Day 326 – SWITZERLAND: From Montreux to Lausanne


It was a fitful sleep last night. The construction site echoed, bits of plastic flapping and sounding like footsteps in the dark. I woke at one point and saw the silloutte of a small dog sniffing cautiously about an arm’s lenth away. At first light, about 5:50am I made my departure into the day, still tired from the bad sleep.

Moving near Cully, Switzerland

I certainly hadn’t overdone it yesterday, but today my legs were hurting. Perhaps it was due to the large amount of cycling I have done over the last few months, but my calves and thighs were OK. It were those small balancing muscles at my hips and groin that were sore. I figure that they’ll toughen up with time though.

Yummy boysenberries from the side of the road near Vevey, Switzerland

After 30 minutes of pushing, I spied some big fat blackberries on the side of the road, growing wild. They were high up on an embankment, so I only managed to get some of the lower hanging ones. They would tide me through until I got to Lausanne, where I intented to buy some breakfast.

Lausanne is a very hilly city. Not condusive to skateboarding at all. Especially when your groin muscles hurt. I walked up the hills in the rain that had started to fall. No point in pushing too hard yet.

I stopped in at a Migros shopping centre and bought oats, ground coconut, pasta, raisins and peanuts. I have never considered ground coconut as an option before, but it is super cheap, with almost 650 kcal per 100g. Easily digested, and it weighs less than olive oil. Adding a couple of tablespoons of coconut to my oatmeal really bumps up the energy value, and it tastes great.

As I was nearing Lausanne, showers of rain were coming in 20 minutes apart. I would cower under a tree for 10 minutes waiting for the rain to stop before carrying on. Find me a manufaturer of fully sealed bearings for skateboards that are watertight, and you’ll be my hero.

The plan for today was to visit some skateboard shops in Lausanne to find a skate tool (adjusts the various bolts on a skateboard), and to get in contact with Heidi, a teacher from the International School of Lausanne. Heidi had been a teacher with the last group of students at the Village Camps camp in Leysin. Her and her huband live in Lausanne and had offered to let me stay when I arrived.

I found the skateshops (dismally stocked when it came to practical stuff like tools – more about fashion than anything esle), found the tool I was looking for, and got in touch with Heidi.

Heidi and her husband, Alex, took me in and fed me and gave me a bed for the night. A great end to a somewhat tiring day.


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2 thoughts on “Day 326 – SWITZERLAND: From Montreux to Lausanne

  • Aunty Les

    Those blackberries are enormous. Hanne and I sometimes come across wild blackberry bushes when out tramping but the berries are always miserable little things.

  • Lee

    Ever-thoughtful photography again, with the reflection in the skateboard and then the skateboard in the periphery of the second shot. Superb. Those funky wheels will be come somewhat of a trademark in the months to come, I imagine… and easy to spot in a picture too, making it even easier to get photos that are definitely Somewhere Interesting but also definitely Rob.

    So you've got no tent now, from what I remember of that gear shot? Hope the small sniffing dog is the most perilous visitor you get in the night 🙂