View from Signal de Sauvabelin in winter – more pictures here – click to enlarge the panorama.
Yesterday afternoon a young man came towards me as I was walking along the bottom part of the car park near the big wooden shelter at Sauvabelin and asked me whether I spoke English. This young man from the Middle-East wanted some information on the parking arrangements prevailing at Sauvabelin. Not only was I happy to provide him with all the info he wanted but upon hearing that he intended to visit Signal de Sauvabelin and the tower of Sauvabelin (unfortunately closed until 30 September as the tower is undergoing some renovation work – more details available here), I told him about the nice trees and flowers in the park below, at L’Hermitage, and I added that it was even possible to get to the Old Town and to the Cathedral from there – should he be interested.
Lausanne is blessed to have several waterfalls.
I also offered to take him to the nearby waterfalls as I wanted to go there myself. He seemed very interested, but it would have been too much of a walk for his parents. However, he seemed so happy to be at Sauvabelin (he had asked me for the car park info because his intention was to come back again the next day, i.e. today) that it brought back to my mind memories of some of the great times I had had in the area (which, as I like to recall, may well have been a sacred hill for the Celts).
Signal de Sauvabelin in winter – more pictures here.
The enthusiasm of this young man (in his mid-twenties, I would say) made me want to offer to take him and his parents to Signal de Sauvabelin, but I did not want to impose my presence on them. In addition, I was hesitant to do so because I had had the impression that his father was a little surprised by my offer to show his son the way to the waterfall. However, I felt a little guilty about not having offered to take them to Signal only a few seconds after having left them – because I know almost all that there is to point out from this lookout point and because I simply love to be able to show people round places (I have done so many a time in Geneva, but also here in Lausanne and in Zurich) – this is why I was happy to oblige twice when, a little later on, as I was walking through the wood, I was asked for directions first by a couple in their thirties, then by an elderly woman.
Just in case this young man from the Middle East were ever to stumble across this post, here are some pictures of the tower in winter (unfortunately, no pictures of my best memory of Sauvabelin: the wood all covered in snow on a cold December night, but with the paths leading to the wooden tower of Sauvabelin all lit up by the moon whose absolute ‘fullness’ was illuminating the whole area – I really cherish the memory of this great experience I have yet to relive).
View of lake Léman from the tower of Sauvabelin – more photos here.
The tower of Sauvabelin in winter – more photos here.
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