I was recently invited to spend a few days in the beautiful city of Lausanne. It’s an easy 3 1/2 hour train ride from Paris and Penelope (the cat) was invited too.

I had not been to Lausanne in a while and enjoyed wandering the streets of the old town center.  It’s a very well-preserved city and has one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the country.  The cathedral was built between 1150 and 1275.  I climbed the 232 steps to the bell tower where there are spectacular views of the city and mountains.  For over 600 years, every day, between the hours of 10pm and 2 am, a watchman, called a “guet” has called out to the citizens from the belfry.

I also visit the adjacent History Museum which has a marvelous small-scale model of the city that is based on a map from 1638. Surprisingly the city hasn’t changed all that much!

…and yes, I ate fondue and drank some very good Swiss wines (too bad we don’t find them here in France so much).