The official name of Switzerland is the ‘Confoederatio Helvetica’ which is Latin. The international abbreviation ‘CH’ comes from the Latin name.  The population of Switzerland is 7.8 million.

 

There are 4 languages in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Champex is in the French speaking region.

The country is divided into 26 cantons (or provinces). Champex is in the canton of Valais and the Commune of Orsières. The name Orsières is derived from the old French word 'orsière or oursières' meaning a bear’s den or an area teeming with bears.  But don't worry there are no wild bears today! 

The Commune of Orsières has a substantial network of footpaths linking villages, pastures, forest and summits. Champex’s network of footpaths and mountain viewing points are owed to the Freudenberg family, who took refuge in Champex to escape Nazi Germany. As a thank you to the village they developed hundreds of kilometers of the most stunning walks. Walkers will be enchanted by the variety of natural riches; unspoilt surroundings, beautiful landscapes, alpine flowers and fauna.  There are in over 50,000 km of designated footpath across Switzerland.

The highest mountain in Switzerland is Monte Rosa although the Matterhorn is more famous. The village of Champex is nestled on the beautiful Mont Blanc massif and is a stage post on the circular “Tour du Mont Blanc.”

There are 1,500 lakes in Switzerland.  Lake Geneva is not really called Lake Geneva. The proper name for Lake Geneva is Lac Leman. One thing is for sure it’s beautiful though, whatever you call it. Champex is a gorgeous lake side village.  Curled around a marvelous alpine lake, Champex  offers a full range of facilities while remaining pleasantly small. Perched on a plateau between two valleys, the views are stunning.

There are approximately 27,000 restaurants in Switzerland. You are never far from a good one! 

 

Foundue was originally a peasant meal to use up hard cheese and old bread and is derived from the French word 'fondre', meaning 'to melt'.  Chocolate fondue is surprsingly not a traditional Swiss dish. For some reason I thought anything that goes into a fondue pot is naturally a Swiss Speciality. Apparently not! Cheese and beef fondues are both delicious and authentic though… It is a custom that if you drop your bread off your fork into the fondue that you have to pay a forfeit. You pay for the meal or host the next fondue party!

 

Switzerland has the higher rate of per capita chocolate consumption in the world! The average Swiss eats 23Ibs of chocolate per year compared to 11.5Ibs in the USA.  That’s hardly a surprise as Swiss Chocolate tastes so good!  Approximately 185,000 tonnes of chocolate is produced in Switzerland per year. 

 

Arthur Conan Doyle,  the famous author of Sherlock Holmes fame actually brought skiing to Switzerland when he stayed near Davos with his sick wife (there is a plaque there to commemorate this).  Sherlock Holmes's final encounter with his nemesis Moriarty is set in the Swiss village of Meiringen.

 

Freddie Mercury the famous lead singer of Queen spent time towards the end of his life in Montreaux. A festival is held there the first weekend of September each year in his honor. Montreux has two statues one honoring Freddie Mercury the other Charlie Chaplin who lived in Switzerland.

 

According to Ian Flemings novels, James Bond’s mother was Swiss.  Ursula Andress the first bond girl was also from Switzerland. Roger Moore lives in the Valais mountain resort of Crans. He was introduced to Switzerland by Sir David Niven and fell in love with this truly magnificent country.  Who can blame him!

pty