100,000 tulips in Morges’s Independence Park
MORGES, SWITZERLAND – There are shows with larger collections of tulips but Morges is hard to beat for elegance when it comes to tulip festivals, and the 2012 month-long display is now at its finest, the last day of April.
Some of the early blooming varieties are fading, but new ones are starting to come out, and the multi-hued tulip beds woven among the 200 to 300-year-old trees provide one of the most elegant walking paths in the Lake Geneva region at the moment. New varieties and old favourites are on display in the park that is edged on one side by Lake Geneva and on another by a canal that is popular with local birds and ducks.
Go early in the day for magical light that filters through the trees and plays with the flowers. The crowds haven’t arrived yet and the park belongs to the birds and their songs and the tulips.
Video – short and sweet, but listen for the birds!
Hospital waste water should be treated separately
Lausanne, Lake Geneva
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A startling discovery made by researchers at Vidy, in Lausanne, has led to recommendations that waste water dumped into Lake Geneva be given complementary treatments and that waste water from hospitals be treated separately. The research team from Eawag, the Swiss aquatic research institute in Lausanne, has found that while water treatment programmes reduce the overall number of germs, they appear to create an environment which actually encourages the most resistant bacteria.
The Eawag team set out to learn if the lake water environment is also affected by the increasing animal, including human, resistance to bacteria that is being shown by a number of studies.
A preliminary report was recently published by Frontiers in Microbiology.
About 15 percent of Switzerland’s waste water is dumped into lakes after being treated. The situation in Vidy is far from an isolated case, Eawag says. Once waste water from the Lausanne area is treated, some 90,000m3 a day, it is released into Lake Geneva ab0ut 700 metres from the shore via a pipe that ejects it at a depth of 30m in the Vidy bay.
CHUV, Lausanne
Lausanne has no pharmaceutical industry, the researchers point out, nor does it has related industries, but the 214,000 inhabitants of the region use a number of small medical centres and hospitals and the large university hospitals centre, the Chuv, is linked to the city’s waste water treatment system.
The team studied the resistance to antibiotics in parallel with classic tests, looking at growth rates in the water environment and using sophisticated genetic research tools.
The study created a previously unequaled quantity of data about waste water and lake sediment. It showed that there is a particularly high number of bacteria-resistant germs in the waste water coming from the Chuv.
And while 75 percent of the germs are eliminated through current treatment, the multi-resistant ones that are left are encouraged in their new environment.
Recommendations: further treatment and separate hospital waste water
The Eawag group says there is no reason for alarm, since measurements show the resistant germs tend to remain in the sediment rather than in the water near it, but they are recommending two changes. Additional water treatment is needed in selected stations to neutralize a large number of the resistant germs, and hospital waste water should be treated separately.
Arriving in Yvoire (click on image to view larger). Photo, ©2012 CGN
NYON, SWITZERLAND – Poor Yvoire in France, locked in on its lake side by a frozen dock most of the month of February! Those chilly moments are well behind us, says the CGN Lake Geneva boat company, which is operating additional boats on its NaviMobilité number 3 ferry line this weekend, between Nyon and Yvoire.
The fine weather expected and the thousands of extra tourists in the region for the car show in Geneva and other events has prompted the CGN to have 10 crossings Saturday and Sunday, 10 and 11 March.
The CGN was obliged to stop landings in Yvoire from 1-24 February due to the ice along the lakefront and dock.
Penguins at the Basel zoo (©2012 Basel Zoo)
Morges rowing classes, t-shirts on the lake, ice on the shore
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The days are getting longer in Switzerland, with the sun now rising before 07:30 and setting after 18:00. The last day of the month, 29 February, will give us an additional 20 minutes of daylight compared to 23 February.
The vast quantities of snow in the mountains and continuing chilly winds in several areas may not yet have you thinking of spring, but the signs are multiplying throughout the country:
Temperatures are expected to reach 17C this weekend in Ticino, Switzerland’s hot spot.
Max the stork passed through Geneva Monday on her way north from her winter home in Spain and Wednesday 22 February she arrived in northern Switzerland. She arrived in Tuefingen, Germany, on the northern side of Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border, where she normally mates and builds a nest.
Wednesday afternoon, school's out! Lake Geneva, St Prex, Vaud
This will be the 11th year that the 13-year-old bird raises a family here. She is the longest-tracked banded bird in the world, followed by the Natural History Museum in Fribourg.
Lake Geneva’s shoreline remains laced with ice but Wednesday saw a number of rowing students from Morges out on the water in short-sleeved shirts.
Wednesday afternoon, with school out, the lake served as a magnet for families and small children, with grass beginning to green next to the ice sculptures that decorate the waterfront.
New monkey home at the Basel zoo (©2012 Basel Zoo)
In Basel, penguins at the zoo are enjoying daily walks. The zoo in its annual report issued 23 February says that 2011 saw a record number of visitors, 1.75 million, compared to just over a million in 1999. The zoo opened its doors in 1874 and in the 138 years of its existence more than 78 million visitors have come to see the animals.
The most popular areas to visit are the monkeys and snow leopards, with a rebuilt monkey area that opened in the summer of 2011 and three leopard cubs born during the year.
Click on photos to view larger
Click on images to view larger: Valais avalanche, Lake Geneva ice skirts being formed
Bern man dies in Valais avalanche
Aminona, near Crans-Montana, Saturday morning: no wind, very thin stratus veiling blue skies
Update 11 February 14:10 GENEVA / SION, SWITZERLAND – There is good news for skiers: the strong winds that were forecast have died down and slopes are open everywhere, with blue skies the rule.
Verbier and Crans-Montana both are showing zero wind, slopes open and sun despite a veil of early stratus clouds.
The south side of the Alps, notably around Zermatt, has less stratus and the sunny slopes are virtually all open.
Time for skis, snowboards and sleds!
Avalanche risk moderate, but one man dead following Valais snow pack slide
A 48-year-old Bern man died at noon Saturday, 23 hours after being caught by an avalanche in canton Valais.
Three power station employees, one of them a mountain guide, were checking snow conditions at Obergesteln and as they headed back, crossing a slope at 13:00 at Sidelhorn, the avalanche struck. Two of the men were caught by sliding plates of snow, 200 metres long and 100 metres wide. One was able to free himself and he and the man who was not hit were able to quickly free their colleague. A rescue team arrived rapidly and he was flown to hospital in Sion, but he died from his injuries Saturday.
Avalanche situation: the risk level is 2-3/5 throughout the Alps, relatively low.
Icy roads raise accident risk
A 52-year-old man is in critical condition, with fears for his life, at the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne after being hit by a car in Villars-sur-Ollon Friday morning at 09:00. A driver heading down towards the plain did not see the man, who was using a pedestrian crossing, until too late, and skidded into the victim, on the cantonal road at Chesières.
On the plain, around Lake Geneva, the wind will continue to blow, with the icy bise wind gusting in some areas, until Sunday, says MeteoSwiss.
Ice skirts on jetties continue to form thanks to strong winds on Lake Geneva, Friday
The amazing natural ice sculptures fringing Lake Geneva are generally the result of strong winds blowing lake water onto boats, buoys, jetties, boardwalks and plants. The blend of sunshine and glacial temperatures causes a continual melt-freeze action, smoothing them down until the next blast of wind brings a new layer of lake water from Europe’s deepest lake.
Lake Geneva put on one of its wonderful colour shows Friday, with the water ranging from brown to green to deep blue and violet, thanks to the wind whipping it up for several hours.
Lake Geneva blowing onto jetty in St Prex (16:24:39)
Lake Geneva blowing onto jetty in St Prex (16:24:40)
Lake Geneva blowing onto jetty in St Prex (16:24:40)
Lake Geneva blowing onto jetty in St Prex (16:24:41)
Avalanche in Obergesteln, canton Valais, Friday
Avalanche at Sidelhorn, Obergesteln, 200 metres wide and 100 metres long (photo, Valais police)
Sidelhorn avalanche (photo, Valais police)
Sidelhorn avalanche (photo, Valais police)
Special 3-hour evening on the lake on CGN steamboats, departures from Geneva and Lausanne.
Location: quai du Mont Blanc, Geneva
Link out: http://www.cgn.ch/plain_site/croisieres_tourist…
Date: 14 Feb 2012
Start time: 20:00
End time: 23:00
Fire death, drunk driver victims, high speed chase part of busy weekend emergency services work
Strong winds coupled with frigid temperatures whipped up icy flames on the lake surface Monday morning
Lake Geneva views of opposite shorelines obliterated by heavy waves and two metre high tongues of icy mists Monday 6 February
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A new record low temperature for this winter was set in canton Graubuenden’s Engadine region, in Samedan this weekend: -35.1C.
The death toll from the cold in Europe, now estimated to be over 300 people, continues to rise.
In Switzerland, the icy weekend kept police and firefighters busy, and Touring Club Suisse (TCS), the automobile club, had a record 23,000 calls to help motorists.
Trains are running slow in several areas as the CFF rail company deals with icy lines and other cold-related problems.
Burst pipes caused flooding Saturday and Sunday, notably in Geneva and Lausanne, reports TSR. The head of Swissgrid, which manages the Swiss electricity supply, told NZZ in Zurich this weekend that the country risks blackouts in coming days because the system is pushed to its limits.
A main SSR (public broadcasting) emitter on top of Säntis mountain gave way under pressure from heavy snow, according to 24 Heures, and is using emergency power.
Vernier drunk driver crashes into trio
Police in Geneva were called to Vernier Saturday night where a 25-year-old man with a two-week old grudge against a nightclub worker left the establishment on Chemin des Batailles and got into his parked car, then drove into three young customers of the club, narrowly missing the club employee.
He had been drinking in several night spots and his alcohol level was measured at 1.69 after the accident, according to Geneva police. His victims were a 20-year-old Geneva man who lives in Vernier who was treated at the nearby Hopital de la Tour and two women who were taken to the cantonal hospital. The 19-year-old woman, who is Bolivian and lives in Rolle, is being treated for several facial injuries and the 18-year-old for a broken leg.
The driver continued and crashed into a number of rental cars parked nearby. He is under arrest for attempting to cause severe bodily harm and on other charges, and his license has been lifted.
Lausanne police chase ends in three captured
A car in Lutry with four people suddenly took off Friday when police stopped it and led area police on a high-speed chase as far as Chemin Campagne Pierraz-Portay in Pully, where the passengers took off on foot. Two were caught and arrested, along with the driver, when police discovered a quantity of goods stolens from homes in the Lausanne region. The car had Belgian plates and the two Algerians and one Iraqi were from Belgium, ages 32-35. Police are looking for their partner.
One dead in Martigny fire
One person died and another was saved by firefighters from a second floor balcony of an apartment building early Saturday 4 February when a fire broke out.
The identity of the victim is being established, say canton Valais police.
The first floor apartment was unoccupied. The cause of the fire, at 01:15, is being investigated.
Highest number since 1964, as steady annual growth continues
The busiest day of the year on Lake Geneva, for the CGN boat company, was 11 August, when it carried 17,500 passengers
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The CGN boat company carried more than 2 million people on Lake Geneva in 2011, the highest number since the national expo year of 1964, despite the high franc compared to the euro.
There were some 100,000 more travelers in 2011 compared to 2010, an 8 percent increase in line with the increases of the past 10 years.
The company notes that productivity has risen sharply, thanks in large part to the growth in cross-lake ferrying, mainly of commuters, by the Navibus, which have been running since 2006.
But 2012 is likely to prove more difficult, with demand outstripping supply in the short term, for cross-border traffic.
The busiest day of the year was 11 August.
Geneva to the other end of the lake and back, a spectacular race with nearly 600 boats
Location: Port Noir, Cologny
Link out: http://www.boldormirabaud.com/en-ch/index.cfm
Start date: 18 Jun 2011
Start time: 10:00
End date: 19 Jun 2011
End time: 17:00
Bol d'Or start 2010 (photo ©2010 Loris von Siebenthal)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – One of the most beautiful sailing races of the year takes place this weekend, with 500 boats and 3,000 sailors rlunning the Bol d’Or from Geneva to the other end of the lake and back.
The race starts Saturday 18 June from the Société Nautique de Genève, with a weather forecast that promises some unpredictable moments, with sunshine, cloudy skies and rain all part of the mix.
The race features real time online mapping, a new feature this year. Another change: the race finishes at 17:00 Sunday, an hour later, to allow more racers to finish.
Lake Geneva: more going on under the surface than we know
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Elemo, short for Exploration des eaux lémaniques (exploring Lake Geneva’s waters) got underway Tuesday, with Russian Mir submersibles heading 200 metres down into the canyons and cliffs of Lake Geneva. The project is based at the EPFL, the federal polytechnic in Lausanne.
One of Elemo’s first tests will help researchers to understand how the cliffs, which are essentially unstable heaps of sediment as high as 50 metres at a depth of as much as 200 metres, were formed by the Rhone, through sampling and then dating the sediment. A second will measure the amount of methane released from the deep canyons as organic matter decomposes.
Methane is a greenhouse gas.
Stephanie Girardclos, from the University of Geneva, heads the project with these two studies, for which four researchers going on the dives will be gathering data this week.
Elemo includes 15 other projects, mostly environmental, with researchers looking at micropollutants, biology, geology and the physics of currents. A succession of teams will work throughout the summer on various dive sites, says the EPFL.
Flavio Anselmetti, a researcher for the Swiss aquatic research institute Eawag, who is part of the Elemo team, says new data could help us better understand the lake, including historical events. “A collapse of the canyon could be what caused the tsunami that swept across the lake and destroyed the bridges in Geneva in 563,” he says. “These are extremely rare events, but it’s important to assess the risk.”
The canyons are formed as the Rhone pours into it: the river is colder and sediment-rich from glacier-fed streams and rivers in canton Valais and eastern Vaud. It continues to flow through the lake. “It really is a river at the bottom of the lake, carving out valleys as it meanders along,” says Anselmetti.
The lake remains a mystery in many ways, surprising considering that half of the drinking water for the population of 1.5 million in the region comes from the lake.
Eawag is responsible for four of the projects.
International scientists have access to the submersibles for research purposes thanks to support from Ferring Pharmaceuticals in Saint Prex, canton Vaud, the Russian Federation’s Honorary Consulate in Lausanne and the EPFL. Ferring is financing most of the project and the company’s chairman, Frederik Paulsen, was at the site of the first dives Tuesday. He was joined by Don Walsh, an American oceanographer who was with Jacques Piccard during their famous descent into the Mariana Trench 23 January 1960, the deepest point of the world’s ocean, in the bathyscaphe Trieste. It went down to a record maximum of 10,911 metres.
Background story, GenevaLunch, 1 March 2011
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – It’s been 70 years since Lake Geneva has seen five elegant steamboats crossing the lake regularly. The return Sunday 12 June of the Simplon, which has undergone major renovation work, is the latest sign of the CGN’s (Compagnie Générale de Navigation) successful efforts to get more people onto the water in summer. The boat is part of the new summer schedule that goes into effect Sunday.
The Simplon made her new debut as part of the lake boats parade in Rolle 5 June, attended by 10,000 people, according to the CGN.
Newly restored 1920 steamer, Simplon, making her new debut on Lake Geneva, June 2011
The new summer schedule features not only the return of the newly elegant 1920 Simplon, but 90 crossings a day between France and Switzerland on the four NaviBoat public transport lines: N1 Lausanne – Evian (35 minutes), N2 Lausanne – Thonon (27
minutes), N3 Nyon – Yvoire (20 minutes) and N4 Nyon – Chens (20
minutes).
The Simplon, for her part, will make the “Majestic promenade” cruise daily from Geneva to Lausanne and back by way of Evian, stopping at Yvoire. The Rhone boat will do the trip in the other direction, daily starting 5 July, but will also do an evening short cruise, Lausanne to Yvoire and back, for CHF49, including a cold meal.
Lake Geneva steamboats parade in Rolle 5 June (photo, CGN)
The Rhone, built in 1929, was refurbished over the winter and first class passengers in particular can enjoy velour seats like the original ones.
The Simplon’s restoration features a transformed first class lounge with carpeting that is an exact copy of the 1920 original, maple furniture and bronze fittings.
The steamer’s mechanical parts were completely dismantled and repaired for the first time in its history and the engine is once again its original black colour. Windows have been added to the bridge that allow travellers to see the massive pistons at work.
The three other Belle Epoque boats have the following assignments this summer:
- La Suisse, 1910: Swiss Riviera, including the Lavaux vineyards and the Chateau de Chillon, fine cuisine option
- Le Montreux, 1904: Lausanne-Chateau de Chillon and back during the day, with Lausanne Palace chefs cooking a sunset cruise feast
- Le Savoie, 1914: fine cuisine cruises with Geneva chef Philippe Chevrier at noon and in the evening; afternoon cruises between Geneva and Yvoire.
Ed. note: The Swiss Family Boat pass is worth considering if you’re taking children, with parents traveling for half-price and two accompanied children under 16 free.
Click on images to view larger
Exercise and find-out more about the region through guided nautical tours.
Location: Morges
Link out: http://www.asgip.ch
Start date: 12 Jun 2011
End date: 19 Jun 2011
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Heat. Sun. Swimming. Summer is here, but so are Geneva Lake’s infamous Cercariae, commonly known as duck fleas. Making an early appearance this year, they have already proven to be a problem, even though they usually appear in warmer water, around 20 degrees Celsius.
Map of beaches and water quality for 2010 around Lake Geneva ©CIPEL (click on image to view larger)
However, there are several different conditions that favor the growth of Cercariae, the microscopic female larvae of a parasite, says the International Commission for the Protection of Lake Geneva: an abundance of lake vegetation, snails and ducks.
How the duck fleas get into human skin
The parasites already on the ducks lay eggs that pass into the bloodstream and are eventually excreted into the water. They hatch into miracidia and colonize in snails where they mature into Cercariae. These larvae find ducks and burrow beneath their skin to conclude the cycle.
But from time to time, the Cercariae mistake lake swimmers for ducks, and penetrate the outer layer of human skin. The larvae die there, resulting in a very itchy rash called Swimmer’s itch, or cercarial dermatitis.
Life cycle of Cercariae ©CDC
How to protect yourself
You can take steps to protect yourself, says Secoe, the Geneva water ecology service, even though there is currently no duck flea repellent available. A shower after a dip in the lake and toweling off vigorously can help to eliminate the Cercariae before they have time to penetrate the skin. To reduce the possibility of coming into contact with the parasite, you should avoid swimming in warm, shallow water for long periods of time since this is where snails are most likely to live.
Dealing with the rash
If you do get a rash, try not to scratch it because this may lead to secondary infections. Cold compresses, a mild cortisone cream, an antihistamine or calamine lotion should help. Normally, the rash disappears on its own after a couple of weeks, otherwise contact a dermatologist or a pharmacist.
Boiron beach, between St Prex and Tolochenaz, Switzerland: site of 2-day search for missing girls
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in canton Vaud say a large-scale two-day search for missing twins Alessia and Livia is over, with nothing found. The search, using 11 dogs from three countries, specially trained to search for dead bodies, turned up no trace of the girls or their father. “The search did not provide any new material for the investigation,” noted police spokesperson Jean-Christophe Sauterel in a statement issued late Friday.
The search for the missing children will continue in Switzerland, France and Italy.
It was prompted by new information offered by a witness 6 April, who told police he saw a man dragging a suitcase Sunday 30 January about 16:00, in the Boiron area.
Some 100 potential witnesses in the area were interviewed over the two days, says Sauterel, people who live or work in the area, including employees at dumps, fishermen and people who use the shooting range near the Boiron beach, site of the dog-tracking search.
The search involved more than 200 people, including 150 from the area’s Civil Protection unit alone, with dog handlers and their animals covering an area approximately 2.3 kilometres long and 150-400 metres wide on land.
The lake search involved Lake Brigade police from Vaud and Geneva who carried out what police call “a minutieuse search around the mouth of the Boiron river and the lake zone, an area 300 metres wide and 700 metres long, starting from the mouth of the Boiron.” They used remote-controlled robots, or vehicles, and multibeam echo lasers, multibeam swath bathymetry, a sophisticated system for underwater searches.
The entire area was blocked off, with police stationed every 100 metres along the lake road between St Prex’s eastern edge and the Tolochenaz roundabout, and red and white tape keeping out the public to allow the investigators to work in peace. Police boats kept other boats away just off the shore.
Irina Lucidi with her daughters Livia and Alessia, from her Facebook page, Missing Alessia and Livia
Mother says family took walks in searched area
Irina Lucidi, the mother of missing six-year-old twins Alessia and Livia Schepp, called a press conference Friday afternoon 15 April in Morges to thank police for undertaking a large-scale hunt for her daughters, who disappeared with their father from St Sulpice 30 January.
Matthias Schepp, the father of the girls, committed suicide five days after leaving with his daughters, driving to the south of France, Corsica and southern Italy. Police in Italy, France and Switzerland have been looking for the children since then; the father sent his wife a letter from Italy saying that he had killed them.
Irina Lucidi had told him a few days before he left with the children that their marriage was over and she wanted a divorce.
Her press conference was held at the tennis club on the west side of Morges, not far from the area where police have been carrying out an intensive dog-tracking search for the past two days, based on new information provided 6 April by a witness. Police searched the Boiron river mouth and beach area, where the witness says he saw a man dragging a suitcase Sunday 30 January, about 16:00.
Irina Lucidi told reporters Friday afternoon that she and her husband and the girls often walked in that area, just to the east of St Prex, near the lake road at Tolochenaz. The lakefront is not open to the public between St Prex and the beach, but from the beach it is possible to walk to Morges, about 3 kms.
Police say that concerning the possible death of the twins, investigators remain open to all possibilities.
Related articles: GenevaLunch
Job of convincing Bern, which has the final word, could be tough, say cantonal authorities
Bridge preferred over tunnel, but both options kept
New autoroute proposal backed by canton Geneva for Lake Geneva crossing
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva is ready to push for an extension of the autoroute across the lake by 2030, arguing that it would ease city traffic by 30 percent and the ring road around Geneva by 12 percent.
The canton presented its project at a press conference Monday morning 11 April, the result of a three-year lake crossing feasibility study that cost CHF3.5 million.
The new link would extend from the current autoroute stretch on the right bank at Vengeron, relatively close to the lake, across to La Pointe-à-La-Bise, a reserve that the road would not touch, near Bellerive/Collonge. It would be entirely on Swiss territory. Canton governments do not have the right to enter into discussions with other governments on roadworks, but the proposed route approved by Geneva’s cantonal council could connect with Swiss and French highway as well as autoroute systems.
Two options are provided, one for a tunnel and the other for a bridge, but in both cases a tunnel under Choulex on the left bank, to preserve the Seymaz plain, is included. The bridge is currently considered the better option, from a safety and cost perspective. It’s too early, howevr, to exclude the option of a tunnel under the lake, say authorities. Further studies are needed that take into consideration new technologies that could be used for a tunnel.
City centre traffic would be reduced by 30,000 a day from current level
New bridge or tunnel to cross Lake Geneva would go from Vengeron, near Bellevue, on the left side of this photo, across to Bellerive, near Collonge (city centre to the right; photo taken from Chambesy)
Some 150,000 vehicles currently use the main routes through the city and across the Mont Blanc bridge. Cantonal projections show this figure rising to 170,000 by 2030.
If the new plan is adopted, traffic would fall to 120,000 vehicles a day through the city centre to cross the lake.
For people living near the two new autoroute junctions or further out and therefore using them, the lake crossing would be reduced in time by 35 percent, according to the report issued Monday.
The new link would extend from the current autoroute stretch on the right bank at Vengeron, relatively close to the lake, across to La Pointe-à-La-Bise, a reserve that the road would not touch, near Bellerive/Collonge.
It would be entirely on Swiss territory. Canton governments do not have the right to enter into discussions with other governments on roadworks, but the proposed route approved by Geneva’s cantonal council could connect with Swiss and French highway as well as autoroute systems.
The cost of the project is estimated at CHF3.1 billion for a bridge and CHF3.7b for a tunnel, without including various options to make improvements to city spaces and public transport as a result.
Bern’s current plan: reduce Geneva congestion by adding lanes to ring road autoroute
The arguments for and against a Lake Geneva crossing have raged in the canton for several years, but the biggest hurdle now could be the Swiss federal government, which has owned and is responsible for all national highways since 2008. Bern currently is considering plans to enlarge the ring road around the city in several places, from two to three lanes, to allow it to handle 115,000 vehicles a day. It can currently take a maximum load of 80,000.
Feasibility study report, in French, with annexes (including environmental impact)
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The body of a diver was found by fellow divers at Veytaux, near the Chateau de Chillon, in Lake Geneva Sunday morning 3 April. Police have opened a criminal investigation into the death of the 54-year-old Swiss man from Gros-de-Vaux, and the man’s diving gear is being checked for technical problems.
The man and another diver made a descent shortly before 11:00 into an area where the water is 40 metres deep. At some point they lost site of each other as they were returning to the surface. The victim, for unknown reasons, resurfaced more quickly than is usual, and other divers in the area spotted him, floating unconscious on the surface.
An emergency medical team that arrived quickly could only confirm his death. The accident involved local police, the lake police, a Rega helicopter, an ambulance and a medical team including a specialist to provide psychological support for the other drivers involved in the drama.
Chateau de Chillon, near Montreux, Switzerland (photo, ©2011 Chateau de Chillon)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Chateau de Chillon, one of Switzerland’s most popular tourist attractions and its most visited national historical monument, has trademarked its name and two graphic representations.
Approval for the trademarks should allow the chateau to protect its image, limiting use of the name and graphic illustrations to items that reflect its commitment to quality, tradition and prestige, the president of its foundation, Jean-Pierre Pastori told Swiss news agency ATS 9 March.
It is the first historical monument in Switzerland to benefit from a trademark, although some well-known places, such as the Matterhorn in Zermatt and the resort of St Moritz, have trademarked their names and some graphic representations.
The chateau, receives CHF250,000 a year from canton Vaud, according to ATS, but its annual budget is CHF4.8 million.
Nearly 331,000 visitors, 70 percent of them from outside Switzerland, visited the site in 2010.
Mir submersibles, made in Russia, have been used for numerous scientific missions in the Arctic and Lake Baikal. They were also used to film the hulk of the Titanic for James Cameron's film about the sinking of the ship. They will be used in Lake Geneva to help scientists better understand western Europe's largest lake (source: EPFL).
Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russian Mir submersibles will soon populate the depths of Lake Geneva, the EPFL, the Swiss federal polytechnic institute in Lausanne announced Tuesday 1 March. Fifteen teams from five countries will carry out field research using the submersibles, from June 2011 to August, in a project dubbed elemo.
Geology, biology (especially micro-pollutants and bacteriology) and physics projects will be undertaken to better understand how human activity affects the lake.
The submersibles will operate in three main areas:
- Vidy, near Lausanne, a heavily-populated area where the impact of micro-pollutants can be studied
- mid-lake directly offshore from Lausanne, going as deep as 309 metres, a depth at which little is known about the lake
- Villeneuve, where glacial deposits and sediment have created 30-metre high canyons in the lake: a spectacular, unstable part of the lake that begs exploration.
Lake Geneva, looking from Saint Prex to Lausanne: windy on the surface and largely unknown at its depths (click on image to view larger)
International scientists will have access to the submersibles for research purposes, thanks to support from Ferring Pharmaceuticals in Saint Prex, canton Vaud, the Russian Federation’s Honorary Consulate in Lausanne and the EPFL. Ferring is financing most of the project.
“One-and-a-half million people live near Lake Geneva. Fifty percent of this population gets its daily drinking water from the lake. Yet there is still much to learn about the complex workings of this heavily human-impacted ecosystem,” the EPFL notes in its press release.
“The researchers will gain easy access to the deepest parts of the lake, at depths of over 300 meters, where they will be able to study how pollutants accumulate, and even perform field experiments. The lake consists of layers of water that are permeable to differing degrees. By using the submersibles to carry out a detailed study of the boundaries between these layers, the researchers will be able to better understand how the water circulates. Over time, these models will be of the utmost importance for measuring the local and overall impact of human activity on Lake Geneva.”
The 15 teams include scientists from several institutions: the EPFL, the Universities of Geneva, Neuchatel, Haute-Savoie and Newcastle, Eawag (the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and
Technology), Inra (the National Agronomic Research Institute) in Toulouse, the CNRS (French National Centre for Research), the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
Anatoly Sagalevitch, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the expedition leader for many missions on board the Mir submersibles, notably in the Arctic and Lake Baikal, will join the project for the summer of 2011, with his team.
The 18.6 tons deep-diving vehicles are 7.8 metres long and 3.6m wide. They can reach depths of over 6,000 metres and move at a speed of 9 kph horizontally, 40 kph vertically.
Public transport special offer will run to 15 February
Saleve rises out of the fog: Lake Geneva in winter often sits in a damp blanket of fog that traps fine particles (photo taken 23 January 2010, ©2011 Obwoodman, http://www.flickr.com/photos/86813892@N00/)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Last week’s too-high level of fine particles in the air around Lake Geneva, higher than allowed by federal legislation, has fallen to within limits, according to canton Vaud.
Geneva and Vaud both issued warnings to residents last week to stay indoors and do fewer sports if they are elderly or susceptible to lung problems. The combination of cold air above and warmer air on the lake combined to trap fine particles in the air, up to about 1,000 metres altitude. The problem is not uncommon in the Lake Geneva region in winter.
Warmer air throughout Switzerland has eased the situation and warm, sunny weather for most of this week should help keep the air clearer.
Vaud offers 3 month half-price CFF card to increase public transport use
Vaud’s Bol d’Air programme will remain in place until 15 February, says the canton: for CHF34 instead of CHF54 the canton’s residents can buy a half-price CFF rail card that is good all trains, boats and postal buses in Switzerland, and it provides reductions on urban transport systems, including the Mobilis regional system. Details and coupon
The programme is designed to encourage people to switch to public transport once an alarm is sounded for unacceptable levels of air pollution.
Geneva Friday offered an explanation, in French, and fine particles levels in neighbouring towns, to put the problem in perspective. The web page is worth bookmarking if you have allergies or lung problems, for future pollution alerts.
Crime rate low, but insecurity an issue; de-centralization carries day on higher taxes for wealthy: voters strongly refuse initiative
Geneva rejects longer shopping hours, Vaud town says yes to Lake Geneva public access
Update 2, 21:10 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss media and political parties are scrambling Sunday evening 28 November to analyze the significance of a solid majority of voters approving the right-wing UDC (SVP, Swiss People’s Party) popular initiative to automatically expel foreigners found guilty of serious crimes. Fifty-two percent of voters went to the polls and approved the foreign criminals initiative by 52.9 percent. Not a single canton accepted parliament’s alternative counter-initiative. French-speaking cantons, with the exception of bilingual but French-majority Valais , rejected the UDC proposal, but all German-speaking and German-majority cantons voted for it except the city of Basel.
Voters also resoundingly rejected a Socialist popular “fair taxes” initiative that would have obliged some cantons with low taxes for wealthy people to raise their tax rates. It failed by 58.5 percent.
The Federal Justice and Police Department Sunday evening issued a notice that the government will set up a working group before the Christmas break to begin looking at how the foreign criminals vote can be implemented. In its statement it noted that:
“The working group will have the task of examining open questions and drafting a proposal as to how the initiative can be implemented, which the FDJP can subsequently put to the Federal Council. Ultimately it will fall to parliament to decide how the initiative is to be implemented in the form of a federal act. The Federal Council will also be counting on the sponsors of the initiative to keep the pledge they made before the vote to contribute constructively to producing a solution that is compatible with the constitution and international law.”
Sunday and late shopping in Geneva fails while La Tour-de-Peilz says yes to public lakefront
Voters also settled a number of cantonal and communal issues. In the Lake Geneva region: Geneva voters rejected later shopping hours while in canton Vaud the town of La Tour-de-Peilz voted in favour of making the Lake Geneva waterfront accessible to the public.
What the foreign criminals vote means
Update 14:30 Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva is getting a load of the white stuff, with snow coming down steadily in the city that is often the last bit of Switzerland to have snow. Buses were not running, taxis were scarce and bicycles were slower than usual Saturday morning in the city. Flights were reportedly delayed Saturday morning but by early afternoon were leaving and arriving on schedule. The canton’s traffic was “chaotic” during the day, according to the Tribune de Geneve, with 60 accidents recorded.
MeteoSwiss has a new road safety alert service for German-speaking Switzerland and the Alps (Fre), so if you’re heading out in the car, check this first. Western Switzerland will occasionally be included. You can also see web cam images for all of the national Swiss weather service stations on one web page: early afternoon 27 November the sun was hard to find.
Friday 26 November, early evening, Lausanne and Evian looked like this from across the lake, where the snow line down to the edge of Lake Geneva is visible.
Evian, France, viewed from Saint Prex, canton Vaud in Switzerland, 26 November 2010 near sunset
Lausanne, Ouchy and Lake Geneve, viewed from Saint Prex, near sunset 26 November 2010
Update 20:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Monday, a retired woman in Excenevex, near Yvoire on Lake Geneva in Haute Savoie, France, found the mummified body of a newborn in a backpack that had been left on the property of her second home, under stairs protected by a balcony.
The Lyon resident found the backpack in mid-July, reports Le Dauphine Libéré, but assumed it belonged to someone in her family and she didn’t immediately check the contents. When she and her daughter looked 26 July, they found a newborn wrapped in a towel, several days old and mummified by the heat. Police have opened an investigation.
The discovery of the newborn was eclipsed somewhat by the spectacular unearthing of newborns’ bones in northern France.
Weather forecast for holiday weekend: little rain, relatively cool
Dawn 28 July, Swiss Alps
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - The best place to watch firework 1 August 2010 might be Lake Geneva, about the only place in the region not suffering from dryness and fireworks bans.
Canton Vaud announced Wednesday 28 July that fireworks are banned, effective immediately, although communes will be allowed to go ahead with their national day explosive festivities, under the close supervision of fire departments.
Fireworks on the lake are allowed, the canton notes.
Weekend weather for the holiday: western Switzerland should have temperatures of 12-25C through Sunday, with only small amounts of rain on Thursday and Sunday, otherwise dry and sunny to slightly overcast. For current and local weather, be sure to check GenevaLunch’s weather page, provided by the Swiss national weather bureau, MeteoSwiss.
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The only cloud in the sky at dawn Wednesday - not much rain there!
The sun rose and the moon set at nearly the same time in the Alps 28 July
CGN staff have additional safety work trying to discourage teenagers from playing around the big boats and to educate the public about the dangers of coming close to them or swimming in their docking areas
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - The paddlewheelers of the CGN boat company that offer tourists and residents pleasure cruises around the lake have been playing an additional role in recent days, that of rescuer.
Storms and high winds on Lake Geneva have caught sailors and others by surprise, and Saturday 17 July one of the large craft intervened for the third time since the summer season opened in mid-June, during 15 dramatic moments.
A small boat 300 metres out from Cully began to sink and the two men on board were desperately trying to bail out the water and to fight strong, gusting winds when the Général-Guisan paddlewheeler spotted them. It turned, slowed down and gently came alongside, offering to take them on board.
Tourists at Montreux this week: Lake Geneva is a popular attraction, in addition to the jazz festival
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - An American in his thirties drowned while swimming in Lake Geneva, near the Chillon beach in Montreux Tuesday afternoon 6 July, Vaud police say.
He and a fellow American were swimming together near the Chateau de Chillon, but the friend lost sight of him around 14:00 and an alarm was quickly raised. A 14-man rescue operation recovered his body, 15 metres from the beach, in three metres of water.
An investigation into the death is underway.
The area around Montreux is filled with tourists this week, with the Montreux Jazz Festival running until 17 July.
UPDATE: Regina Spektor announces the death of Daniel Cho during her performance in Switzerland.
Lake Geneva beach, click to enlarge
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – With temperatures around 30C all this week and plenty of sunshine (see weather forecast) Lake Geneva is pulling the crowds. And with good reason, for 93 of the 116 beaches around the lake in France and Switzerland are categorized as “very good” in and terms of cleanliness and 21 as “average” by Cipel, the international commission that overlooks the lake. Only one beach has been deemed unfit for swimming and is closed, in Thonons-les-bains, France. The beaches are measured for bacteria.
The lake water quality is excellent everywhere 50 metres away from shore, but Cipel reminds the public that the lake water is not potable and should not be drunk.
Warm weather for several days could encourage duck fleas, which thrive even in healthy water when the temperature is over 20C, water is shallow and vegetation thrives. The fleas leave skin red and itchy and are actually due to the larvae of a duck parasite. The problem is not serious, but it’s important not to scratch and cause a secondary infection, warns Cipel. It goes away without treatment in 10-20 days.
Detailed map of Lake Geneva beaches, listing water quality for each and pdf map with names of the beaches, quality ratings
Boys riding on steamboat La Suisse, unaware of the dangers (photo ©2010 Jean Vernet, Vaud police)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The CGN boat company that runs ferries and tourist cruises on Lake Geneva joined with the Vaud lake police Wednesday 16 June to remind bathers and boaters about lake safety during the summer season.
Five to six people die in Lake Geneva every year, a stable figure, but the number of incidents, some causing serious injuries, has risen.
Legislation went into effect in January 2009 with tougher measures to improve safety.
Swimmers, for example, are not allowed to go closer than 100 metres to one of the large boats.
Lake Geneva's large boats can pull swimmers into their wake, a danger too many are unaware of, say police (photo ©2010 Jean Vernet, Vaud police)
A number of incidents, including during the summer of 2009 led the police and the boat company to work together to raise public awareness of the dangers the large boats can present. See GenevaLunch feature, “Don’t swim near the big boats!”.
The lake police also demonstrated their submarine robot, introduced in 2009, which is able to descend to 200 metres below the lake surface. The 55 kg robot, which is equipped with a camera, is used to help divers search for lost persons or materials.
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Ladycat's Bol d'Or winning team at 03:00 Sunday morning, in Geneva (photo ©2010 Loris van Siebenthal)
Update 19:00 (correction) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A team led by women has won the Bol d’Or race for the first time. Europe’s largest sailing event, a race from Geneva to the other end of Lake Geneva and back, was won by Ladycat, which crossed the finish line at 03:00 Sunday, with Dona Bertarelli as skipper and helmswoman with Emmanuelle Rol, trimmer, relieving her occasionally.
Banque Populaire with Pascal Bidégorry crossed the line two hours later and the Saffram with avec Yann Guichard came in third, but by 06:00 only six boats had come in.
Bol d'Or leaves Geneva 12 June (photo ©2010 Loris von Siebenthal)
Light winds have hampered the race, which can vary from a shortest-ever time of about five hours to two full days for the leading boats.
Bertarelli, sister of Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi fame, races Ladycat during the Lake Geneva season with an international team of women sailors. Rol is a materials sciences student.
Ladycat (photo, mavietonsang.ch)
The boat was launched in 2007 and was used to support the World Heart Federation’s international campaign, Go Red for Women campaign to promote awareness of cardiovascular disease in women.
In April Ladycat announced its new partnership with mavietonsang, the Vaud regional blood transfusion service in Epalinges, to draw attention to the need for blood donors and the work of the group.
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La Suisse, 100 years old, queen of the Belle Epoque fleet on Lake Geneva
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The summer schedule for the CGN boat company‘s tourist lake cruises goes into effect Sunday. The list of cruises and special outings is available online starting Friday 11 June. They range from short crossings to day-long cruises, as well as special offers such as fine dining and fireworks trips. La Suisse, which just celebrated its 100th birthday with fanfare, is the queen of the Belle Epoque steamboats, the largest collection of these in the world, and Sunday she begins to steam across the lake on regular excursions, three times a day.
Summer offers include all children under age six traveling for free and the Swiss Family Boat Pass that allows one parent to pay half price and their children under 16 to travel free.
GenevaLunch feature on Lake Geneva cruises and the growing Naviboat commuter fleet.
