Vachement Suisse is a boutique that features a variety of Swiss goods ranging from home design, bath and body and semi-precious jewelry to hand made wooden toys and unique shirts celebrating Swiss culture and the Tour du Mont Blanc. The word "vachement" is a familiar word in French meaning "very". It comes from the word "vache" which means cow. So the name "Vachement Suisse" means very Swiss. That's why the majority of Vachement Suisse's products are made or designed in Switzerland. The word vachement also obviously evokes the ever popular image associated with Switzerland... the cow.
We caught up with Sarah de Rivaz to find out more. Read down to enter our competition to win a voucher and tote bag!
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
I grew up in the American midwest and had always dreamt of living in the Swiss Alps one day. Later, I attended Emory University, choosing to study French language and culture, not really knowing where it would take me. By complete chance, I met my French-speaking Swiss husband in my hometown of Kansas City and returned with him to Switzerland to get married and start a family. Over 20 years later, we are raising our 4 children in his hometown of Champex, a small resort on a glacial lake tucked up in the Swiss Alps. As my passion for my adopted country grew even stronger, I felt this desire to share the beautiful qualities of the Alpine lifestyle with people all over the world as well as here in my community.
I began discovering products and creations by Swiss artists, designers and artisans and decided to open an online boutique as well as a cosy storefront in the center of Champex. I feature small family businesses, women-owned businesses, artisans, ethically conscious businesses as well as some of my own creations. I feel so blessed to be living out my childhood dream and enjoying the incredible quality of life here in the Swiss Alps, and it excites me to share it with you!
If you are like most people, you probably have a lot of Euro coins laying about in drawers, bowls, handbags, coat pockets, piggy banks, under sofa cushions, etc. With all good intentions, you are expecting to use them one day... either to pay parking meters or take to a bank to cash in. But when was the last time you did just that? If the answer is never, then you will be delighted with the EuroCycleur machines dotted about across the border in France.
These machines are wonderful! All you need to do is take your coins, dump them in the machine, and hey presto... out comes a voucher to use at the accompanying supermarket. You can look up addresses at this link but we know for sure there are two in the area we have seen with our own eyes. Carrefour Poterie Ferney-Voltaire and Migros Thoiry. Some other markets such as Migros Etrembières, Carrefour, Leclerc, Cora, Intermarché, Super U - Hyper U, Brico Leclerc, and Géant Casino are also offering this service.
The supermarkets are charged a fee for this machine but you, as the client, are not. The only criteria is that you must use your voucher for the supermarket where the machine is located. The voucher is valid for 2 days from the date you print it out and you must use the entire voucher at once. No change is given for purchases where the price is less than the voucher. You must also only use this at a cashier and not at the self check-out counters.
When we met up with Zoë Zenklusen Payne (left), the founder of Simply Zoë, we were inspired. The bravery and dedication merited an article and hopefully will help someone else in the same situation. We asked Zoë to answer a few questions and she has even kindly offered a Fr. 30.- voucher to use on her website to one of our readers. Read below to find out how to enter the competition.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, I noticed that there wasn’t much choice for the specialist items you require during treatment and recovery, especially, at the time there was not a large choice for post-surgical lingerie. Having a mastectomy is an amputation and clearly changes your body and leads to a lack of confidence. It somehow didn’t seem fair that there were barely any pretty, sexy and feminine options available. Wearing something resembling a sports bra doesn’t help with confidence issues! I had an immediate reconstruction, so I was able to continue wearing “normal” bras, but the underwire is extremely uncomfortable now, so I began the search for gorgeous wire free options and really came up short.
I stumbled across a brand in Australia that had been designed and produced by a breast cancer survivor who started her own post-surgical lingerie business after her own disappointing experience of not being able to find beautiful post-surgical options. As often happens in the cancer world, you often find an immediate connection with someone, and my order of a bra led to her asking me to become a brand ambassador, which led to me starting Simply Zoë as a one stop shop for items that women need during treatment and recovery, but with the emphasis being on sexy, feminine and pretty.
Note that the prices of Swiss postage has been increased and previously Courier A and B (Fr. 1.- and Fr. 0.85) are now Fr. 1.10 and Fr. 0.90 respectively (since 01.02.2022).
The new stamps from the Swiss Post Office were released a few weeks ago. It is so exciting to see what they have come up with. We love the kiss ones shown above. What fun it would be to use for a party invitation! It doesn't cost anything to order stamps via the website as you pay the face value and postage is free (minimum Fr. 15.- for your order)!
When ordering, make sure you choose the ones that say: non oblitéré. Otherwise, you will receive stamps that have the postmark on the day of issue. Some stamps are offered as "autocollant" for peel-off stickers; or "gommé" for the kind you need to moisten.
The below set is beautiful and could be used for Spring or Easter cards for anyone... even for sending out your invoices or documents! The one with the elephant is for "birth" according to the website but we think it would be appropriate for anything. Keep in mind that some are face value Fr. 0.90 with others at Fr. 1.10, Fr. 1.80, or even Fr. 2.30.
Over 30 different local creators showcase their wares!
Know-it-all passport® was able to open the 6th edition of our pop-up shop, Know-it-all Marketplace, Monday 31 January and will be open through 26 February 2022.
Located in the popular Planète Charmilles shopping center, Know-it-all Marketplace will showcase the work of local creative people who have a passion for creating things and love to share this passion in a proper shop space!
With unusual products ranging from hard-to-find gifts and luxury accessories, handmade soaps, jewelry that you won't find anywhere else, and delicious food for the entire family, you won’t need to go anywhere else. Chances are you will want to treat yourself to a few items! Come along to browse, chat, meet up with friends, and buy!
Over 30 local creators
Each of the 35 creators has had to go through a rigorous selection process to avoid imported products with no local creative input. Ranging from zero waste products for washing dishes and laundry to high end "art" jewelry, there is everything in between. You will find the top ten regulars from our previous pop ups and about 1/3 new creators. We are happy to represent our local cardmaker, 88 year-old M. Kunzli, who is the most "mature" of the lot (see below).
