2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 59: Fri 21 Jul

17-24 degC, a few storms overnight, a few light showers in the morning, clearing to a sunny day, with dark clouds in the early evening

Walk: 14km; total: 443km

After a 3* breakfast in a 4* hotel, we walked about 150m to the nearest metro station and hopped on. Initially we head north then stopped in the old city. The one place we really wanted (Palais de Rumine) to see the inside of, was in the process of being barricade off by an army of police, council workers and other security personnel. We’ve since found out that it’s closed for four days due to “expected major demonstrations in the adjoining square”. A few churches/cathedrals/basilicas, old buildings and we were back on the metro, heading in a southerly direction to the last stop, Ouchy-Olympique. We then walked about 800m to the Olympic Museum, and as the name suggests, it is all about the Olympic games from when they started way back in 776 BC. It is said they most likely existed well before that though. A while later, Emperor Theodosius I accused the games of being a way to spread paganism, and abolished them by decree in 393 AD. Some 1,500 years later they would be revived, with the first of the new Games being held in Athens in 1896. From an Australian perspective, the Games were held in 1956 at Melbourne, 2000 at Sydney, and scheduled for 2032 at Brisbane.

The origin of sporting competitions in Greece is not known for certain; they may have stemmed from funeral games, especially chariot races, organised in honour of warriors killed in combat. And “games” did not always suggest a recreational dimension. Rather, they were contests, sometimes to the death, and the notion of sport did not exist in ancient times.

Back on the metro, and we decided to go all the way to the northern end to see what was there; not much as it turned out and five minutes later we were back on the metro heading back to our stop. Back to the hotel via Coop for lunch, then a rest. We found the Metro a great way of exploring the city and also avoiding the monstrous hills that are everywhere! As there are essentially only two lines we quickly worked out how it all works and where they go. Just to prove we’re not exaggerating the point about the hills, the Metro here is the steepest one in the world.

In the afternoon, Wendy followed up on some emails while Greg went out in his own wandering and riding the Metro. Wendy ventured out and found an HUGE shopping centre and after purchasing what she was looking for went back down the monster hill, via the Coop, to the hotel. Greg returned a short while after and we had dinner together.

Lots of pics, titles to follow tomorrow!

Lausanne Centre Gare

Palais de Rumine

The barricades around the Palais de Rumine

Market Stairs - a steep route between the Cathedral and the Town Centre, first built in the 13th century, its current form dates to the 18th century. It is roofed and winding.

Views from the stairs

Cathedral Notre Dame de Lausanne

We could have climbed the belfry but thought of our knees and moved on

Old Bishop’s Palace

Views from near the Old Bishop’s Palace

Back of the Palace

Palais de Rumine

Saint Laurent Church

Town Hall

On the metro

Sculpture at Olympic Park

These stairs measure 1,363 Greek feet = 420m, the length of an Olympic stadium today

Olympic Museum

Olympic Flame

Temple of Zeus

Replica of the torch used by the High Priestess to light the first runners torch since 1992, the design inspired by the pillars of the Temple of Hera

Parabolic mirror reflector used until 1992 at Olympia to Cath the sun’s rays and creat a flame, in front of the Temple of Hera. The flame is then passed to the first runner.