Olympic fitness versus jagerbombs, fondue and meringues!

First full day in Lausanne started with coffee and croissants in a brasserie on the main square, giving us the energy for the hefty walk down (with the emphasis on down as Lausanne is incredibly hilly) to Ouchy, the part of the city that meets the lovely Lake Geneva (or Lac de Leman) as it is known here. I expected it to be a larger-scale version of Bowness on Lake Windermere, and funnily enough my husband drew that comparison after a few minutes walking alongside the lake. However, it is much bigger than Windermere and the buildings bordering the lake are of a different style as you'd expect. The biggest disappointment was that it was very hazy so we weren't able to see any of the Alps so we couldn't compare them with the Windermere Fells that my sister would be able to name individually.

We had two goals in going to Ouchy; the first was to see the lake and hopefully go on a boat trip and the second was to go to the Olympic Museum, just a five minute walk from Ouchy pier. We decided to go to the museum in the morning, then review the weather afterwards and decide whether to take a ferry or wait till the following day.

Lausanne has been the home of the International Olympic Committee since 1914 so is the natural home for a museum promoting greater understanding of the history and underlying principles of the Olympic Games. The museum has very attractive grounds overlooking the lake and displaying sculptures which represent all the Olympic sports.

I also liked the statue of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, with the flame.

The museum is well laid out and there are plenty of interactive opportunities, so this would be a brilliant place to bring kids who are interested in sport. We stayed for over 3 hours, by which time we were ready for something to eat so made our way to a nice Creperie and enjoyed a crepe each and some Breton cider with them. I persuaded my husband that this was the way to go as it was only 2.5% proof and was quite a bit cheaper than water!

By the time we came out of the creperie we could actually glimpse some high mountains with snow on the top over on the french side of the lake, but decided to keep the boat trip for the next day, as the forecast was for a better day.

One brilliant perk offered in Lausanne is that when you book into a hotel you have to pay a small amount of tourist tax, and on the back of that you are given a free pass to use on all the buses, trams and the metro, so we took advantage of that and used the metro, which is very clean and easy to use as it doesn't run deep underground, to take us back to the old part of the city and we ventured into a very famous bar near to the University called The Great Escape for a pre-dinner drink. We'd walked past this bar the first night and it was packed with young people, many standing outside, as we walked round the main square.

Inside it it very rough with a bare floor and rough wooden tables and chairs, but is full of atmosphere as it is noisy with music, laughter and conversation. We were sitting next to a group of young people (we were definitely the oldest in there) who had all had a few drinks and were very lively. When the barman brought over a drink each for them which was a drink inside a drink, i.e. a large glass filled with a light coloured liquid and a smaller glass of dark liquid sitting inside that, we were fascinated, as we hadn't seen drinks like that before, and we asked them what they were. They told us they were Jagerbombs, which we've heard of but not seen before. Imagine our surprise when, before they drank them, they brought two more over, one each for the two of us, so we had our first Jagerbomb. Sharing this information with our kids by text, we were told by our youngest that he knows this as a Jagershot, when one glass sits inside the other, and a Jagerbomb is when you pour the Jaegermeister into the Red Bull.

We felt honour bound to try the fondue as it is very much the local speciality, so found a decent restaurant that specialises in fondues and ordered one cheese fondue and one raclette; grated potato, lardons of bacon and swiss cheese and shared both. We were very glad of the green salad on the side as it was all very rich and filling, and my husband found the fondue very salty, but a nice sociable way to eat. I'm afraid I disgraced myself on the dessert though; while my husband had cherries in kirsch, which were quite bitter but relatively healthy (well it was fruit) I succumbed to "Meringues with thick cream from Gruyere," which I'd read about in the guide books and was encouraged by the waitress. It came with a few berries so I have to focus on that, but it was absolutely gorgeous and I'm willing to forego many puddings in the future for that one! Good job we aren't staying here too long as the food is hearty, to say the least.

As we'd eaten early to get hold of a table at the restaurant, we called into an interesting-looking bar for a nightcap and got into conversation with the owner, telling him about our trip and hearing about some of his extensive European travel experiences. I was quite surprised when he said that he had intended to book mini-breaks for himself, his wife and son and girlfriend in Eastbourne in mid-April, as he'd found flights for £30 each, but that he'd left it late and they'd gone up massively, so ruling it out.

On the way home we passed a poster advertising an upcoming theatrical event called "Coup d'Vent sur la jetee d'EASTBOURNE," which I translate as "A puff of wind on the pier at Eastbourne," This seemed like an amazing coincidence after our recent conversation so I turned to my other half, "Oh look, it's Eastbourne again, it seems an unlikely place for a swiss family to go for a short break." My other half to me, "He didn't say Eastbourne, he said Lisbon!" You have to take the accent into account!