Switzerland holidays: Lake Geneva, the watery wonder that attracts the stars
Sublimely Swiss: Lake Geneva has captured the hearts and cameras of many a visitorAn awful lot has happened since Sir Charles Chaplin died here, on Christmas Day 1977, surrounded by his family, but the view from the terrace of Le Manoir de Ban remains unchanged. I've come to this serene hideaway, on the lush shores of Lake Geneva, to talk to Michael Chaplin about his plans for a museum devoted to his father, in the house where he grew up and raised a family of his own. It has been empty since Michael moved out in 2002. Chaplin's grand piano is still here, and his library, and the desk where he wrote his autobiography, but most of the rooms are empty.Well, almost. In the cellar there's a stack of dusty film reels in their original metal canisters. These are Chaplin's personal copies of his movies. Yves Durand, the museum's director, hands me one. It's Charlie's 1936 masterpiece, Modern Times.
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Modern marvel: Charlie Chaplin, seen here in his masterpiece Modern Times, had a home on Lake GenevaChaplin made his home above Lake Geneva in the sleepy village of Corsiersur-Vevey. it's intriguing that he chose to settle here, rather than somewhere more swanky such as Montreux. The Cafe de la Place, where he used to eat, serves simple Swiss cuisine in a cosy setting. The friendly manageress, Mrs Waechter, has fond memories of the Chaplins. Her brother played in Chaplin's garden as a boy.Chaplin is buried a short walk away, beside his beloved wife Oona and near James Mason, another English emigre who made his home on the lake. Mason lived in the hamlet of Corseaux a mile away. His modest house overlooks the lake, close to Graham Greene's old home, similarly smart but unassuming, a suitable retreat for this suave, enigmatic writer.Mason's last film was an adaptation of Greene's sinister novella Doctor Fischer Of Geneva. Hidden in the steep vineyards of the Lavaux region, their twin houses seem a world away from the business bustle of Geneva. The liveliest city on the lake isn't Geneva but Lausanne, a magnet for celebrities for two centuries. Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel stayed at the Lausanne Palace, a sumptuous hotel with views across the lake, towards the French spa town of Evian.Coco Chanel also stayed at the five-star Beau Rivage on the waterfront. Fellow guests included Somerset Maugham and Chaplin (before he bought Le Manoir de Ban).Audrey Hepburn settled in Tolochenaz, a pretty village just outside Lausanne. Her house, a lovely little chateau, is now in private hands but you can visit her last resting place, in the tiny cemetery. There were fresh flowers on her grave.It was Lord Byron who really began Britain's enduring love affair with Lake Geneva by writing a poem, the prisoner Of Chillon, after visiting the Chateau de Chillon, a rugged! castle that guards the shore of the lake.Byron's poems were the pop songs of their day, and his British fans duly flocked here to see the sites that had inspired their idol. The poet stayed in Lausanne, at the Hotel Angleterre (still there), and in 1816 he met up with his poetic pals Mr and Mrs Shelley in Geneva.
Home fixture: Charlie Chaplin's former mansion Manoir de Ban is to be turned into a museum in his honourByron and Percy Shelley nearly drowned in a storm on Lake Geneva but it was Shelley's wife Mary who made the biggest splash, writing Frankenstein here - after a ghost-storytelling contest between herself, Percy and Byron. Since then, countless other writers have followed in her wake.It's easy to follow in their footsteps, staying in the same places. The quaint market town of Vevey boasts two deluxe hotels - the Trois Couronnes, where Henry James wrote Daisy Miller, and the Grand Hotel du Lac, which inspired Anita Brookner's novel Hotel Du Lac.So what was it that inspired so many actors and writers? What's the allure of Lake Geneva?Well, Swiss discretion is a factor and their flair for hospitality is another - Switzerland virtually invented the concept of the Grand Hotel - but from where I'm standing (outside Brookner's Hotel du Lac, looking out across the water), the biggest attraction has to be the lake itself.More than 40 miles from east to west and nearly ten from north to south, Lake Geneva seems neverending and its mood changes with the seasons, from day to day, even from hour to hour.'From the window all that could be seen was a receding area of grey,' begins Brookner's wonderful, wistful novel, and even on a grey day this immense lake has a strange, hypnotic beauty. Criss-crossing it by boat is the nicest way I can think of to while away a few idle days.A common misconception about Switzerland in general, and Lake Geneva in particular, is that it's an exclusive destination for p! ampered tourists with too much cash. Of course the five-star hotels aren't cheap, and nor are the Michelin-starred restaurants, but there are plenty of places to eat and stay on slightly tighter budgets.In Lausanne, I ate a delicious fondue in a cheerful restaurant called Cafe du Grutli for the price of a pizza in London. You can get a double room at the Auberge de la Gare in the hills above Lausanne for under 100 per person. Shopping for cheese and mushrooms with Willi Prutsch, the jolly proprietor of Cafe du Grutli, in Lausanne's outdoor market, I found epicure produce at supermarket prices. Lake Geneva is affordable, if you're prepared to shop around.
Acting the goat: The Chaplin children, Geraldine and Michael, had an idyllic childhood next to Lake GenevaI finished my celebrity tour with a trip into the mountains by antique train from Montreux to Chateau d'Oex, an Alpine village high above the lake. This was the adopted home of David Niven. His grave is in the cemetery and the street where he used to live has been renamed in his honour.Returning to Montreux, I wandered past the statue of Vladimir Nabokov, who lived at the Montreux Palace during his last decade. Foreign emigres such as Nabokov preferred the bright lights and grand hotels, but for British stars, Lake Geneva was an unpretentious destination - not so much a holiday resort, more a home from home.
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