Over the Swiss January school holidays we planned a one day ski trip. Snow conditions were poor so we planned our day around lunch. The plan was to start in Zermatt on the Swiss side of the Alps, then head over to Italy for lunch at a particular restaurant. We arrived in Zermatt at around 10am, bought […]
What you call Lake Geneva really does matter, according to a poll
To non-French speakers the notion might seem odd. In English the big blue watery thing in Western Switzerland has only one name: Lake Geneva. And in German it is der Genfersee. Well in French it is not that simple. Lausanne’s student radio station Fréquence Banane, ran a poll on their Facebook page that was picked up by […]
International Geneva gets a new magazine in English
A new English-language magazine for international Geneva, called Global Geneva, launches its pilot issue this week. Le News interviewed the magazine’s co-founder and editor, former Le News editor, Edward Girardet, to find out why he started it and what it’s all about. Over a coffee with Edward in the UN cafeteria, he points out the window at […]
English-language comedy descends on Montreux
Brought to you by the Montreux Comedy Festival. Because laughter is a universal language, the Montreux Comedy Festival decided to pull together standup comedians from all corners of the globe. Among the many comedians is a fine line up of English language comedians from the UK, Canada, Nigeria, USA, Japan, France and Switzerland. Performers include: Basketmouth, Nigeria’s biggest comedy […]
Swiss-based man to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest to get his message out
In 2014, Australian forester Scott Poynton used a cartoon to convince the head of the world’s largest palm oil company to stop destroying tropical forest to produce its product. This month he’s putting on his lime-green hiking boots and hitting the trail to keep men alive. Starting from Lake Geneva, Scott will climb the Jura peak, La Dole, […]
Iconic Swiss vegetarian restaurant coming to Lausanne
Late last week, Swiss Rail announced that it has a new tenant for the vacant restaurant space at Lausanne train station. Meat lovers may be disappointed, however fans of vegetarian food will be licking their lips. The restaurant chain Tibits, which has eight restaurants in German-speaking Switzerland, and one in London, will open its first […]
World-renowned dinosaurs move into Geneva’s Natural History Museum
From 24 September 2016 until 12 March 2017, Geneva’s natural history museum will echo with roars from the past. Dinosaurs from around the world will be exhibited over 1,000 m2 of floor space. Several world-renowned fossils have been brought together for the first time. Some come from a remarkable collection from Wyoming in the US, unearthed by a […]
Switzerland has world’s priciest Big Macs. So eat Swiss chocolate instead.
The Economist invented the Big Mac index in 1986 as a tongue-in-cheek guide to currency valuations. Because the well-known burger is the same throughout much of the world, the magazine thought it could be used as a measure of how over or undervalued a currency was. An overpriced burger suggests an overvalued currency and a […]
The Good Country Index – why Switzerland missed the top 10
Because many of the world’s biggest problems, such as climate change, disease pandemics and terrorism, are global, countries operating inwardly as if they were alone on the planet, can’t deal with them, says policy advisor Simon Anholt. He thinks getting countries to look outwards, be generous, and help humanity and the planet beyond national borders is essential. He […]
New rules make it risky to hire a car in Switzerland and drive it in the EU
Rule makers in Brussels have been busy trying to streamline customs procedures within the European Union (EU). But ham-fisted drafting of the new rules, which came into force on 1 May 2016, has made it risky for EU residents to rent cars in Switzerland and drive them in the EU. In addition, an article on the British […]
