Truckers' delight

Many mysteries surround Le Petit Moulin, like why the car park is always full, who frequents the adjoining nightclub, and why there might be such an extravagant design feature in an otherwise unremarkable room.
 
What we do know is that the upstairs hotel is popular with truckers who revel in the opportunity to not sleep in their cab for the night and have a nice hot shower (even if the bathroom is shared). Do they venture into the nightclub after a bite to eat, I wonder, and eye up the tartily dressed local girls before brawling with said girls' souped-up hatchback driving boyfriends?

This is always the topic of conversation for me and Monsieur Gourmand when we pay one of our regular visits to this pleasing pizzeria.

You can usually take your pick of tables, whether it's by the window looking at the field of horses, by one of the TVs showing live sport, or under the wild stripy column which forms the centrepiece of the restaurant (and is proudly featured on the website). 

The pizzas (fresh from the woodfire oven, no less) are not bad at all and there is even a premium selection featuring D.O.P. mozzarella, truffles and prosciutto di Parma. Meaty mains include entrecote steak, grilled veal and even game when it's in season, complete with traditional spatzli and chestnuts.

So the food's pretty good, the service is unsnooty (a rarity round here, believe me) and you can park without driving round and round the block for half an hour. The popularity of Le Petit Moulin is not such a mystery after all. 

Le Petit Moulin, Route Blanche, 1274 Grens
+41 (0)22 990 0740; www.lepetitmoulin.ch

 

Young meat

Geneva and Lausanne are only 70km apart, both on the shores of the lake with magnificent mountain views.

But Lausanne's architecture is more Montreux-style Swiss riviera, it's a fair bit hillier and definitely colder. And, unlike Geneva's bankers, diplomats and expat families, Lausanne seems to be largely populated by students and singletons. 

Our most recent visit took us to Happy Days, a warm and woody bar and restaurant famed for its burgers.

The waitress's corseted look should have given us a clue to the nature of this place but we dismissed it as a Halloween costume (far too sexy, you see). But by the end of the night, young long-legged ladies were strutting along the bar to the sound of "You Can Leave Your Hat On", a sight I wouldn't have expected in Suisse Romande.

 

Before all that happened, we had some excellent burgers, which easily outdid any I've had in Geneva (sorry, Road Runner). I can never resist anything with the word "Mexican", so I had one with guacamole and chilli, while the other four all had the American with bacon and cheese. The meat was seasoned and cooked to perfection and served with a choice of salad (no coleslaw here, a real salad with balsamic dressing) or a very generous helping of fries.

Then off we went to a Halloween party where, fittingly for youthful Lausanne, Monsieur Gourmand was the oldest person there.

Happy Days, Rue Saint-Pierre 3, 1003 Lausanne
+41 (0)21 324 0606; www.myhappydays.ch