Guest Post: Summer Break in Lausanne by Marieke van Esch

Hi! This is Marieke again, mother of Daantje (2,5 year) and Juul (10 months); the three of us support husband/papa Matthijs through his MBA experience at IMD for the year 2011
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Back after the IMD summer break, and with renewed energy, we try to benefit as much as we can from Lausanne and its direct surroundings. Since we just experience each season only once in Lausanne we try to get the most out. Besides we try again to keep the family balance and balance as partners as good as possible. The second phase of the IMD year definitely creates a different feeling: there is more flexibility in the enormous amount of work for the MBA’s, not per say more time. Still this makes a (good!) difference.

After 2 months of Swiss school holidays, several activities start again! Which is really good for us as little family. We can go again to Maison du Quartier, Vallee de la Jeunesse (ref. to  previous blog post) etc. and I discovered something new: Marché Paysan in Cugy. This is an extremely nice privately owned farm, 10 km north of Lausanne. It has horses, geese and rabbits for kids to see/touch, a big terrace with kids toys aside, GREAT COFFEE, and a little shop with local vegetables, jams, cheese, apple juice etc. A ‘must’ to check out. Most easy is to go by car, entry is free and it opens every week at Friday 16-19 PM and Saturday 8-12 AM.

Looking back to our 3 weeks of IMD Summer break in Lausanne we really enjoyed being here. We stayed in Lausanne because we enjoy having a very nice apartment with garden and balcony, we didn’t want to travel a lot and keep tranquility in the family and we hosted quite some visitors (family and friends). For you in coming years, I have some recommendations of the activities we undertook:

Parc Pré Vert: a great outdoor play area with a big variety of climbing frames including some with water. Besides, it has a little farm with many animals to see, and touch! You can nearly spend one whole day there, because it also has a big and affordable restaurant. Entry of the park and car parking are free. It’s just a 20 minutes drive from Lausanne.

Yvoire in France: a little medieval village, characteristic and very touristic. Best is when you take the boat from Nyon (a 30 minutes drive or train from Lausanne in direction of Geneva) to Yvoire, which takes you ca. 20 minutes. It is a great Lake Geneva experience too.

Hikes at Rochers de Naye, 2,042 m. altitude, nearby Montreux. For kids: they are in "Marmottes Paradis". You take the train or car to Montreux and in only 45 minutes, the train (Golden Pass) climbs 1,600 metres (!) from Montreux to Rochers de Naye. At the summit you will find wonderful panoramic views over Lake Geneva and the Alps. The train ride is a bit expensive but worth it (ca. 40 CHF depending on discount).

 Château Chillon: a castle in good shape, lots to see, but for kids you need to help them with their imagination and castle stories! The interior could have been more restored. Students entry fee is 10 CHF (use your IMD partner card!) and kids below the age of 6 have free entry.

Hikes in the French Alps just 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Lausanne across the lake. You are in the famous winter sports area ‘Les Portes du soleil’ which features cool mountain biking and hiking, and for the extreme sporters the Fantasticable in summertime besides enjoying the extremely nice local cheeses and wines. We stayed in Hotel Esprit Montagne. The hotel distinguishes itself by a high quality restaurant and a modern interior (knowing the benchmark).

And of course we spent a lot of time in the many beautiful and scenic parks and playgrounds that Lausanne and Pully have.

Guest Post: From Belgium to Lausanne by Amélie van der Aa

Hi, I’m Amélie, mother of a lovely 21 month old daughter named Nell and mother to be of another girl in a few weeks. I’m Belgian, supporting my Belgian husband Jonathan, whom I’ve met 15 years ago (no no, I’m not that old) in Belgium. I specify this, because this makes us one of the most unique IMD couples, as most partners are from country X, have married a guy or girl from country Y, whom they’ve met in country Z.

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Believe it or not, but this blog post has been on my to-do list since February. Am I lazy, or have I been suffering from a writers block? None of the above. The truth is, this year might have been the busiest of my life. 



Let me take you back to a bit more than a year ago. The day that Jonathan came home all excited, not only because he got into IMD, but because he had spoken to an ex-IMD candidate who had told him the “exciting” truth about day-to-day (and night-to-night) life at IMD during the first 6 months. All I could hear was “military camp”, “nap room”, “night work”, “no spare time at all”, let alone “time for your kids and family”. I told Jonathan that in this case I was wondering why we would join him to Lausanne. Silence…  a shocked husband was looking at me realizing that there could have been a better way to prepare me for the IMD reality.

But in the end, we actually took the decision to cut the year in half. I would spend the first 6 months in Belgium, keep my job, leave Nell at daycare, and be surrounded by my network of friends and family who were all willing to help a single mom survive on her own. Every 2-3 weeks we flew to Lausanne to spend some time (or shall I say “hours”) with Jonathan. And apart from that, Skype became our best friend and well, we just both wrestled through these 6 months, keeping our eyes firmly on the finish line in June.

I ain’t gonna lie. It was tough. We really missed each other, we have both cursed Skype, I have literally cried carrying Nell in and out of the plane, being nauseous from my second pregnancy. I have been quite frustrated when spending weekends in Lausanne, cleaning the apartment, ironing hubby’s shirts and not seeing him as much as I’d hoped. But in the end, all this made us stronger as a couple and made the start of the second part (June-Dec) so much sweeter…

Now I am enjoying all this free time with Nell, this “normal” family time with Jonathan, our interesting discussions in the tiny kitchen and most of all, meeting all these amazing other ladies (and men), who are all so strong and trying to keep up the positive spirit throughout this strange year.

Let me conclude by giving some tips for future partners who decide to join their student later during the year:

1. I strongly advise to take one month off at the start of the year. That way you can settle in and arrange the apartment together with your partner, and most importantly, get to know the other partners. Believe me, you will feel less alone when you are in Lausanne on the weekends.

2. Try to attend at least one partner activity each time you’re visiting Lausanne. It will make it easier to integrate when you move to Lausanne in Summer.

3. Keep telling yourself that being in Lausanne with your husband would be equally or even more frustrating than being in your home country, surrounded by friends and family.

4. And this is my tip for any partner: don’t be too hard on your partner and don’t complain too much. This surely isn’t an easy year for us, but so far it has been one of the most interesting, culturally diverse and enriching of my life!