April 29: This is a picture of the Pont Bessieres in Lausanne, Switzerland. We are looking due east toward Montreux. Lac Leman (or Lake Geneva as it is often incorrectly called) is to the right of the picture; the mountains are the French Alps. At the far end of the bridge, to the right, is the Hotel Cite. When I was a student in Lausanne many decades ago, it was Le Cardinal, a pub that I would frequent on weekends for a beer. Or maybe two. I think a half-liter was about fifty cents. I became quite adept at nursing that beer for a very long time whenever cash was in short supply.
I loved going to Le Cardinal for the view. All of the windows looked out across the bridge toward the Cathedral. When we first arrived in Lausanne, we would hang out on the balcony enjoying a cold beer in the late September sun admiring that glorious view across the valley toward the Cathedral. The school used this very shot on the front of its advertising brochure. Built in 1275, the Cathedral is early Gothic. It’s no Notre Dame or Chartres, but to me it was spectacular.
I recall being downtown in early April on a grey and misty Saturday afternoon. I was in a contemplative mood and wandering around the old town at loose ends. As it got later I headed toward home and found myself at the doors of Le Cardinal. Usually, there was someone from the school hanging out, but that afternoon, there was nobody around. I had just enough cash for an espresso.
Truthfully, I had not wanted to come to the school. It meant moving away from my friends, selling my motorcycle, abandoning my girlfriend, and entering a period of complete uncertainty.
Before I came to Lausanne I didn’t drink coffee. Now I was enjoying an espresso looking out at a 700 year old cathedral. That afternoon I realized that being here felt “normal”- I felt like I was at home. I had friends here. I could do pretty much what I wanted, and be the person I wanted to be. I had grown enormously as a person. We had travelled a lot that year, and I knew that I wanted to do more of that too.
As I finished up my espresso and headed home across the bridge admiring the snow capped mountains, I understood that my year in Lausanne was truly a great gift – one I treasure to this day.