City sights and sounds

July 20, 2023

The temperature in Lausanne has hovered around the late 20s both yesterday and today. But our upstairs apartment keeps cool, with windows and curtains open and a fan running full-time. The particular joy of open windows day and night comes from the sounds rising from the cobbled pedestrian shopping street directly below us.

First thing this morning, though, was delightfully quiet; we seemed to have the street all to ourselves. As happens in big cities, delivery trucks and street cleaners turned up soon afterwards and the spell was broken. During the day, and particularly at six o'clock in the evening, church bells break into joyous ringing. Late in the afternoon and early evening, the hubbub of pedestrians has been overtaken by a lone clarinetist. The stone surfaces and walls of the street provide wonderful acoustics but his talent is evident. He cycles through a playlist of classical, jazz and soul pieces, suitable for an ever-changing audience of shoppers. We don’t mind the repetition in the least.

Couldn't agree more . . . opposite our apartment

His performance coincides with the last couple of hours of today’s Tour de France stage. After a long walk, an unexpected boat trip and visit to our bikes at Hood Cycles, we’re resting up - enjoying the breeze, drinking tea, watching the muted Tour (commentary is in Italian) on the telly, and listening to the mellow sounds of our man on the street. Bliss.

Tomorrow, our own tour begins at last.

Surprisingly vigorous game play on a hot afternoon

Happy behind the wheel ...of a plastic electric boat

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Tricia GrahamGreat to hear of your reunion with your bikes and so looking forward to following your tour. We are still floating along on our way to Amsterdam - it is interesting to see all the cyclists travelling the paths we have done. This time next week we will be in Bremen and ready to start on the bikes. thank goodness the weather seems to have cooled down a bit
Stay safe
Tricia and Ken
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9 months ago

Robyn RichardsTo Tricia GrahamThanks, Tricia. I'm enjoying your floating tour too!
We're about to head down to the bike shop...coinciding with a thunderstorm!
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9 months ago

Carolyn van HoeveLovely to read you’ve made it Robyn and happily reacquainted with your bikes!
How did the K-Mart bags work for you? I’ve checked them out and they look like just the job. Did you manage to get everything in one bag or did you have one each? They look quite big.
Looking forward to reading about your first day of the tour!
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9 months ago

Robyn RichardsTo Carolyn van HoeveI think the heatwave broke this morning . We've had thunderstorms, some rain and generally nice riding temperatures.
I bought one of those bags. You're right, they're very roomy. Bruce used a smaller overnight bag with my bag taking the overflow. It's an awkward shape to manouvre around but I got there. The bag, in its case, is currently doing duty as a rain cover for the stuff on Bruce's back carrier!
Too tired and too late to write up today's ride...didn't get to hotel till 9.30. Was a big day involving complicated train travel!
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9 months ago