Lausanne, Switzerland
Goal: Find an inexpensive campground with Internet connectivity, near shopping, not in the mountains, and not too far of a drive from Geneva.
Destination: Camping de Vidy, Lausanne - about 1.5 hours drive from Geneva.
Enroute, we found an "outlet" mall with an IKEA! We were actually able to park, though it was a little tight getting in and out of the sub parking lot. We were hopeful that we might pick up some new pants for Dan and perhaps find a good deal on better winter wear. Did I mention that Switzerland is expensive in my last post?
At the "Outlet" stores, a pair of Dockers were still 89 CHF; ski gear was 200+ CHF. The only place we found close to inexpensive pricing was IKEA - where we happily spent about 2 hours wandering around, trying to understand the store directory, which is in French! New housewares in hand, we set out again for Lausanne.
We found the campground with ease and were only confused by the fact that directly in front of the campground was a "Euro-Relais" spot for 20 CHF per night, with the dump/water station nearby. Staying at "Camping de Vidy" would run about 34 CHF per night. Blame it on a launguage misunderstanding or tactics to get customers, someone came out and told us that camping at the Euro-Relais spot was "no longer possible" and that for a 1-week stay, they would give us a good discount - just come back to reception at 6pm. Needless to say, checking in at reception at 6pm resulted in there being no discount - only the 10% for the CCI (camping card international) on the per person rate (e.g. 1.60 CHF/day discount).
Most campgrounds we found in Switzerland charge a fee for the motorhome plus a per person fee. For example, 15 CHF for the motorhome plus 7.50 CHF per person plus 4 CHF for electricity. What's included in that price varies from site to site - most offer a warm restroom and free showers; but we are self-sustained and don't need those accomodations.
Lausanne is a very pretty city as is Ouchy, the area nearest our campground. We took the bus in to a market, but found only 3 stalls - guess it's not as popular in November. =)
Sample food/services pricing:
- Broccoli - 8 CHF per kilo - 1 medium head of broccoli costs about 3.80 CHF
- Chicken - about 10 CHF for 2 small breasts
- Sandwich meats - about 4.00-5.50 CHF for a tiny package (about 6-8 slices) of turkey or ham
- Internet - at the Camping de Vidy is 7CHF per hour or 40 CHF for the day (for comparison, T-Mobile offers 1-month cards in Germany for 20 Euro)
- McDonalds - about 20 EURO for our family in the rest of Europe; closer to 40 CHF in Lausanne
The campground (even though I whined about the price) is right on Lake Geneva and situated among a huge park with extensive biking/running/walking trails. There's an onsite restuarant and grocery store. In the summer, it must be quite the place to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Now, in the off-season, everything is closed up except for one restroom/shower area near the reception desk and the laundry room.
Mostly hidden in clouds during our stay, the mountain views must be quite beautiful in the summer. Lake Geneva is huge - the largest lake in Central Europe at 224 sq. miles. It's also known for seiches, which are water level fluctuations believed to be caused by atmospheric pressure (Encarta 2007). Was a little eery as I was walking alone along the quiet lake, and suddenly it started rippling but there were no boats in the area. No worries, the campground is more than 5 feet above water level, or is it? =)
Area stores close from 12/12:30-1:30/2:00; food is even more expensive than Geneva - even at the grocery store, and eating out seems cost prohibitive. We found ourselves wondering more than once how people survive in this area. Homes are not cheap (we looked at signs posted in a real estate window - they were 1M CHF and up) and the cost of living, once you have a home seems prohibitive. We're wondering what we are doing wrong - should we be shopping in speciality stores vs. grocery stores?
Everyone is healthy and happy. It's getting colder, but so far, no snow. We spent a day just wandering Lausanne and enjoying the hilly terrain (it's reminiscent of Seattle) and the lovely buildings. Our last day there was windy and it poured rain all day and snow was forecast for some of the mountain regions. Not nice weather at all. We huddled inside except for trips to the laundry room and Dan experimented with baking a cake... yummy way to spend an otherwise dreary day.
Pictures:
1) Cathedral de Lausanne
2) Entrance to the Cathedral
3) Inside the Cathedral - art students were sketching, light was filtering through gorgeous stained glass windows and someone was practicing the Organ. Beautiful.
4) Overlooking Lausanne from the sitting area outside the Cathedral
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