Biking Day 8

• Length ridden: 87 km
• Ascent: 500 meters
• Rating: 6.5 out of 10 - Neuchâtel was great, the rest not so much, rain in the evening
• Highlights: Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, friendliness of the French-speaking people
• Lowlight: Lausanne (my apologies, inhabitants plus the International Olympic Committee)
• Map of the day

Well, this was the beginning of my second week on the road and I was doing quite well. It was just 140 kilometers to Geneva as the crow flies and I had two full days to reach it - no issues.

As I had checked in after closure, I waited for someone to show up at the campground - I could have easily left without paying, but that is bad Carma. It cost me a bit more than expected, if I recall correctly, the friendly lady charged me CHF 33 for the night. Oh well, this is Switzerland. At a bit after 8 am, I was on the saddle again, ready for a new day. Soon after departure, I rode by the headquarters of Bulgari, next to Neuchâtel.

Neuchâtel - if I liked Thun the previous day, I almost fell in love with this city. There was something very authentic medieval, mixed with a laid back, friendly, almost mediterran flair. (Side note: that there was a mediterran flair is confirmed by Swiss Tourism's intro on Neuchâtel, quote: "Enjoy the Old Town’s Mediterranean ambience while strolling along the lakefront promenade or exploring the colourful market on Place des Halles"). There was a remarkable change in the attitude of the people - them becoming polite, welcoming, direct. Ladies and gentlemen - I did not know this right till now, as I am writing this blog and researching a bit. Now I know that this was the very start of French-speaking territory (what my trip was concerned) and this positive attitude of the people was almost touchable - and it would accompany me on the rest of my trip through France. Wish some of it would spread to Austria, especially to Vienna...

The welcoming attitude started when I visited a local bike shop, as the axis of my pedal was still misbehaving, when under pressure. A friendly store owner took my bike, examined it, tightened some screws and the noise was gone (well, at least for a while) and did not take a penny.

A bit later, an old lady smiled at me taking photos of the city and proudly started telling me the history of her town - in French, I only understood a few words, but this underlines how nice they were. And there was so much to see...

It was lunch time by the time I had left town and I bought a large döner kebap - which was quite tasty.

I rode along the shore and there was much to see - lush green vineyards on the hillside, castles and chateau's, medieval towns that are apparently not on the radar of tourists - this was a precursor to what France had to offer (except for the crazy prices, which I would not miss).

Later, I reached another impressive town, called Yverdon-les-Bains. OK, I was wrong, according to Swiss Tourism, this is indeed on the tourist map, as it is the largest spa in West Switzerland, who would have guessed.

With Yverdon, I was done with Lake Neuchâtel and there was 35 kilometer of village roads to reach Lausanne. But let us take it one step at a time. I reached some smaller villages, with impressive churches, just see this one. The name is lost in translation, oh well.

In a tiny village (apparently) called Penthéréaz, I found a small cheesemaker. An utmost friendly lady served me and for a reasonable amount, I filled up my food supply with tasty local cheese. If I recall correctly, she mentioned the Gruyere was hand-made at her store - with some other cheeses being bought from other manufacturers. Should you be in this area, do pay a visit to Fromagerie de Penthéréaz, here is the link.

The surroundings of Lausanne were not as pretty as I would have expected and and Google had a hard time navigating me to a road with less traffic. I ended up riding on the bike lane of a major road.

So my first impressions of Lausanne were not positive, I got to a major square, which was anything but nice - with a group of very strange people loitering around, being stared at by the police. Even though the city hosts the International Olympic Committee, there was no love affair between us. I sat for a while, feeling somewhat disappointed ("in my French Switzerland, how can they have an unattractive city?"), then started riding up a hill to a church and there was a sudden deterioration in the weather.

Let us blame it on the sudden downpour that I omitted seeing most of the city. I did make it to the church, there I thankfully found a covered spot that prevented me (and a few others) from getting completely soaked. Before the rain, I thought of camping at a campsite, but gave up the idea during the downpour. I contacted the local youth hostel, they did have a room for four and waited for the rain to stop.

)

There were some pretty places in downtown, though.

I reached the youth hostel and it cost only like CHF 30 - and we were just three in a room. One of my room-mates was from Munich, we was on a 3-monhth pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela on foot - I found that pretty cool. It was great to sleep in a bed and have a roof over my head.

That day I rode 87 kilometers, not really earth-shattering.