GstaadLife

Here at GstaadLife.com, we're getting a lot of email asking about the Saanen bypass construction. Indeed many Gstaad regulars who are not here right now think that this whole Fernwärme nightmare was related to the bypass. In any event three things are happening this week. Firstly the Fermwärme work is wrapping up and the earth is starting to go back into the trenches dug along the main roads between Saanen and Gstaad. Secondly the groundbreaking ceremony for the bypass construction is tomorrow (Friday) morning. And lastly the authorities have published a helpful leaflet detailing the planned construction for the bypass. Thing is they didn't think to publish it in English...which is why you have us.

As most of you know, the Saanen bypass will relieve the village center from transit traffic beginning in 2010. The new road will loop over the back of Saanen, connecting Saanenmöserstrasse from the Altenstrasse junction with Oeystrasse (direction Rougemont) by way of an open road and a 280 meter tunnel north of the graveyard. The roundabout at the hospital junction will be re-done. And once the bypass is open, Saanen will be closed to through-traffic and the center will be redesigned into a Gstaad-style promenade. With us so far?

Recently the car park due to be constructed beneath the von Grünigen-Matte field just outside Saanen has been facing a wave of criticism because of rising costs. With spaces for 120 cars, the colossal SFr 9.1 million price-tag may seem exaggerated (see the latest comment posted on the subject). Project managers have cited surface water as the main culprit: water flows need to be diverted, and the construction needs to be both watertight and withstand substantial pressure. Despite these obstacles, the Gemeinde is set on the current location. The von Grünigen-Matte is centrally located, and will also be used in order to developed a new housing zone with 15 chalets.

Above: wet ground conditions on the von Grünigen-Matte field mean a steep increase in cost for the planned car park.

The Hali playground behind the Gstaad sports center is about to get a make-over. In its new guise, it will have all the necessary ingredients for a kid’s farming adventure: there will be a miniature farmhouse and a barn complete with a farmyard. The different features will be connected by a series of exciting slides. Well-known Gstaad regular Gunter Sachs has expressed the wish for a typically local design. Together with Saanen Bank and other local firms, he has generously agreed to support the project. Sachs also helped to fund the original playground which was named after his son Halifax. The new recreational space is due to open in late summer.

As you know, here at GstaadLife.com we're always up for some good party pictures...even when the party took place a while ago. So with apologies for the wait, we take you back to March of this year at the Grand Hotel Park in the inimitable company of Depy Chandris. On the evening in question, she presented her most recent jewelry creations to the more than fifty invited guests, including Prince and Princess John Radziwill, Count and Countess de Moustier, George Tornaritis, Manuela Vapdinoyiannis, Marion de Picciotto, Maria Embiricos, Ninetta Fix, Alexandre de Musset, Geneviève Dalle and Jean-Claude Jacot, and many more of Gstaad's well familar faces.

Above: Depy Chandris (left) with Princess John Radziwill.

Depy Chandris' jewelry designs are both auspicious and delicate. Her theatrical sense of taste can be appreciated right down to the way she creates her displays. The Marco Polo restaurant was decked out in fine fashion, with sparkling blue butterflies contrasted with bright red velvet tablecloths, with the Chandris' collection displayed in large picture frames, set about small chalkboards. Guests' placement cards showed photos of more of Ms Chandris' work and were signed "Dear Depy love your jewels, Andy Warhol" (who said it's not cool to re-use accessories). Click here for more photos of the evening, and our thanks to Depy Chandris and Antoinette de Scheel.

The Swiss love their country music: if they're not listening to their home-grown brand of Ländler, Fox und Schottische (traditional accordion-oriented two-steps, waltzes etc, also known as "pain-fromage" - the sort of music locals like to listen to while eating cheese fondue), then they're probably tuned into a country and western satellite radio station. It's been 20 years since Marcel Bach brought Country Night to Gstaad, and the event has been going from strength to strength (see GstaadLife.com: Record attendance for Country Night Gstaad).

Above: Daniel Muri from Château-d'Oex (with Eclair) who has been to every Country Night Gstaad since the very beginning in 1989. Hey Marcel! How about a free ticket?

Against the backdrop of all the New York-centric hype surrounding the upcoming movie release of Sex and the City (debuts tomorrow here in Switzerland), Taki shares with GstaadLife.com an altogether more reflective impression of life in the Big Apple.

NEW YORK, US - From my kitchen window, I have watched a little boy grow up to be a man.

I live in what Americans with great economy of expression refer to as a brownstone, actually a townhouse. It is on 71st street off Park Avenue. My father bought it for us 30 years or so ago, and both my children refer to it as home.

Although both have left, my daughter for Los Angeles and my son for Brooklyn, their rooms still feel lived in, with shoes lying around, old books, bric-a-brac, and pictures of their parents looking less worn to say the least. The house, I am told by neighborhood historians, used to be a whorehouse, but a very upper class one. Never a scandal, just a few gentlemen going in and out throughout the days and nights. I tell everyone that I had visited it while down from school, but I’m not sure it was this one.

About 30 years ago, I moved the kitchen to where my office used to be, as the children were driving me nuts while I was busy writing the greatest Greek novel ever. Sitting in the kitchen and staring across the back garden into the lives of others is not my idea of fun, but it beats writing anytime. Which means I spent a lot of time in the kitchen looking into the appartment building across on 72nd street. That’s when I first saw a tiny baby being brought home by his parents, and the nanny that slept next to the crib. My wife and I would look as the baby would lie on its back and bicycle, his adoring parents standing over him—and a very good looking couple they were, too—while he made gurgling sounds and strange noises. The nanny had left after two weeks and the baby’s door was always open...

Our sister publication Anzeiger von Saanen has been continuing its multi-part series on foreigners in Saanenland (see the last one we ported over to GstaadLife.com: Ninetta Fix: in Saanenland's embrace). This week, Christoph Remund, hotelier, representative of the Evangelical People's Party (EDU) Saanen, and one of the region's favorite local chefs currently running the Au Montagnard restaurant in Château-d'Oex while the reconstruction of the former Hotel Bahnhöfli in Saanenmöser is ongoing, shares his perpsectives on the subject of foreigners in Saanenland...

Christoph Remund, how do you judge the interaction of foreigners and locals in Saanenland?
Foreigners are part of our society. They enrich the cultural landscape, and they have had a significant impact on our economic prosperity during the past decades. Most foreign residents in Saanenland are familiar with our local traditions and are well integrated.

How did you reach this upbeat conclusion?
Strict but cooperative and engaging migration policies like the ones used in Saanenland have stood the test of time. The more equality and opportunities we can offer foreigners, the more our economy will develop. As well as benefiting from their intellectual power, we can also win the hearts of these new citizens. They identify themselves with our society - a fact which can be demonstrated by their passionate interest in our local politics.

With all the talk of foreigners in Saanenland and quality of life in Gstaad, it's generally a constant that conversation will inevitably turn to schools. Sure, it normally starts with our local privates, JFK and Le Rosey, but an increasing number of discerning English-speaking parents have been taking a long look at Aiglon College in Villars, modeled more closely on the English boarding school system. We'll have more on Aiglon and all our local private schools on this site in the coming months, but for starters we thought we'd give you a unique perpsective of Aiglon College through the eyes of one of its students, Oscar Ortmans. Oscar interviewed his headmaster, Peter Armstrong (see photo above) in the run-up to a recent awareness and fundraising event that Aiglon College held at the Gstaad Palace in March.

By Oscar Ortmans

Let me introduce myself, my name is Oscar and I am 14. I have been fortunate enough to live in Gstaad for all my life. Before attending Aiglon I went to the John F Kennedy School in Sannen. As I became too old for the school I had to make the important decision of choosing a school to carry forward my secondary education. I needed an English-speaking school, a school with outdoor activities, a school which emphasizes religion and of course, a school which is located near Sannenland. Aiglon was my choice as it fulfilled all of my requirements. This is my second year at Aiglon and I am enjoying this school very much. To give you a better idea of the ethos of Aiglon and the way it operates I asked a few questions to the current headmaster Mr Peter Armstrong prior to a recent school event in Gstaad.

Sir, have you ever been to Gstaad before?
No, although I have heard a lot about the beauty of Gstaad, and I am looking forward to the function that will be held at the Gstaad Palace in March.

Sir, why have you chosen Gstaad as the place to host your development reception?
I have chosen Gstaad for a number of reasons. The parents of many Aiglon students own properties in Gstaad, as do many of our alumni. Also Aiglon is very close to Gstaad; Villars is only 45 minutes over the Col de la Croix. Futhermore we have a good connection with the John F Kennedy School which is also an English-speaking private school. Mr Lovell, the headmaster there, sent his own children to Aiglon, where we offer a very natural continuation to the studies offered at the John F Kennedy School.

A couple of weeks back, the Bugatti Club Suisse held their general assembly in Saanenland for the first time ever, 73 years after the club’s formation. 28 of the club's 68 members took part with their old-timers, touring from Gstaad over the Col des Mosses to the Château de Chillon on the banks of Lake Geneva. After lunch and and a sightseeing tour of the castle, they headed back to Saanenland: a perfect outing. More photos here.

Above, well-known Gstaader and "Bugatti guru" Hans Matti (left) with Bettina und Christoph Ringier.