The King and Queen have Arrived at the Palace!
We owe a debt of gratitude to the Golfhotel. Thank you! Thank you!! Had it not been such a miserable, unacceptable, completely disappointing waste of money, we would not have found our true path and made it to Lausanne!
After an inedible meal at the Golfhotel, and many other disappointments, we knew it was time to leave. Just an hour and a half away from where we had been is the delightful city of Lausanne, a new discovery for us. For the same amount of money (and maybe less), we found a room at the nicest hotel in Lausanne, and perhaps one of the nicest hotels in the world: the Lausanne Palace!
Our receptionist, Guillaume, showed us two rooms: a junior suite with a lake view, and a junior suite with a city view. The lake view room was lovely. But we decided we liked the layout of the city view room better, and it saved us quite a bit of money per night.
We are giddy with happiness! It is quiet, it is a classy, adult atmosphere, chandeliers abound, the service is top-notch, we have a luxurious, spacious, incredible suite that is just an elevator ride away from the 5 hotel restaurants, and the hotel food is not just edible, it's amazing!!! I could go on and on.
Our front door:
Our long balcony:
The view from our balcony:
The hallway outside our room:
Hotel lobby:
Lausanne is located on the north shore of the immense Lake Geneva (known to the Swiss as Lac Leman). It is the site of the Headquarters of the International Olympic Committee. There is an Olympic Museum here which we will visit today.
But yesterday, when we arrived, we grabbed a quick bite of lunch at the hotel and then rushed out to explore the city.
Right near our hotel is a street called "Rue de Bourg Saint-Francois" which is the best place to shop in Lausanne. Of course we had some fun, fantastic shopping there. We were shopping for a dress watch for me. We found a lot of nice things that would be fun to buy!
Then we made our way up to visit the city's Medieval Cathedral.
It was interesting to look at the details on the statues in the cathedral.
We were fascinated and bought a few books there to help us study the cathedral further.
But there was still something missing. Brock gazed longingly out into the vast city. Where was it? Where could it be found?
As we made our way back to the hotel, Brock noticed a high-end Cigar and Smoke Shop. Brock has had a very difficult time finding Kentucky Bourbon in Europe due to tariffs, but something told him this could be the place! We've looked everywhere with little luck. He's found some cheap brands, but Maker's Mark is very hard to come by. This shop was run by two cute French women. We inquired, but they seemed confused by our English. But after a few moments of linguistic struggle, one of the ladies led us down a secret spiral staircase into a room full of good whiskies! There, Brock struck gold! Not only did they have a bottle of Maker's Mark, but they also had bottles of the special Maker's Mark 46! Who knew that you should look in the basement of a cigar shop for such a treasure trove?? (Brock.) So a very happy Brockie toddled back to the hotel with his new bourbon stash. That may last him for the rest of our trip!
We went down to the hotel spa, where they have separate sauna facilities for men and women. We both steamed out and cleaned up, then met back up. When I found Brock, he was at the spa desk on the phone, ordering a bucket of ice, a shaker, and cherries! (Such an order would have been laughable at the Golfhotel! Here, no problem! Of course he can have that!) In short order, Brock was having not just a glass of Maker's Mark, but a Maker's Mark Manhattan that he made himself! Talk about a deliriously happy man!
Even this ram was happy!
Our dinner at the hotel's French restaurant, "Brasserie Grand Chene" was worthy of mention. Everything we put in our mouths, from the Escargot, to the Caesar Salad, to the fish, to the filet, to the gratin potatoes, was uniquely prepared and welcome to our taste buds. A far cry from my French dinner (consisting of just French Fries) the night before! Haha!
When we arrived back at our room, we realized that the housekeeper had been into our room for turndown service. Next to each side of the bed was a linen rug with a pair of slippers laying on it, and a chocolate laying on each pillow. Now, that's how we like to be treated!
We raised a toast to the Golfhotel, laughed ourselves to sleep over our good move, and slept like babies!