RMHS Goes to Basel: Bonjour de Lausanne

Lausanne

As you may or may not know, Switzerland is broken up into different sections based on their four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansch. Basel is located in the German speaking part, but we felt it was important for the students to experience a different side of Switzerland, so we headed south to the French speaking city of Lausanne.

If you have been keeping up with the news, you may have heard that Lausanne hosted Secretary of State, John Kerry, as he negotiated with Iran about nuclear peace. Switzerland's neutrality has afforded it many of these types of situations, and Lausanne is home to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the same reason, because it has friendly relations with all nations.

Le Cathedral Lausanne

We arrived after a packed train ride with a few another school and some type of elderly outing (both groups were trying to take our reserved seats, but Dr. Maggi fended them off, what can't she do!). The train was about a two hour ride from Basel. We were blessed with another beautiful day though, and we saw some different terrain that was lush and contained farms and vineyards along the way.

Upon arriving, a few students enjoyed speaking en francais, although not always successfully. There really is no better way to learn a language than to gain experience by trying to get around or order a coffee or meal, and the students seemed to enjoy the challenge.

Le Cathedral Lausanne

We walked around the old town for about an hour. We toured le Cathedral Lausanne, and strolled the streets before getting some lunch. We then took the tram down to
Lake Geneva.

Lake Geneva offered even more picturesque views of the mountains, and students were claiming that they looked like a "green screen" because they couldn't be real. We walked along the water, passing, Le Hotel Beau Ryvage where Kerry recently conducted his negotiations. While the negotiations may have taken quite some time, I can see why, because I think Kerry just wanted to stay a bit longer in such an elegant hotel with one of the most beautiful views in the world.

We made our way to the Olympic Museum, one of the more beautiful museum locations I have ever seen. We learned about the history of the Olympics, how Pierre Le Coubertin re-

Micheal Johnson's spikes

founded the Olympics in 1896 in Athens, and moved the IOC to Lausanne in 1916, and saw many artifacts from Mark Spitz, Michael Johnson, Kerri Strug, and many more Olympic heroes. After about an hour in the museum, students spent some time wandering along Lake Geneva, played a new Swiss game, muhlenspiel, that is kind of a combination of Connect Four and checkers, and, of course, had some ice cream.

It was then a two hour train ride back to Basel, where many students occupied their time playing a variety of card games, and perhaps the chaperones did too. It is hard to believe that we only have a few days left, but tomorrow is time for a chocolate experience and then an afternoon in Zurich. Until then!