February & March 2012

February: Valentine's day, the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition, more Ramseyer art, and the Lion of Lucerne.

March: We traveled to the US. I took lots of photos with my mind's eye, but none with a camera. 

Some of our adventures in West Virginia can be seen here and here.

Basel buffet

We took the train to Colmar, France, last Saturday, changing trains in Basel, where there is a noticeable difference between the French and Swiss train terminals. This former buffet is on the French platform.

Morat church

The ramparts and the decorative roof of the German church in Morat.

Swiss bride

 

In Morat on a very cold day.

Myself I shall adore

These sculpted landscape figures in Montreux brought to mind an aria from Semele, the opera we saw earlier this month: "Myself I shall adore, / if I persist in gazing. / No object sure before / was ever half so pleasing."

Montreux Ramseyer

Plentitude (1985)

An André Ramseyer sculpture on the waterfront in Montreux to add to the survey from early July.

St. Imier sculpture

A sculpture of St. Imier himself, founder of the town.

St. Imier clock

One of the clock towers in St. Imier. This type of single-hand clock is common around our part of Switzerland. 

The text under the clock face says, "Be careful because you don't know what hour our Lord is coming."

Tête de Moine

Tête de Moine (monk's head) is a local cheese made in the nearby Jura mountains. 

We visited a cheese factory that makes it in St. Imier.

Cow art

Kinetic cow sculpture in the Migros grocery store in the city center of Bern.

Stadttheater Bern

We went to Bern yesterday to see Handel's opera/oratorio Semele at the intimate State Theater.

Hauterive waterway

I find Hauterive to be one of the most charming towns we've visited.

Horse parking

This sign is posted in the center of Hauterive. Loosely translated: don't leave your horse here.

Hauterive vineyard

The grapevines are changing color too.

EPFL Rolex Learning Center

On Monday we visited the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). This is the Rolex Learning Center
on campus, a building that looks even more interesting in aerial photos. I was taken with the rainbow assortment
of chairs.

Val-de-Ruz

A view of the valley. Each of the little clusters of homes is a separate town.

Self-serve potatoes

A self-service potato dispenser in the Val-de-Ruz. 5 kilos of new potatoes for 5 Swiss francs.

Knight fountain

One of two fountains of knights built in 1550 in La Neuveville. I'm perplexed by the dog/lion 

holding the musket under the knight, but haven't found any explanations of the iconography.

Bear

A building in La Neuveville with the bear of Bern above its entrance. La Neuveville is about 10 miles northeast
of Neuchâtel, just across the line separating the canton of Neuchâtel from the canton of Bern.

La Neuveville

Colorful homes in the old part of La Neuveville, a small town on Lake Bienne/Biel.