After an action-packed week in Paris at the Olympics, a 4-hour TGV train ride brought me to Lausanne, Switzerland 🇨🇭 on Sunday. Having been to Zurich in 2019 and the Lauterbrunnen Valley last year, the Lake Geneva area is a new area to explore.

Lausanne is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, so a natural extension of my time in Paris. A small but hilly city, it actually has a subway which runs at an incline – some of the platforms are actually slanted. Very unique.

I started on Monday with a walk of the old town, guided by Rick Steves’ walking tour in his Switzerland guide. It’s a classic Swiss town, with winding streets and Switzerland’s largest cathedral.

After the old town walk, I headed to the lakeside district called Ouchy. There are ferries going across the lake to Evian-les-Bains (home of the famous water), to Montreaux and to Geneva.

Also in Ouchy is the IOC’s Olympic Museum. A great (and timely) museum! On the plaza overlooking the lake, they had a large screen showing Paris 2024 events live.

The museum itself is fantastic. On three levels, they go through the ancient and modern history of the games, the Olympic spirit and memorable moments. Highlights included torches from each torch relay, a collection of medals from each games, and a remarkable collection of memorabilia. Jesse Owens’ shoes from 1936, Carl Lewis’ shoes and uniform from 1984, and of course Jim Craig’s uniform from 1980’s USA miracle on ice. I spent over two hours exploring the interactive exhibits and loved every minute of it.

On Tuesday August 6th, I set out in search of my favorite part of this country, the Alps. Not too far from Lausanne is a mountain peak called Rocher de Naye, reachable by cogwheel train via Montreaux. Definitely got my Alpine fix, with a nice mountaintop lunch and stunning views of Lake Geneva and the Alps. I could even see the mountains I’d visited last May in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, 50 miles away.

After the mountain, I spent some time in Montreaux, a resort town on the lake made infamous by Deep Purple’s song Smoke on the Water. It’s also known as the place where Queen bought a recording studio in the late 70s and recorded many of their most memorable albums. The Casino houses a Queen museum in that former studio, and as a lifelong fan of the band it was a thrill to see.

Wednesday August 7th started with a few thunderstorms in the morning which gave me the opportunity to sleep in. At around noon, I took a ferry from Lausanne across the lake to Evian-Les-Bains, France, source of the famous Evian water and a French lake resort town. Of course, I had a couple glasses of water direct from Le Source. After walking the town a bit and having a delicious jambon et fromage sandwich for lunch, I headed back across to Switzerland and Lausanne.

I closed out my final night in Switzerland with an EXCELLENT pizza – burrata, olives, pesto, tomatoes on a thin crust. A dream pizza boat as a dream trip continues. On to Athens tomorrow.