GstaadLife

These balloons didn't mind the wind but unfortunately it was impossible for their big brothers to fly most of the past week due to heavy wind and snowfall. Even the night glow event had to be cancelled. A shame really but the first weekend brought a new record of visitors and even though kids were not permitted to go up in the balloons, they had a lot of fun letting all the little balloons fly (see picture above ) and collecting candy dropped from a remote control balloon (see picture below).

The hot air balloon festival of Château-d'Oex has started and until next weekend you will be able to see many, many balloons adorning our mountain skylines. Indeed if the wind blows right you might end up with a few in your back garden, as we did on Saturday afternoon. For the full program click here but make sure not to miss the special shaped balloons display always around lunchtime, and the evening night-glow event on Friday January 29 at 18:58 (don't ask us why it is not at 19:00...) After the jump a few more pics, one of them showing the value of a good satnav system: balloon support teams who didn't quite know how to reach the fields where their balloons were touching down.... quite amusing...

Music is life - Alberto Lysy: February 11 1935 - December 30 2009

Alberto Lysy, distinguished concert violinist and revered teacher, died at the CHUV hospital in Lausanne on December 30 2009. Born in Buenos Aires on February 11 1935, Lysy was resident in Château-d’Oex. He was the founder of Camerata Bariloche, Camerata Lysy and Director of the International Menuhin Music Academy until 2008. We will miss him, may he rest in peace.

Family of Alberto Lysy and International Menuhin Music Academy, Gstaad

We do like the French word for the VW bug - coccinelle (actually means lady bird) and there will be hundreds of them around this weekend. An international bug meeting is taking place this weekend in Château-d'Oex on the field around Landi where the balloon festival is. Under the title "Air cooled only" hundreds of these cute vehicles are expected and are definitely worth seeing. The program offers competitions, concerts, races, fireworks, a driving simulator and much more. See you there!

This weekend sees the return of the international balloon festival in Château-d'Oex which takes place from January 24 through February 1. There will be a great program, exciting balloon flights and some mighty-curious, specially-shaped balloons. Kids' day is on Wednesday January 28, and if you have kids you should definitely not miss that. For last year's daytime video click here. Another highlight of the program is certainly the "night glow" event with the balloons navigated into position on the slopes behind the town and then lit up like oversized electric bulbs to the accompaniment of fireworks, paragliders in the night and other such pyrotechnics. For a taste, click on the video below....

Above from left: Christoph and Franziska Remund with Agnes and Rolf Reichenbach

From October 17 the Restaurant Gallo of the Alpin Nova will be known as Bloom's. And we hope that the restaurant will bloom for Christoph and Franziska Remund who have decided not to wait for eternity on the Bahnhöfli in Saanenmöser and are returning to Saanenland earlier than expected. After the renovation that is taking place right now, the restaurant will be light and airy, the kitchen will have Remund's Saanenland-meets-Mediterranean touch that we have come to love, and the prices will be reasonable. The really good news is that Remund will be at it all year-round, and he's even keeping the Au Montagnard in Château-d’Oex where his two long-standing collaborators Michaela Jordan and Jürgen Busch will take over the day-to-day business. Meanwhile down the hall in the former playroom of the Alpin Nova there will be an "artists' and flower atelier with bistro ambiance" - whatever that means - probably something to do with the whole Bloom's name thing, but we'll get on it when it opens.

If you're out and about this coming weekend, bear in mind that the Tour de Gruyère cycling race is taking place on Sunday (August 31). This means road closures from Abländschen to Saanen from 9h00 to 12h30 (like anyone actually ever uses this road), at the Mittelberg, Saanen Unterbort, Saanen hospital roundabout, Gstaad, and Gsteig from around 10h30, and in Rougemont and on into the Pays d'Enhaut from about 10h30 through 11h30. You have been warned.

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Dominic Longcroft made his first acquaintance with Gstaad and Saanenland when he was a student at Le Rosey. His English parents—also frequent guests of the region—had acquired a chalet in Gstaad in 1980, after their son was accepted by the renowned boarding school. The enthusiasm that Longcroft felt for the region that was kindled at that time has proved enduring. In 2000, after completing his business education in England and after 15 years running his own marketing, services, catering, and public relations business in London, he relocated to Saanenland, and took up residence in an apartment in Lauenen.