The September issue of GstaadLife brings together some of the stories that matter in the Saanenland right now. From our profile with Homayra Sellier and a closer look at the Ebnitmatte housing project to art, culture, local history and the people shaping life in the region, there is plenty to discover ...

The September issue of GstaadLife brings together some of the stories that matter in the Saanenland right now. From our profile with Homayra Sellier and a closer look at the Ebnitmatte housing project to art, culture, local history and the people shaping life in the region, there is plenty to discover ...

True or false: Nepal is the only country in the world with a non-rectangular flag? If you answered false because of Switzerland, you are wrong. And also right. And this is where it gets complicated.

True or false: Nepal is the only country in the world with a non-rectangular flag? If you answered false because of Switzerland, you are wrong. And also right. And this is where it gets complicated.

In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye opens with one word: tradition. He says it holds everything together. Without it, life would be as shaky as a fiddler on a roof. I think about that a lot with regard to the Saanenland.

In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye opens with one word: tradition. He says it holds everything together. Without it, life would be as shaky as a fiddler on a roof. I think about that a lot with regard to the Saanenland.

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that the ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. He was right, of course. He just never specified how many weekends in a row. There is a particular truth to life in a resort town that nobody warns you about before you move here. It goes like this: spring arrives, ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that the ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. He was right, of course. He just never specified how many weekends in a row. There is a particular truth to life in a resort town that nobody warns you about before you move here. It goes like this: spring arrives, ...

Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that he travelled “not to go anywhere, but to go.” I have started to think he never lived somewhere like the Saanenland, where the world simply comes to you.

Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that he travelled “not to go anywhere, but to go.” I have started to think he never lived somewhere like the Saanenland, where the world simply comes to you.

If you have noticed more visitors taking selfies on the Saanen bridge lately, you are not imagining it. There has been a steady uptick in Indian tourists drawn to the area because scenes in the classic 1995 Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (“DDLJ”) were shot here.

If you have noticed more visitors taking selfies on the Saanen bridge lately, you are not imagining it. There has been a steady uptick in Indian tourists drawn to the area because scenes in the classic 1995 Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (“DDLJ”) were shot here.

What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.

What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.

There’s a line from a Joni Mitchell song that’s been looping in my head lately: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

There’s a line from a Joni Mitchell song that’s been looping in my head lately: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

The game season may now be over, but for a few short weeks this autumn, the menus across the Saanenland were filled with Wild and La chasse. Dishes featuring venison or chamois appeared everywhere, usually accompanied by the same reliable friends: red cabbage, chestnuts, spätzle and cranberry sauce ...

The game season may now be over, but for a few short weeks this autumn, the menus across the Saanenland were filled with Wild and La chasse. Dishes featuring venison or chamois appeared everywhere, usually accompanied by the same reliable friends: red cabbage, chestnuts, spätzle and cranberry sauce ...

In her recent Expat Adventures column, Anna Charles captures something we all recognise: the quiet trust that defines life in the Saanenland. From neighbours who carry fainting children home without hesitation to chalets so welcoming that late-night travellers might mistake them for their own, these ...

In her recent Expat Adventures column, Anna Charles captures something we all recognise: the quiet trust that defines life in the Saanenland. From neighbours who carry fainting children home without hesitation to chalets so welcoming that late-night travellers might mistake them for their own, these ...

Some places just feel safe. Not in a “safety rating” kind of way, but deep in your bones. That’s how it feels here in the Saanenland. I grew up in a village where we never locked the door, so to find that same quiet trust–decades later and halfway across Europe–feels quietly ...

Some places just feel safe. Not in a “safety rating” kind of way, but deep in your bones. That’s how it feels here in the Saanenland. I grew up in a village where we never locked the door, so to find that same quiet trust–decades later and halfway across Europe–feels quietly ...

It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,” the Queen remarked in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass. But as I recently learned, it’s a poor sort of vision that only sees what it expects to find.

It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,” the Queen remarked in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass. But as I recently learned, it’s a poor sort of vision that only sees what it expects to find.

You know that moment in The Sound of Music when Maria whips up matching outfits for the von Trapp children out of old curtains? It’s charming, inspiring and completely misleading, as I was soon to find out the hard way.

You know that moment in The Sound of Music when Maria whips up matching outfits for the von Trapp children out of old curtains? It’s charming, inspiring and completely misleading, as I was soon to find out the hard way.

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.

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.

I’m no interior designer, but I’ve come to think of home decoration as a bit like a game of dominoes – make one change, and it sets off a chain reaction. Our domino moment came in June when we sauntered along to the Gstaad Palace Hotel’s garage sale. We bought a gorgeous bolt ...

I’m no interior designer, but I’ve come to think of home decoration as a bit like a game of dominoes – make one change, and it sets off a chain reaction. Our domino moment came in June when we sauntered along to the Gstaad Palace Hotel’s garage sale. We bought a gorgeous bolt ...

Registering a car in a foreign country can feel like braving a dragon’s lair armed with nothing but paperwork and hope. Do you have the right forms? Will you incur unforeseen fees? Will you get sent home for forgetting some obscure document? No wonder we gave the decision to import our car to ...

Registering a car in a foreign country can feel like braving a dragon’s lair armed with nothing but paperwork and hope. Do you have the right forms? Will you incur unforeseen fees? Will you get sent home for forgetting some obscure document? No wonder we gave the decision to import our car to ...

At 2am on 1 January a few years ago, I found myself watching a couple of people get involved in a classic New Year’s Eve stand-off over who should get the solitary taxi which had just drawn up at the Gstaad Palace Hotel. They both opened a door and got into the car.

At 2am on 1 January a few years ago, I found myself watching a couple of people get involved in a classic New Year’s Eve stand-off over who should get the solitary taxi which had just drawn up at the Gstaad Palace Hotel. They both opened a door and got into the car.

You know that song, “The Twelve Pains of Christmas”? It’s one of my favourites at this time of year. As you might guess, it’s a parody on the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” and always makes me laugh so hard. According to the song, “The fourth thing at Christmas ...

You know that song, “The Twelve Pains of Christmas”? It’s one of my favourites at this time of year. As you might guess, it’s a parody on the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” and always makes me laugh so hard. According to the song, “The fourth thing at Christmas ...

We never planned to have any pets. At least not until my husband buckled and agreed our animal-loving son could have a fish. Which, naturally, became three fish (one would apparently be lonely and he couldn’t decide between the other two). Then our youngest child wanted in on the act. Quickly ...

We never planned to have any pets. At least not until my husband buckled and agreed our animal-loving son could have a fish. Which, naturally, became three fish (one would apparently be lonely and he couldn’t decide between the other two). Then our youngest child wanted in on the act. Quickly ...

“You mean to say we drove all this way to eat cheese and potatoes?”

“You mean to say we drove all this way to eat cheese and potatoes?”