I’m suddenly awash in invitations and news about new, newly improved and improving hotels and restaurants in Switzerland – and this at a time when everyone has been worrying about tourism and the high Swiss franc. Clearly, some of us are expected to keep traveling and eating and spending our money, so some of us […]
Ontario winery’s Vidal marketing challenge
Ontario’s Vidal wine has a poor reputation after years as a mainly cheap, sweet dessert wine. Two brothers who have improved the wine, starting by reducing the yield in the vineyard, now have what sounds like a really nice crisp and fruity dry white wine. It sells out at the shop, but in restaurants and […]
Chef Benoît Violier dead: police say likely suicide
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – One of Europe’s most respected chefs, Benoît Violier, died Sunday, age 44, at his home in Crissier, not far from the Hôtel de Ville restaurant. Police say it appears that he shot himself with a firearm in an act of suicide. He and his wife Brigitte have run the restaurant since 2012, […]
Swiss news: avalanches, airport safety, soldiers, tennis, tunnels
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -A 43-year-old Vaud man is in critical condition following an avalanche above Bex, in the Vaud Alps, Friday afternoon. The accident occurred at la Pointe des Savolaires in the Bex commune, at 14:00. The alert was given by his companion; the pair had been skiing with skins. The second skier was uninjured, although […]
Swiss news roundup: murders, tunnels, puppies
Weather forecast: colder, with rain on the plain, snow in the mountains Details, MeteoSwiss GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The greater Lausanne area has seen its second murder-suicide in one week, with the death of a couple north of the city. A thermal door is being tested at the north end of the St Gotthard tunnel, to […]