lausanne day out
Now that the kids are over the worst of their bugs (although Bao still has a lingering cough and an ever-present runny nose), it's easier for us all to venture further and to spend longer days out. The weather has been nice and sunny too and this morning at the park I saw the first daffodils. It's still chilly, still scarf and hat weather, but it's brilliant seeing nature reawaken nonetheless.
Yesterday we decided to drive to Lausanne, about 45 minutes away. We have never really explored Lausanne before beyond Ouchy and the Olympic Museum and so we decided to make a day trip out of it. Bao napped in the car on the way there and awoke just after we parked, just in time for an early lunch. We managed to park in the city centre so that we could check out the museums and stroll through its streets.
Lunch was at Café Romand, an old-school brasserie that is a bit of an institution in Lausanne, having been open since 1951. It is located inside a very nondescript arcade but the restaurant itself oozes old-world charm. The waiters still wear waistcoats, and the chairs and wall panels are a beautifully worn dark oak. I had the house rosti, served with ham and tomatoes and a generous coating of melted cheese and a sunny side up egg on top. J had the papet vaudois, an in-house speciality served only between September and April. It consists of a smoked pork and cabbage sausage served with stewed leeks and potatoes. The Bun had a kids' meal of a pork sausage served with fries.
Based on Bao's non-existent table manners (and table tantrums!) in the past few weeks, I was more than a little apprehensive about dining out with her. At home, she has been known to claw her way out of her high chair, scream while lying on the floor, demand to sit in the adults' laps, throw food and plates and generally make mealtimes a stressful affair. I don't know what's gotten into her because she was fine before. She has improved slightly over the past week (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing this) so I'm hoping that it was some sort of wonder week developmental leap or rather, as I described it to J, maybe being sick had made her brain short circuit.
Anyway, she behaved beautifully at lunch, although she did insist on climbing up and down the banquette seat and edging ever closer to the ladies lunching two tables away, lured by their handbags on the seat. When the bread arrived she was occupied with that for a while, and although the food took some time to arrive, she was entertained enough by a waitress chatting to her to stay still. She is officially off the whole baby food deal, not that she was ever really a big consumer of it, but I used to bring some out with me when we dined out so that she would have something to eat if nothing else seemed to work for her. She ended up eating some of my rosti, a lot of cheese, some ham, some leeks, and more bread. As long as she's eating the same thing you are, she seems content. The Bun also managed to finish his sausage and a fair amount of fries and bread. His appetite has picked up suddenly so maybe he's going through a growth spurt.
Walking out from lunch I spotted a Starbucks outlet and was immediately consumed by a craving for one of their hot green tea lattes. Starbucks is not very common in Switzerland and yes, power to the indie coffee houses and all, but I wanted my drink and I wanted it now. Funnily enough, the entire drinks menu, the music, and the receipt, was completely in English. The outlet could have been transplanted directly from any other city in the world and it would have been the same. It was perfect in the chilly weather and super tasty to me because well, I probably haven't drank this in a year or so.
We walked a bit to the Palais de Rumine, a huge building built late in the 19th century which now houses several small museums and the library of the University of Lausanne. Entry was free because it was the first Saturday of the month, and although there was a lot to see we mostly stuck to the more kid-friendly ones, spending the most time in the Musée de Zoologie and the Musée de Géologie. The former had thousands of carefully taxidermied animals of all sorts, displayed in old-fashioned glass cabinets. The cabinets were spread in neat long rows down the entire length of one wing of the Palais, which is massive. The Bun enjoyed looking at the animals, but Bao was more interested in running up and down the rows, trying to climb up and down any stairs that she could find, and screeching in protest whenever she was restrained.
At the geological museum The Bun was quite keen on looking at the rocks and fossils because he's in a bit of an archaeologist/explorer phase at the moment, inspired by watching Andy's Dinosaur Adventures on TV. J toured the exhibits with him while I hung out with Bao as she carefully worked her way up and down the steps of one of the anterooms. That was all she was focused on, and every time she managed to successfully navigate her way through she would make triumphant babbling sounds. When she got tired of that and began to throw all the information pamphlets around, J and I decided to beat a swift retreat and take everyone for some much needed cake and coffee.
The café that we initially wanted to visit was full and no one looked like they were prepared to get up and leave their newspapers and teacups anytime soon, so we went two doors down to Lucien Moutarlier, a buzzing patisserie with a tea room upstairs. It was also crowded but luckily we managed to get a table as soon as we arrived. The Bun had a chocolate mousse cake with mandarin oranges and I shared a cherry rhubarb tart with Bao.
Refreshed, all of us hit the streets again. There was a Saturday outdoor market with stalls buzzing all over the streets of the old town, and everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and the shopping. Bao fell asleep in her stroller so we took the opportunity to take a nice peaceful walk soaking up the atmosphere. Lausanne seems like a prettier city compared to Geneva, but it is also much hillier! We decided to visit the Cathedral and it was a good long climb up many many flights of stairs. J carried the stroller with Bao still asleep in it and I walked slowly up with The Bun.
By the time we decided to head home it was late afternoon and we had a long drive ahead of us. Bao woke up just as we got to the parking garage and was okay in the car until she decided to howl hallway through the drive. I turned around to look at her and she signed 'milk' angrily at me. We had forgotten to give her an afternoon bottle! (Truth be told, I had thought that filling her up with the cherry tart would have done the trick but Bao's in a phase where she's guzzling down milk like never before. Maybe she's making up for all the lost calories over the past few sick weeks.)
Luckily we managed to pull into one of the larger rest stops on the highway where she had her bottle in the car. J suggested that we just grab a fast-food takeout from the rest stop home, since it was getting late which meant dinner would be late and everyone would be hungry and tired. That was a good suggestion, since once we arrived home I had no energy to cook and we could barely shuffle the kids through the evening routine and into bed. It had been a very nice day out though for all of us, and The Bun called it a 'mini-holiday' which is true, sort of.
It's funny how we never seem to explore Geneva compared to all the other small towns and villages that surround us. Next weekend though I think we'll stay close to the city, because the annual Geneva Motor Show is on and with it come the hordes. I've heard that the roads surrounding the Palexpo arena, where the show is held, will become extra congested so I'm definitely not going to add to the chaos if I can help it. J has tickets for the show and will probably bring The Bun with him since they'll both get more of a kick out of it than Bao and me.
Yesterday we decided to drive to Lausanne, about 45 minutes away. We have never really explored Lausanne before beyond Ouchy and the Olympic Museum and so we decided to make a day trip out of it. Bao napped in the car on the way there and awoke just after we parked, just in time for an early lunch. We managed to park in the city centre so that we could check out the museums and stroll through its streets.
Lunch was at Café Romand, an old-school brasserie that is a bit of an institution in Lausanne, having been open since 1951. It is located inside a very nondescript arcade but the restaurant itself oozes old-world charm. The waiters still wear waistcoats, and the chairs and wall panels are a beautifully worn dark oak. I had the house rosti, served with ham and tomatoes and a generous coating of melted cheese and a sunny side up egg on top. J had the papet vaudois, an in-house speciality served only between September and April. It consists of a smoked pork and cabbage sausage served with stewed leeks and potatoes. The Bun had a kids' meal of a pork sausage served with fries.
Based on Bao's non-existent table manners (and table tantrums!) in the past few weeks, I was more than a little apprehensive about dining out with her. At home, she has been known to claw her way out of her high chair, scream while lying on the floor, demand to sit in the adults' laps, throw food and plates and generally make mealtimes a stressful affair. I don't know what's gotten into her because she was fine before. She has improved slightly over the past week (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing this) so I'm hoping that it was some sort of wonder week developmental leap or rather, as I described it to J, maybe being sick had made her brain short circuit.
Anyway, she behaved beautifully at lunch, although she did insist on climbing up and down the banquette seat and edging ever closer to the ladies lunching two tables away, lured by their handbags on the seat. When the bread arrived she was occupied with that for a while, and although the food took some time to arrive, she was entertained enough by a waitress chatting to her to stay still. She is officially off the whole baby food deal, not that she was ever really a big consumer of it, but I used to bring some out with me when we dined out so that she would have something to eat if nothing else seemed to work for her. She ended up eating some of my rosti, a lot of cheese, some ham, some leeks, and more bread. As long as she's eating the same thing you are, she seems content. The Bun also managed to finish his sausage and a fair amount of fries and bread. His appetite has picked up suddenly so maybe he's going through a growth spurt.
Walking out from lunch I spotted a Starbucks outlet and was immediately consumed by a craving for one of their hot green tea lattes. Starbucks is not very common in Switzerland and yes, power to the indie coffee houses and all, but I wanted my drink and I wanted it now. Funnily enough, the entire drinks menu, the music, and the receipt, was completely in English. The outlet could have been transplanted directly from any other city in the world and it would have been the same. It was perfect in the chilly weather and super tasty to me because well, I probably haven't drank this in a year or so.
We walked a bit to the Palais de Rumine, a huge building built late in the 19th century which now houses several small museums and the library of the University of Lausanne. Entry was free because it was the first Saturday of the month, and although there was a lot to see we mostly stuck to the more kid-friendly ones, spending the most time in the Musée de Zoologie and the Musée de Géologie. The former had thousands of carefully taxidermied animals of all sorts, displayed in old-fashioned glass cabinets. The cabinets were spread in neat long rows down the entire length of one wing of the Palais, which is massive. The Bun enjoyed looking at the animals, but Bao was more interested in running up and down the rows, trying to climb up and down any stairs that she could find, and screeching in protest whenever she was restrained.
At the geological museum The Bun was quite keen on looking at the rocks and fossils because he's in a bit of an archaeologist/explorer phase at the moment, inspired by watching Andy's Dinosaur Adventures on TV. J toured the exhibits with him while I hung out with Bao as she carefully worked her way up and down the steps of one of the anterooms. That was all she was focused on, and every time she managed to successfully navigate her way through she would make triumphant babbling sounds. When she got tired of that and began to throw all the information pamphlets around, J and I decided to beat a swift retreat and take everyone for some much needed cake and coffee.
The café that we initially wanted to visit was full and no one looked like they were prepared to get up and leave their newspapers and teacups anytime soon, so we went two doors down to Lucien Moutarlier, a buzzing patisserie with a tea room upstairs. It was also crowded but luckily we managed to get a table as soon as we arrived. The Bun had a chocolate mousse cake with mandarin oranges and I shared a cherry rhubarb tart with Bao.
Refreshed, all of us hit the streets again. There was a Saturday outdoor market with stalls buzzing all over the streets of the old town, and everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and the shopping. Bao fell asleep in her stroller so we took the opportunity to take a nice peaceful walk soaking up the atmosphere. Lausanne seems like a prettier city compared to Geneva, but it is also much hillier! We decided to visit the Cathedral and it was a good long climb up many many flights of stairs. J carried the stroller with Bao still asleep in it and I walked slowly up with The Bun.
By the time we decided to head home it was late afternoon and we had a long drive ahead of us. Bao woke up just as we got to the parking garage and was okay in the car until she decided to howl hallway through the drive. I turned around to look at her and she signed 'milk' angrily at me. We had forgotten to give her an afternoon bottle! (Truth be told, I had thought that filling her up with the cherry tart would have done the trick but Bao's in a phase where she's guzzling down milk like never before. Maybe she's making up for all the lost calories over the past few sick weeks.)
Luckily we managed to pull into one of the larger rest stops on the highway where she had her bottle in the car. J suggested that we just grab a fast-food takeout from the rest stop home, since it was getting late which meant dinner would be late and everyone would be hungry and tired. That was a good suggestion, since once we arrived home I had no energy to cook and we could barely shuffle the kids through the evening routine and into bed. It had been a very nice day out though for all of us, and The Bun called it a 'mini-holiday' which is true, sort of.
It's funny how we never seem to explore Geneva compared to all the other small towns and villages that surround us. Next weekend though I think we'll stay close to the city, because the annual Geneva Motor Show is on and with it come the hordes. I've heard that the roads surrounding the Palexpo arena, where the show is held, will become extra congested so I'm definitely not going to add to the chaos if I can help it. J has tickets for the show and will probably bring The Bun with him since they'll both get more of a kick out of it than Bao and me.