After our last trip to the Jorat forest, Mia and Annika both asked if we could just spend some time in a forest building and exploring. So yesterday, that’s exactly what we did.
The girls made their own list of supplies: rope, a Swiss Army knife, snacks, and so on. As we were leaving, Annika even asked if we should bring extra clothes. I, of course, ignored her. Spoiler alert: about an hour in, she fell into the river and soaked her socks and shoes!
The Arboretum is a beautiful 130-hectare botanical garden with over 4,000 species of plants from all over the world, plus interactive displays and lots of walking trails. On a sunny Sunday it was packed with families enjoying the autumn outdoors. We got to see the giant Californian sequoias, along with many other impressive trees. We feel incredibly lucky to live here in Switzerland with so many choices of parks and forests to visit.
After about a kilometre, the girls wanted to go off trail, and we found a beautiful riverside picnic spot. They made stick fishing rods and magic wands while we mostly just enjoyed being outdoors among the autumn leaves.
Thanks to Annika’s river adventure, we called it a day a little early. On the way out we stopped at the Wood Museum, which is full of impressive old carpentry tools which reminded us both of our grandfather’s sheds.
Lesson learned: next time, listen to Annika. 😄
For Next Time: Arboretum
- Getting there: (30 minute drive from Le Mont-sur-Lausanne), close to IKEA Aubornne.
- The walk: easy trails; the riverside picnic spot (off trail, not a real picnic spot) is about 1 km in.
- Don’t miss: the giant sequoias and the Wood Museum on site.
- Heads up: it’s busy on sunny autumn Sundays, so arrive early for parking and quieter trails.
- Bring: spare socks and shoes (Annika was right!), rope, knife, snacks, a towel.
- Come back for: different seasons. Spring blossoms would be a great contrast.
- Best part: “Fishing in the river” (Mia), “Making the fishing rod” (Annika)
Leave a Reply