are by children as well. I found some hauntingly beautiful and others were quite abstract but I'm glad I made myself walk in with an open mind.

My last stop for the day was more just for fun. I wanted to do some shopping! So I headed over to Galeries Saint-Francois. It's in between Rue de Bourg and Rue Benjamin Constant so it wasn't too hard to find. There were so many shops! I didn't even visit them all. I purchased a navy and white striped dress, some brown ankle boots and a white beret to complete my look. I must say that I hardly looked like a tourist anymore!

After I was done shopping, I was starving! So I made a beeline for my hotel to freshen up a little bit (And I even put on some red lipstick-(tres chic!) and then I made my way to their restaurant. It was simply beautiful. I even had a tour of their wine cellar! I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. They then led me to my table where I my dinner consisted of sampling wine and cheese. My favorite combination was the Cabernet Franc with Brie cheese. Simply to die for! And for dessert I had coffee with coffee and candied figs .C'est delicieux!

Lake Geneva looks so stunning at night. I left my windows open to feel the breeze carried from the water. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Citations:
http://www.pic-beaurivagepalace.ch/uk/index.php#carte-du-restaurant-et-evenements.php
http://www.lausanne.ch/view.asp?DocId=29565
http://www.roughguides.com/travel/europe/switzerland/lausanne-and-lake-geneva/lausanne/collection-de-lart-brut.aspx
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/switzerland/lausanne-cathedral

Day One, Geneva Switzerland

Today I begin my journey in the beautiful town of Geneva, Switzerland. I am surrounded by Les Alps and it's hard not to just stop and stare all day long looking at them. But then I wouldn't get anything done now would I? My hotel is right in the center of town and it's called Hotel D'Angleterre on la rue 17 Quai du Montt. Blanc. It's so beautiful! I plan on making my first stop at Jet d'eau, which is a huge spout that releases water up to 450ft in the air! Here's a picture of it! Doesn't that sky look beautiful too by the way? I can't get enough of this scenery.

I then decided to stop for some breakfast at a local bakery called Paganel Geneve, I couldn't stop staring at all of the beautiful pastries in the window so I simply had to go in. I ended up purchasing a cafe au lait and a pain au chocolat. It's a little bit of heaven!

I definitely had a bit of a sugar rush as I headed onto my next stop. I love gardens, so it seemed only natural that I had to stop at Les Conservatoire et le jardin botanique de la Ville de Geneve. It was so gorgeous! It turns out that it has over twelve thousand species of plants spanning across five continents! There are also five hundred species of medicinal plants as well. And of course the arboretum was gorgeous as well and housed over three hundred year old plant species! 
http://www.ville-geneve.ch/plan-ville/parcs-jardins-plages-bains-publics/jardin-botanique/

After, I grabbed a really quick le sandwich au fromage and was off to my next destination-Cathedral Saint Pierre. I definitely got to work off my a pain au chocolat to climb all the way up one hundred and fifty seven steps to reach to the top, but it was so worth it! It was the most breath taking view of Lake Geneva and Les Alps that I had come across yet! It dates back to 1660!  Back when the Reformation came about, all of the interiors were taken out and all of the artwork on the walls were painted over. It is still beautiful to me though. I got a picture!

http://www.geneva-tourism.ch/?rubrique=0000000144

It'd been a long day, so all I wanted to do was have dinner and a glass of wine to celebrate the day!And since Geneva is the culinary capital of Switzerland, I was doubtful I'd be disappointed! I stumbled upon La Broche, which was a beautiful restaurant located on 36 rue du Strand which is located in the L'Arquebuse. The warm goat cheese salad caught my eye which was brick dough stuffed with goat cheese, tomato and basil, olive tapenade, seasonal greens and parmigiana vinaigrette. It was to die for! I also ordered a glass of red wine with it as well named Geneve which I saw fitting. It balanced out the tang of the goat cheese really nicely! For dessert, I ordered a nice blackberry sorbet and it was bliss. After a long day, my hotel was a welcome sight and all I could think about was sleeping. I'm sure I'll be dreaming all about today!
http://www.restaurantlabroche.ch/-set-menus-.html

Today was amazing! I can't wait to see what this next week brings! Au revoir for now!

Meghan

Hello everyone!

This is my first blog entry in my whole entire life, so let's see if this works! This is where I'll be posting my french webquests for the remainder of the semester, so I hope everyone has access to it and I hope I do it right!

Bon Voyage!