We headed out this morning from Lausanne in Switzerland to the town of Évian-les-Bains in France by ferry. Evian is the source of the world famous Evian mineral water. The water, from the same source, is available from free spigots in town! After walking around, enjoying the water, and having a bit to eat, we headed back to Lausanne again by ferry. Upon our return, we checked out the Olympic Museum and adjacent Olympic Park.
After taking the Lausanne Metro to the southernmost stop at Ouchy-Olympique, we boarded a ferry to the French town of Evian-les-Bains on the opposite side of Lake Geneva, or Lac Leman as it is called in France. We got a beautiful view of some of the gorgeous waterfront buildings as we departed.
Looking to the left of the boat, we were able to see the eastern shore of Lac Leman. There were some small waves. They rocked the boat a bit but didn’t have too much of an effect.
Au reviour, Switzerland!
It took the boat about half an hour to reach Evian. This was our first glimpse of the town as the boat turned towards the dock.
A wooden sculpture on some steel columns as we walked to the west on a shoreline pathway. The boat we took, the Leman, is still docked but is about to leave. Its schedule gives it just enough time to discharge passengers and pick up new ones before heading out.
We noticed another wooden sculpture on the adjacent road’s grassy median. The fancy looking cupola (is that a cupola?) is atop the Palais Lumière, currently a museum.
There’s the Leman headed back to Lausanne! It seems to be the only boat that runs the Lausanne – Evian route.
There were two interesting trees that spanned the walkway! Metal supports were put in place to help hold the tree up. Only the first tree is visible from here but the shadow of the second can be seen beyond it.
A different third tree, on the opposite side, provided a well trimmed canopy over the path.
The first sign of the Evian water company! This is a corporate office according to Google.
We walked through a very small garden that was between the walkway and the road. Very rustic, particularly in comparison to the Evian building behind it!
This looks like mini golf! And it was! We noticed the ticket office a bit further down the path. We didn’t play. We couldn’t have played even if we wanted to as it was not open.
A monument to General Pierre-Louis Dupas, a general under Napoleon. He was born in Evian so possibly a local hero.
This seems like it is a monument to 1200 who died at a hospital here during World War I.
There is a small Japanese garden on a square plot of land broken up into two triangles by a road. There didn’t seem to be any signage explaining why it is here. Unfortunately, the water features were dry, possibly due to the season.
Bonjour Groot! OK, it is probably not Groot. Just another wooden sculpture!
Finally, we reached one of two public mineral water sources in town! The water coming out is the same that is used for bottling Evian brand water. Or at least, from the same ultimate source in the mountains. The water tasted good. Just like the bottled Evian water we got while eating lunch.
There was a small crowd getting water, a mixture of locals and tourists. The locals would show up with multiple bottles while tourists generally only had one.
A second source was nearby. This one didn’t seem to get as many visitors. It was on the same road but in a slightly less obvious location.
After filling two bottles of water, one each source, we walked through the shopping area on Rue Nationale a few times. This road is mostly closed to vehicular traffic. It wasn’t very busy today, likely due to the weather.
The boat seems to run continuously throughout the day, though as only one boat is used it is more than an hour in between visits. We caught the 2:45pm departure back to Lausanne.
Bye, Evian! Thanks for the water! The lake was a bit rougher this time around with bigger waves. It definitely swayed more than on our ride out. There was one particularly big splash of water as the boat turned at high speed about a quarter of the way to Lausanne. This turn probably lined the boat up better with the waves as it was a smoother ride afterwards.
Eventually, we were surrounded by clouds and rain and we could barely see land anywhere. But soon, we saw Lausanne approaching in the distance.
After disembarking, we started walking towards the Olympic Museum. Part of it is visible at the very right edge of this frame.
We walked by the Quai de Belgique, or Belgium Quay. There didn’t appear to be any signage explaining the significance of the statue.
This second statue seems to be from Belgium thanking the Swiss for their hospitality during World War I.
After a bit of walking, we reached the lower entrance to the Olympic Museum. Lausanne is the location of the International Olympic Committee so it makes sense that there would be a museum here!
We walked through the Olympic Park on the way up to the museum. This park has various sculptures that are related to the Olympics.
If it looks like a Botero, it is probably a Botero. This is a Botero.
Some additional sculptures. Some are self explanatory, some defy explanation.
This sculpture was interesting. It is of three cyclists. Two of the bicycles are linked, resulting in five wheels in the shape of the Olympic rings!
As we reached the top of the park, we noticed one of the historic boats that operate as ferries headed towards the piers at Lausanne. The ferry we took to France was not one of these historic paddle steamers.
According to its sign, this flame in front of the Olympic Museum was lit by German figure skater Katarina Witt at the end of a relay in 1993. This flame was originally created at the Lausanne Federal Polytechnic by laser.
Faster! Higher! Stronger!
This statue of a figure holding what appears to be a umbrella sprouting water seemed appropriate given the rainy weather in the afternoon.
On the way to the Lausanne Metro, we noticed this statue of a man on horseback. He was the leader of the Swiss Army during World War Two.
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