When you move somewhere new, one of the first challenges is figuring out how to find out what’s on – local events, community goings-on, the things that actually make up daily life. Your instinct might be to turn to your phone: Instagram, Facebook, Google Maps. And sure, they’re helpful. But here in our little Alpine corner, I’ve discovered something far more effective, rather quaint, and frankly, more fun.

The Back Page Advantage
It turns out that what really keeps you in the loop around here are the noticeboards- the physical kind, complete with flyers and drawing pins. There are two main ones in the village – one at each end – and they’re surprisingly up-to-date. Even better is the Anzeiger von Saanen newspaper. The back pages are a goldmine of local events: concerts, agricultural shows, sporting fixtures – the lot.

Every week, we head to Chez Bea in Zweisimmen for coffee and cake. Why that far, you may ask? Because it’s the best in the region, I would answer. While we’re there, I’ve developed a little routine: I flip through the Anzeiger to see what’s going on at the weekend. It was during one of those visits that I noticed an ad that made me really sit up and take notice.

The (First) Trip to the Palace
The Gstaad Palace Hotel was having a garage sale. Now, if there’s one thing my husband and I can’t resist, it’s a good rummage. We love a flea market, car boot sale or garage sale. But at the Palace? I was immediately intrigued. What on earth would they be selling? Chairs? Rugs? We had been searching for a dining table. Would it be too much to hope that they’d have tables too?

“When is the sale?” My husband asked. “Friday!” I said. “As in … today?” “Yes!” I said. “We have to go. We can’t miss this.”

We checked the time. The sale had started 30 minutes earlier. Even with the drive back to Gstaad, we shouldn’t be too late. We quickly paid the bill and zipped straight to the Palace.

The car park was suspiciously quiet. Excellent – we might just snag the best finds! Except ... it wasn’t just quiet. It was dead. Garage doors shut. Hotel entrance locked with a “closed until high season” notice stuck to the door.

I double-checked the photo I’d taken of the ad. Yes, the sale was on Friday. Next Friday! We weren’t late – we were a whole week early.

Worth the Wait
Undeterred, we turned up the following Friday and it didn’t disappoint. There were lamps, chairs, intriguing bits of hotel art (lovely, but we have no spare wall space), and then I spotted them: two enormous rolls of fabric in a rich golden tone speckled with tiny red diamonds. Heavy, luxurious and utterly irresistible. Curtains, I thought, from nowhere. Definitely curtains. We loaded the fabric into the car, triumphant and slightly amused at how close we’d come to missing it altogether.

Lessons Learned
Here’s the thing: maybe this garage sale was listed online somewhere. But I know for certain I wouldn’t have found it there. Not through an algorithm or a hashtag. It was the good old-fashioned newspaper that tipped me off – the kind you flip through slowly, with coffee, in a café to while away your time.

So whether you’re after cultural events, sports, concerts, or an unexpected excuse to redecorate your home, you’ll find it in the Anzeiger von Saanen – no Wi-Fi required.

And if something does catch your eye, do yourself a favour: doublecheck the date. Or you might end up, as we did, standing in an empty car park wondering whether someone else had already walked off with our dream dining table.

ANNA CHARLES