Monday, 17 May 2010

After an early morning walk, enjoyed another excellent breakfast prepared by Rosie and Alex. We then followed them into the centre of the city and parked and had a walk around and a coffee. Thank you very much Alex and Rosie for your great hospitality - also wonderful to meet Alex's mum and be a part of a Swiss familiy for an all too short time. Lausanne is a small city with a pedestrian area in the centre surrounded by lovely buildings. It has a very relaxed feel with quiet traffic. We then followed the minor road west along the lake about 1 hour to Geneva. We did not have a map but with the lake on the left and five star hotels, banks and buildings with words like Rolex on top on the right, you soon figure you are near the centre of the city. We parked in a parking station and walked along the broad footpath by the lake then across a bridge to the other side (this is actually the western end of the lake) and into the true city centre. It is wall to wall brand shops and beautiful old buildings and the streets are full of very very well dressed people. The cars are also very noticable - Ferraris, Porches, Morgans, Bentleys - you name it. Had lunch at the deli counter at the big Globus department store on Place Du Molard - in regard to prices, to paraphrase Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz "I don't think we're in Italy any more" - then drove out to the motor-way and were soon in France. Arrived about 6.00pm at Montrevel-en-Bresse, just north of Bourge-en-Bresse. There we stayed with Morgan and Emma, couch surfers who stayed with us just over a year ago during their giant 17 month trip to Australia and Asia. Emma works at a huge camping ground, La Plaine Tonique and they live in staff quarters there. It was cool, but the sun was shining so we enjoyed an aperatif outside - Kir, a mixture of creme de cassis and white wine along with fresh radishes and butter and salt. Then we moved inside where Emma had prepared a wonderful dinner - Tartiflette, made with red potatoes, lardon (a sort of bacon), onion, garlic and topped with yummy Reblouchon cheese and baked - really excellent. This was served with Charchuterie (meats such as cured ham and salami) and salad with Dijon dressing. Then when we figured we had done this justice, Emma produced chocolate fondue on a little burner which we enjoyed with strawberries, brudenon (a kind of peach), grapefruit and marshmellows - decadent.