Lausanne Local Customs

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On Wednesday and Saturday mornings Place de la Palud and the net of small pedestrian streets in the olden part of the city, as well as spacious Place de la Riponne become vast farmers' market. At that time the whole area turns in to a beehive – sellers offer fruit and vegetable, cheese, meet and fish, pastry… buyers are picking the goods they need… and all of that make very special atmosphere. Maybe it is not fair to mention, but for those with sharp sense of smell cheese-makers' stalls could be a slight "problem".

Whether one likes crowd and strong cheese aroma or not, Lausanne market day is unique occurrence which should not be missed.

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[…] National Olympic Committees of Finland, Croatia and Czech Republic paid tribute to their sport heroes by having sculptures of them in the Olympic Park.

"Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi statue was donated in 1994 by the Olympic Committee of Finland. The legendary runner has been immortalized by Waino Aaltonen in 1925, and the statues can be seen in Turku, Helsinki and Jyvaskyla in Finland, and in Lausanne. Interesting fact is that five bronze statues have been cast in the same mould – in 1925, and again in 1952 for the city of Helsinki, in 1952 to be donated, two years later, to the city Nurmi was born in – Turku, in 1994 for the Olympic Museum, and in 2001 for the city of Jyvaskyla.

On the 29th of April, 1995, Drazen Petrovic statue, the masterpiece of sculptor Vasko Lipovac, was inaugurated in the Olympic Park. During the 1980s, Drazen was the hero of almost every single boy in Yugoslavia. His tragic death occurred at the time of the wars on the territory of former Yugoslavia, but the sorrow was beyond national borders. Seeing Drazen in front of the Olympic Museum produced very emotional moment. The fact that we are not compatriots couldn't affect that.

The statue of "Czech Locomotive" Emil Zatopek, artwork of Jaroslav Broz was erected in 2002. The statue was unveiled two years after the Emil Zatopek's death, in the presence of his wife Dana Zatopkova, the 1952 Olympic Javelin champion.

Beside those three, there is the statue of Pierre de Coubertin in the Olympic Park.

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[…] Sound of organ in the Gothic cathedral – "a concert played on a musical instrument unique in the world in Switzerland's biggest and most beautiful Gothic cathedral!"…

New organ of Cathedrale Notre-Dame was inaugurated in 2003 – after the ten years of constructing (and more than five million Swiss francs) – to mark the 200th anniversary of Vaud joining the Swiss Confederation. The 7000-pipe organ is unique in the world in many aspects: it is the first organ in the world designed by a designer – Giorgetto Giugiaro, the first organ to feature the four main organ styles – French classic and symphonic, German baroque and romantic…

We were very lucky to be in Lausanne on the 25th of July 2008 and to enjoy the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, Felice Moretti (aka Padre Davide da Bergamo), Louis Vierne and Marco Enrico Bossi, performed by Italian organist Donato Cuzzato. It was the great experience.

There are many concerts in the Cathedral during the summer, and only enormous lack of time could be the excuse for missing them.

On 23rd June 1994, on the occasion of its 100th birthday, the International Olympic Committee officially named Lausanne the Olympic capital. A year before that, on 23rd June 1993, the Olympic Museum was founded. But the links of Lausanne and modern Olympic Movement have started almost a century ago – in 1915, when Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games moved the seat of the IOC to Lausanne. Coubertin himself lived in Lausanne and he was buried in Lausanne, although, in accordance with his will, his heart was buried separately in a monument near the ruins of ancient Olympia.

Lausanne's unique and prestigious title is something that forms the spirit of the city, and something the citizens certainly are proud of. The inscription on the building of Gare centrale de Lausanne – Lausanne central railway station: "Lausanne Capitale Olimpique" proves that.

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When I think of Switzerland, I think of mountains, cows with bells, and chocolate! This country is a chocolate lovers paradise. Not only are there numerous speciality chocolate shops to browse and shop in, but pop into any supermarket, food hall, tourist shop etc and you will be confronted by a massive display of tasty Swiss chocolatey goodness.

I have a soft spot for Lindt chocolate, and didn't bore of looking at the large selection on offer. I may have sampled a few varieties you can't seem to buy in the UK, and bought a few blocks home too. We did taste some other brands of Swiss chocolate, but none of them compared to my precious Lindt.

My favourite purchase was a blue Lindt tin with a picture of the Matterhorn on the top, which was filled with chocolate. I bought it at a souvenir shop in Zermatt, expecting that I paid way too much for it. I saw the exact same tin at the Geneva airport on our way home, and it was double the price that I had paid! Lesson for the day - souvenir shops aren't always a rip off.

The famous choreographer Maurice Bejart made Lausanne his base years ago. A mixture between classical and contemporary dancing, his ballets never cease to amaze!

If you happen to be in Lausanne while one of the shows is on, this is defenatelly something worth seeing. Usually there are performances in summer at Malley and a few in winter at the Metropole.

If you are in the old town or even from town centre and want to have a delicious chocolate drink, make your way to Le Barbare.

It is halfway up the Escaliers du marché (old rooved stairs leading up to the cathedral), just before you pass under the road.

This place is a typical locals meeting place. It'll attract students and arty types. It's a small cafe that serves a few things to eat. But people mainly come here for their famous home made hot chocolate. It is delicious! Just ask for a "chocolat maison" and enjoy!

For years of living in or around Lausanne I'd heard the story of the night guard who walks the higher levels of the cathedral at night. I believed that in this day and age, this was a legend sprung from the past.

But one day, just about a year ago, I was in the old town on a winter night, and I heard him, calling out the time from the ledge of the cathedral. And I saw his shadow...

It started off as a wine shop. Now it is a popular place for locals to go and have a glass of wine after work. As it is originally a Vaud and Valais wine shop, a lot of people from Valais living in Lausanne have made this their meeting point.

This cultural festival has become something of an institution in Lausanne. Few are those who don't go and watch a show, listen to a concert or just go and have a drink with friends during the week in July of the Festival de la Cite.

This festival presents performances of all sorts, from dancing, to theatre, to music in the narrow streets of the old town. There is no entry free and the festival subsusts thanks to the sale of T-shirts and other gadgets.