On The Right
Hand Side Of The Road Is A Deep Ravine Planted In The Style Of An English
Garden,
With serpentine gravel walks, and on the other side of the ravine
stands the upper part of the city, the
Cathedral, Hotel de Ville, and the
Chateau du Bailli, which is the seat of Government. From the terrace of
the Cathedral you enjoy a fine view, but a still finer and far more
comprehensive one is from the Signal house, or Belvedere near the forest
of Sauvabelin (Silva Bellonae in Pagan times)[57]. In this wood fairs,
dances and other public festivals are held, and it is the favourite spot
for parties of pleasure to dine al fresco; it is a pity, however, that
the edifice called the Belvedere was not conceived in a better taste; it
has an uncouth and barbarous appearance.
Lausanne is situated about a quarter of a mile (in a right line) from the
lake, and you descend continually in going from the city to the Lake Leman
by a good carriage road, until you arrive on the borders of the lake, where
stands a neat little town called Ouchy, or as it is sometimes termed le
port de Lausanne. There is a good quai and pier. The passage across the
lake from Ouchy to the Savoy side requires four hours with oars.
I have made several pleasant acquaintances here, viz., M. Pidon the
Landamman, a litterato of the first order; Genl La Harpe, the tutor of the
Emperor of Russia; but the most agreeable of all is the Baron de
F[alkenskiold], an old gentleman of whose talents, merits and delightful
disposition I cannot speak too highly. He has the most liberal and
enlightened views and opinions, and is extremely well versed in English,
French and German litterature. He is a Dane by birth and was exiled early
in life from his own country, on account of an accusation of being
implicated in the affair of Struensee; and it is generally supposed that he
was one of Queen Matilda's favoured lovers, which supposition is not
improbable, as in his youth, to judge from his present dignified and
majestic appearance, he must have been an uncommonly handsome man. He has
lived ever since at Lausanne, and tho' near seventy-four years of age and
tormented with the gout, he never loses his cheerfulness, and passes his
time mostly with his books. He gives dinner parties two or three times a
week, which are exceedingly pleasant, and one is sure to meet there a
small, but well informed society of natives and foreigners. Most German
travellers of rank and litterary attainments, who pass thro' Lausanne,
bring letters of introduction and recommendation to the Baron and are sure
to meet with the utmost hospitality and attention.
The women of the Canton de Vaud are in general very handsome, well shaped
and graceful; litterature, music, dancing and drawing are cultivated by
them with success; and among the men, tho' one does not meet perhaps with
quite as much instruction as at Geneva (I mean that it is not so general),
yet no pedantry whatever prevails as in Geneva.
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