GstaadLife

UPDATE Monday Sep29: and the winner is... Whitney Toyloy

This coming Saturday, September 27, Miss Bern, Emilie Lindblom, competes for the crown of Miss Switzerland. Our sister publication, the Anzeiger von Saanen, interviewed the attractive student from Zweisimmen. For those of you who understand German or who just want to see the beauty talk we have the video for you here:

It was much to Emilie's surprise that she won the competition for Miss Bern back in May of this year (they always say that don't they... "ahhh shucks, I didn't realize I was so beautiful"). As the winner of the Miss Bern contest, she was able to qualify for the 2008 Miss Switzerland competition automatically, just like her counterpart in Zürich, Alexandra Fejbli. Being the good citizens that we are, we have compied all the links you need to check out the other girls competing against Emilie: Rekha Datta, Lucile Epper, Katja Diethelm, Fiona Farina, Stefanie Frei, Nancy Kabika, Diana Knezevic, Dominique Knill, Alessia Novak, Lisa Panigada, Céline Roscheck, Nathalie Schillinger, Whitney Toyloy and Selver Yavuz. And while you can vote for the winner on Saturday night, let'skick off the voting right here by telling us your early favorite!

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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.

Swiss photographer Anja Tanner has received a SFr 10,000 prize from canton Bern in recognition of her project, The Otherworld. Originally from Lauenen, Tanner now lives in Bern where she is currently taking photos at the Euro 2008 football championships. During the summer months, the 27 year-old returns to her roots and works, notably, at the Menuhin festival, as well as for local architects. She spoke to our sister publication, Anzeiger von Saanen, about her project.

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.

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 London's Sunday Times published a ranking of Britain's richest. We weren't going to write about this (regular readers will be familiar with our fondness of meaningless top 10 lists and guides), but judging by the large number of GstaadLife.com readers who have searched the name "Kirsty Bertarelli" over the past few days, we thought we'd take a second look. Turns out that the top woman on the list, even above the Queen, is indeed Ms Bertarelli. The ranking itself seems a bit silly to us, and in an interview with the Daily Mail last week, even she dismissed her top position as being her husband's achievement. The list is here, but more interesting is the interview, which also has a few nice photos.

• Interview: Former Miss UK tells: 'How I became the wife of a Swiss tycoon worth £5.65 billion'
• Previously: Bertarelli family relocates to Gstaad-Saanen

Foreigners in Saanenland. Chances are if you are reading this, you may well be one of them. And you are not alone, numbering one of several hundred foreigners who are domiciled in the Gemeinde Saanen and who make up 27% of the population. Our sister publication, the Anzeiger von Saanen, has been running a series about foreigners in Saanenland, interviewing people about the current hot topic of migration and integration. One particular interview in this series caught our eye, so we had translated for you.

Ninetta Fix has lived in Gstaad for 25 years, and has been registered locally for the past seven. When Ninetta Fix was 32 she and her husband Karolos Fix left their home in Greece. “We decided to move away because of the lack of law and order,” she says. “Citizens had occupied our breweries in Athens; they wanted to replace them with parks. The police ignored the court’s ruling, and refused to do anything about the occupation in fear of conflict with mayor of Athens. In the wake of these circumstances we decided to leave Greece in 1982 with our two children.”

Above: Ninetta Fix, who is often to be seen on the hiking trails with her six dogs, enjoying nature’s tranquility. Swiss air, she says, is as delicate as champagne.

By Alison Chabloz

Unassuming, unpretentious and good-natured are words that describe Gstaad’s most celebrated chef, Robert Speth. Speth arrived in Gstaad in 1984, with the intention of staying for just a single winter season. Almost 25 years later, the German-born chef has built up a solid reputation through his dedication and hard work at the Chesery, as well as at the Gstaad-Saanenland Golfclub Restaurant. GstaadLife focuses on the man who has proven to be one of the region’s most influential and notable epicureans of recent times.

Robert Speth, is it difficult being Gstaad’s top chef?
Yes, it’s difficult! First of all, getting to the top takes a lot of work. Once you’re there, it takes just as much hard work to stay! The problem in Gstaad is the big difference between the high and low seasons. During Christmas and New Year, as well as our work at the Chesery, we may have several catering contracts all on the same evening: finding extra staff is not easy at this time of year. Also, during such times, staff constantly need to be motivated.

Above, Robert Speth in the Chesery.

Another one of Taki's columns is causing a stir, this time up in London, where the Daily Mail used Taki's 'It's a small world' post as the intro point for a rare interview with Bernie Ecclestone. Below are a few of the choicest quotes. Click here to read the entire interview.

Ecclestone seldom gives interviews. After the uncomfortable silence of a man who wishes he had stuck to this policy, he suddenly grins, lighting up his parchment-pale face. "The truth is I didn't know what a hobbit was," he says in a staccato, rata-tat voice. "I'm very ignorant, so I had to look it up. Then I realised I was definitely a hobbit because they are minuscule and brilliant, and so am I!"

"I don't know what the price of drinks are in my hotel, because I never buy any. I make it a policy never to give anything away. In any case, I don't go into town. I hide out in my house nearby with my wife."

"I hate democracy as a political system. It stops you getting things done. I think people should have decisions made for them." 

What does he want from life? Wealth? He has that. Fame? He is recognised on the street. "I do catch the imagination. Here comes the hobbit with the Beatle haircut!" Respect? "Look, if stuck-up people in Gstaad and elsewhere don't like me, I don't care. I come from a line of 18,000-year-old hobbits."