Jan Powell and Pam Walsh OBE organized a QBP at the charming Château de Bossey in the Canton of Vaud. Surrounded by parkland with splendid views towards Lake Léman and the mountains of the Haute-Savoie we were blessed with one of those idyllic balmy days that have been so rare this summer. At the entrance […]
As a horribly long period of lockdowns and other constraints was gradually lifting and as summer was at last arriving, we seized upon the chance to hold our first lunch together for over one year. BRA Members and friends congregated outside the charming old restaurant that nestles inside the walls of this elegant 18th Century […]
After months of careful isolation, we were finally able to meet in person and talk one to one. Great though Zoom has been, it was a relief not to be peering at tiny rectangles on a computer screen. Many thanks to Rosemary for her account of this rather special day. Jan Powell It was a […]
Braving the Elements in Geneva’s Botanical Gardens A stalwart band of 10 members braved the inclement weather on Friday 2 October to enjoy a guided tour of Geneva’s Botanical Gardens, the first ‘live’ event for RW since the lockdown started in March. Symptomatic of how much such events have been missed in Covid-19 times is […]
It was a day of torrential rain and poor visibility – not a good omen for driving out to a vineyard’s “Carnotzet”. Nevertheless, despite the weather and the coronavirus scare,19 members and guests made it to la Domaine des Biolles, Chataigneriaz near the village of Founex in Vaud. Organisers Pam Walsh and Jan Powell welcomed […]
A CHRISTMAS FEAST IN FOUNEX It was a bright and sparkly evening on 12 December when 41 Romandie West members gathered at the Auberge Communale in Founex for our much anticipated traditional Christmas dinner. Back by very popular demand, this was the third year that Dany and his team at the Auberge have hosted us. All […]
Following the traditional summer recess, our Chairman organised a social lunch for Tuesday 22 October, partially to celebrate the arrival of autumn. The parklands and famous jardin potager surrounding the ancient Castle of Prangins/VD, (which is also one of Switzerland’s National Museums) provided a perfect setting for enjoying the Plat du Jour and testing local […]
We were a group of nine who drove up through the shady forest to the village of Saint-George, at 944 m up in the hills, north of Nyon. It was a very hot and sunny day, but up in the quiet Jura, the air was a bit cooler and not stifling like down near the […]
PIMM’S AND PIES FOR ROMANDIE-WEST’S QBP The Queen’s Birthday Garden Party is the highlight of Romandie-West’s social calendar, so this year’s organising team scratched their collective head to come up with a plan to entertain and delight. We were lucky once again to have the beautiful grounds of the Geneva English School in Genthod as […]
PORCELAIN THROUGH THE CENTURIES Although the Chinese were making porcelain over 2,000 years ago, due partially to having a rich supply of the clay known as kaolin, it was not until 1704 that the German physicist, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, finally cracked the secret of how it was done. For many years porcelain was a […]