Where to Stay & Eat in Lausanne, Switzerland
L'Ermilage des Ravels. A multicourse gastronomic treat awaits at the restaurant ($$$$; closed Sunday and Monday) of this 17th-century farmhouse, set beneath old, draping trees and edged by overflowing garden beds. Chef Bernard Ravet serves the classics with creative twists, such as four styles of duck and goose foie gras, saddle of venison with truffles and chanterelles, or sea bream in leek papillotte (pouch). Reservations are essential and the business lunch a gem. Chic rooms trimmed in dark green and burgundy are furnished with polished antiques and canard (duck) accessories to create a country setting that begs you to stay for more than just one superb meal. 18126 rte. du Village, CH-1134 Vufflens-Ie-Chateau B[j 02118046868 @ 02118022240 @) www.ravet.ch ~ 6 rooms, 3 suites 6 Restaurant, in-room safes, minibars, cable TV; Wi-Fi, bar, free parking EI AE, Me, V (3 Closed late Dec. and Aug. T@I CPo
Hotel Fleur du Lac. As the draperies are pulled back from south-facing windows, sun-splashed Mont Blanc comes into direct view. This lakefront retreat, just outside town on the main route to Lausanne, is surrounded by abundant seasonal plantings and stately old trees. Rooms are filled with a mix of antique and modern furniture. The terrace and dining room ($-$$$) are the big draws. Fresh perch, a regional favorite, tastes even better when served lakeside. Book well in advance, as their guest return rate is unusually high. I8l 70 rue de Lausanne, CH-1110 5fJ02118815811 @02118115888 ffJwww.fleur-du-Iac.ch ~31 rooms, 7 suites 6 Restaurant, minibars, cable TV; Wi-Fi, bar, free parking; no ale EI AE, DC, MC, V T@I EP.
Lausanne's importance today stems from its several.disparate roles in national and world affairs. Politically, it is the site of the Tribunal Federal, the highest court of appeals in Switzerland. Commercially, although it is by no means in the same league as Zurich or Bern, it figures as the headquarters for many multinational organizations, corporations, and sports federations. On a major international rail route and at a vital national junction 66 km (41 mil northeast of Geneva, Lausanne serves as a trade center for most of the surrounding agricultural regions and the expanding industrial towns of Vaud. This prosperity spills over into the arts; there's a surprising concentration of dance companies-including that of Maurice. Bejart-as well as several theaters, jazz cellars, and a pair of excellent orchestras. Thousands of students come for the top-notch universities, private academies, and technology centers. Lausanne is also the world's Olympic capital; the International Olympic Committee has been based here since 1915 (its founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, is buried nearby at Montoie Cemetery).
The balance of old and new has not always been kept. The first 20 years after World War II saw an immense building boom, with old buildings and whole neighborhoods pulled down to make way for shining contemporary office and apartment buildings-an architectural exuberance that has given Lausanne a rather lopsided air.
Lausanne
Rising in tiers from the lakeside at Ouchy (1,181 feet) to more than 2,000 feet, the city covers three hills, which are separated by gorges that once channeled rivers. The rivers have been built over, and huge bridges span the gaps across the hilltops. On one hill in particular, modern skyscrapers contrast brutally with the beautiful proportions of the cathedral rising majestically from its crest. Atmospheric alleys and narrow streets have mostly been demolished, yet the Old Town clustered around the cathedral has been painstakingly restored.
Below the Old Town spreads the commercial city center, and in the bottom of the hollow between avenue Jules Gonin and rue de Geneve is the Flon, a neighborhood with plenty of nightspots. Still farther south, along the lake, is the separate township of Ouchy, an animated resort area dominated by the Chateau d'Ouchy, with a tower dating from the Middle Ages.
What to See
» Cathedrale de Notre-Dame (Cathedral of Our Lady). A Burgundian e Gothic architectural treasure, this cathedral, also called the Cathedra Ie f de Lausanne, is Switzerland's largest church-and probably its finest.
Begun in the 12th century by Italian, Flemish, and French architects, it was completed in 1275. Pope Gregory X came expressly to perform the historic consecration ceremony-of double importance, as it also served as a coronation service for Rudolf of Habsburg as the new Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf brought his wife, eight children, seven cardinals, five archbishops, 17 bishops,four dukes, 15 counts, and a multitude of lesser lords to watch in the church's exquisitely proportioned nave.
Viollet-le-Duc, a renowned restorer who worked on the cathedrals of Chartres and Notre-Dame-de-Paris, brought portions of the building to Victorian Gothic perfection in the 19th century. His repairs are visible as paler stone contrasting with the weathered local sandstone. Streamlined to the extreme, without radiating chapels or the excesses of later Gothic trim, the cathedral wasn't always so spare; in fact, there was brilliant painting. Zealous Reformers plastered over the florid colors, but in so doing they unwittingly preserved them, and now you can see portions of these splendid shades restored in the right transept. The dark and delicate choir contains the 14th-century tomb of the crusader Otto I of Grandson and exceptionally fine 13th-century choir stalls, unusual for their age alone, not to mention their beauty. The church's masterpiece, the 13th-century painted portal, is considered one of Europe's most magnificent. Constant repairs and renovations often shroud parts of the structure in scaffolding.
